D.C. Bar Announces 2026 Award Winners

D.C. Bar Announces 2026 Award Winners

April 01, 2026

By Susannah Buell

The D.C. Bar has selected the winners of its 2026 Annual Awards honoring individuals and organizations whose outstanding work and exceptional projects benefited Bar membership, enriched the legal community, and expanded access to justice. The following awardees made important contributions to the advancement of the legal profession and provided critical assistance to the District's most vulnerable populations.

Frederick B. Abramson Award
(Tie) Voluntary Bar Leadership Institute and D.C. Bar Top Workplaces Team

Reflecting innovation in program design, initiative in addressing an unmet need, dedication to execution, and meaningful benefit, the inaugural Voluntary Bar Leadership Institute exemplifies the qualities recognized by the Abramson Award. Given that many voluntary bar leaders in the District are unable to participate in national leadership programs due to time and cost constraints, the team behind the institute identified a need for a locally based alternative and responded with a thoughtfully tailored initiative inspired by the American Bar Association's Bar Leadership Institute.

The full-day, in-person Voluntary Bar Leadership Institute on March 18, 2026, featured interactive workshops, panel discussions, and networking opportunities to promote learning, collaboration, and sustained connection across the voluntary bar community. Topics included collaborative board governance and effective teamwork, delegation and succession planning, mentoring, and trust building. By investing in leadership development at the voluntary bar level, the D.C. Bar advances the long-term vitality of these organizations and strengthens its own leadership pipeline.

The Top Workplaces Team also demonstrated innovation, initiative, and dedication in earning the D.C. Bar a 2025 Top Workplaces designation from the Washington Post. Led by the Bar's chief operating officer and director of human resources, the team proactively engaged stakeholders across the Bar to determine how to improve and address critical issues raised in the annual staff engagement survey. In addition, the team created other opportunities for staff to provide direct feedback on topics such as benefits and performance reviews through listening sessions. The CEO, the executive team, and the entire management team worked together to take what the staff was looking for and find ways to deliver everything it could while maintaining fiscal responsibility to Bar members.

Earning the 2025 Top Workplaces honor enhances the Bar's reputation, supports recruitment and retention efforts, and reinforces to current employees that their experience matters and their input shapes the Bar's future. Perhaps most importantly, it celebrates the collective culture built at the Bar.

Community of the Year Award
District of Columbia Affairs Community

The D.C. Bar District of Columbia Affairs Community serves all attorneys who live, work, or have interest in the District, as well as members who practice before or work with the D.C. Council and the Executive Branch or the court system. The community monitors legislative, judicial, and related legal developments affecting the District of Columbia. Other key missions include offering relevant professional development and providing a forum for members to network with key government officials and business and community leaders.

In 2025 the D.C. Affairs Community hosted four on-site programs and conducted a fall program at the George Washington University Law School on the District's unique relationship with the federal government. The community originated a public statement on the U.S. House Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident Act, cosponsored comments to the D.C. Courts Civil Legal Regulatory Reform Task Force, and joined a Litigation Community public statement on the executive order that targeted law firms for their representation activities. Steering committee members consistently attended Communities Office and D.C. Bar events, including the Back to Law School Mixer, Voluntary Bar Fair, and Get to Know Pro Bono at D.C. Superior Court event.

Voluntary Bar Association of the Year Award
Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund

The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the Greater Washington, D.C., Area formed the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, in 1993 to support local law students through charitable and educational activities. In 2025 AEF awarded $38,000 in direct financial support to law students: $10,000 in tuition assistance for first-generation law students, $26,000 in fellowships for students pursuing public interest internships at organizations such as the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, and $2,000 to the winner of the Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Competition.

AEF hosts the Robert E. Wone Judicial Clerkship & Internship Conference, in partnership with other bar organizations, to provide law students with practical insight into clerkships and internships across a range of courts. The 2025 conference drew approximately 100 attendees and 20 judges. In addition, AEF administered the Summer Judicial Internship Program, placing students with eight participating judges and organizing brown-bag lunches that allowed interns to engage with judges and peers in an informal setting. Throughout the year, AEF operated a comprehensive mentorship program, pairing nearly 200 mentors and mentees. AEF also assisted law students affected by the federal hiring freeze through employer referrals and by organizing a panel on post-graduation immigration options for noncitizen law students.

Laura N. Rinaldi Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year
John Jacob, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

A partner at Akin specializing in health care matters and chair of the firm's Pro Bono Committee, John Jacob dedicated 133 hours to pro bono service in 2025. Since 2007 he has devoted nearly 1,800 hours to pro bono service, earning him a place in the Akin Pro Bono & Public Service Hall of Fame in 2024.

Jacob leads the firm's pro bono relationship with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, where he began volunteering for its Legal Assistance Project in 2007, providing compassionate legal representation to hundreds of D.C. residents facing housing insecurity. Today he recruits, mentors, and supervises Akin attorneys representing Washington Legal Clinic clients and also serves on the nonprofit's board. In 2025 alone, 56 Akin lawyers contributed nearly 900 hours of pro bono work to the organization.

In addition to his efforts to support unhoused D.C. residents, Jacob serves as board chair of Education Reimagined, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the public education system into one that centers each child, prioritizes equity, and leverages the assets of each community. He has advised on revisions to bylaws, strengthened investment and financial oversight practices, and helped shape interactions with board members.

Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year
McDermott Will & Schulte

In 2025 McDermott Will & Schulte's Washington, D.C., office of 177 lawyers contributed 21,059 hours of pro bono work, with all 177 attorneys participating. Partners contributed 5,604 hours. In total, the firm's D.C. office dedicated 7.3 percent of its billable hours to pro bono service in 2025.

At McDermott Will & Schulte, pro bono lawyers tackle matters that protect fundamental rights, promote equity, and hold institutions accountable. From complex, high-impact litigation to individual trial advocacy, the firm's pro bono work reflects the same rigor, creativity, and dedication that define its client service. That commitment was recently exemplified by a major victory achieved by its D.C. litigation team in a high-profile class action suit challenging systemic failures in the District of Columbia's transportation of students with disabilities. In another matter, a cross-practice pro bono team successfully represented a senior citizen in a hard-fought wrongful eviction case.

Several organizations have lauded McDermott's generosity, including the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and the Children's Law Center, which has referred more than 100 pro bono matters to the firm since 2006. McDermott partners with other D.C.-based nonprofits such as the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights (formerly the CAIR Coalition), where it provided trademark work for the new name, ethics guidance on issues including attorney-client privilege, and advice on emerging threats to immigrant-serving nonprofits.

All award winners will be honored at the D.C. Bar's Celebration of Leadership on June 18 at the Westin DC Downtown.