Dean Matthew Diller and alumnus Richard Saenz ’10, who has advocated for trangender people and incarcerated individuals with HIV, were honored for their dedication to public service at the 33rd annual Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) Awards.
The awards are held annually at Fordham Law School to recognize members of the Fordham Law community for their contributions to public service.
Accepting the Louis J. Lefkowitz Public Service Award Lefkowitz Award, Diller reflected on his own public interest work with the Legal Aid Society, where he started his career, noting that it has shaped everything he has done since. “What I learned is to never forget, and to keep at the forefront of my mind at all times, that the legal system is slanted, that it is a work in progress, and that it will only improve if we work at it,” Diller said. He encouraged graduating students to use the privilege of their legal education and continue giving their time and talents to help others.
Saenz, senior attorney and criminal justice and police misconduct strategist at Lambda Legal, was the second Lefkowitz Award winner. He has advocated for incarcerated individuals with HIV, including as lead counsel in John Doe v. Delaware County, a case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania over the plaintiff’s exclusion from programs and services and alleged unlawful disclosure of confidential HIV-related information that recently settled. Saenz also successfully challenged Missouri law denying health care to transgender people.
In recorded remarks, Saenz, a former Stein Scholar, recalled how the school’s public interest community was vital to his success as a first-generation, Latino, and openly gay student. “To the students in the room, I want to let you know that what drives me is the belief that the legal field benefits when people who are committed to public service are part of it,” he said.
Earlier this week I accepted the Lefkowitz Award from@FordhamLawNYC. I was out of town for work so was unable to attend in person, but please watch my recorded remarks. pic.twitter.com/fwLlTEl7qy
— Richard Saenz (he/him) (@saenzr03) April 21, 2024
In addition to honoring Diller and Saenz, the PIRC Awards put a spotlight on student contributions to public service. Public Interest Valedictorian Samantha McCarthy ’24, Second Year PIRC Student of the Year Darcy Gallego ’25, and First Year PIRC Student of the Year Julia Davidson ’26 were introduced by their peers, who shared personal stories about their public interest work and what the honorees meant to them as friends and colleagues.
Special recognition was given to the 350 members of the Class of 2024 who performed more than 100 hours of pro bono work during law school, which included 39 students who served at least a thousand hours. Collectively, these students contributed 168,639 hours of pro bono work during their time at Fordham. The 68 graduating students who served on the boards of PIRC public interest organizations were honored as well. In addition, the Stein Scholars Class of 2024 was recognized for its dedication to service, and all students who participated in the Stein Scholars program throughout their legal education at Fordham were presented with a Stein Scholars Graduation Certificate.
“The public interest community would be nothing without these student leaders,” said Director of Public Interest Student Engagement and Counseling Mia Jackson-Rosenthal.
“We are so proud of our graduating students and student honorees who exemplify the level of commitment to public service that we in PIRC seek to foster and amplify. Our students are incredible and so our event was intentionally student-centered and featured the voices of our public interest students,” Assistant Dean for Public Interest and Social Initiatives Leah Horowitz ’06 said following the event. “We were thrilled to honor public interest lawyers, leaders, and innovators Dean Diller and Richard Saenz for their vast contributions over the years.”
View scenes from the event:
