Eric Holder Honored by The National Legal Aid & Defender Association

WASHINGTON—The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) honored Covington partner and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder with the 2016 Justice John Paul Stevens Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership in bolstering civil rights and access to justice. 

The NLADA’s Justice John Paul Stevens Lifetime Achievement Award is bestowed on a lawyer whose achievements have made major national improvements that increase fairness in justice for all people, regardless of race, color, creed, or income.

“As Attorney General, Eric Holder spearheaded the establishment of the Office for Access to Justice at the Department of Justice. Under his stewardship the Department took significant and consequential action to strengthen racial justice, improve the delivery of public defense, and curtail law enforcement abuses,” said Jo-Ann Wallace, NLADA President and CEO. “His powerful leadership in movements of great division between our nation’s communities serves as an inspiration, and he leaves a legacy in government of unwavering commitment to the primacy of justice.”

The NLADA, founded in 1911, is America’s oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel.