Judge David Tatel honored with Servant of Justice Award
Washington, D.C., 16 May, 2024 – Global law firm Hogan Lovells is proud to announce that Senior Counsel Judge David Tatel has been recognized with the Servant of Justice Award from Legal Aid DC.
This awards ceremony honors those who have demonstrated faithful dedication and remarkable achievement in ensuring that all people have equal and meaningful access to justice. Judge Tatel was presented with this award on 9 April at the 34th annual Servant of Justice Awards dinner hosted by Legal Aid DC.
Legal Aid DC is the District’s oldest and largest civil legal services organization. Since 1932, Legal Aid DC lawyers have helped make justice real in individual and systemic ways in the District.
Judge Tatel has spent nearly six decades in public interest law, government service, private practice, and almost 30 years on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. He served as first Executive Director of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, after which he became Director of the national Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
In the early 1970s, he helped organize the Legal Services Corporation, which promotes equal access to justice by providing grants for civil legal defense for low-income Americans. Judge Tatel also led the Office for Civil Rights under President Jimmy Carter, and later founded the Hogan Lovells Education practice, advancing desegregation in school districts throughout the country.
In 1994, Judge Tatel was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the D.C. Circuit to succeed former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He accomplished most of this after losing his eyesight at age 30. His memoir, “Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice,” will be published by Little, Brown on June 11, 2024.
More on this awards ceremony can be found here.
