Human Rights Initiative of North Texas Honors Akin Gump
(Dallas, Texas) – Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI) has presented Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld with a 2009 Angel of Freedom Award. The award was presented at the Annual HRI Thanksgiving Event on November 2 at the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art in downtown Dallas.
In honoring Akin Gump, the Dallas nonprofit agency praised the firm for providing “considerable pro bono legal resources” to the organization; in the last fiscal year alone, the firm has donated more than $400,000 in legal services – 30% of HRI’s legal donations. In addition, HRI recognized Akin Gump’s participation on HRI’s Pro Bono Committee, a body that leads and sets the direction for the HRI Pro Bono program and works to build greater involvement within the legal community.
J. Kenneth Menges Jr., partner in charge of the firm’s Dallas office and co-leader of Akin Gump’s firmwide corporate practice, said, “We are honored to receive this recognition from Human Rights Initiative. HRI provides unique services to people in dire need, and it is both fulfilling and a pleasure to assist.”
In addition to honoring Akin Gump, HRI presented Angel of Freedom Awards to the Embrey Family Foundation and the Women of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church.
HRI provides free legal representation and social services to indigent victims of human rights abuses and serves as a community resource on international human rights issues. The agency’s clients include victims of human rights abuses seeking asylum in the United States; victims of spousal or child abuse; immigrant children who often flee from violence and travel to the U.S. alone; and immigrant children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected by their parents in the United States. For more information on HRI, visit http://www.hrionline.org/.
Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a leading international law firm, numbers more than 800 lawyers and advisors in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
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