Kramer gets winning verdict

It’s a judgment LARRY KRAMER, pictured below, is certainly happy with: The Stanford Law School dean has been honored for his role in building an institution that nurtures a spirit of public service.

Kramer recently received the John R. Kramer Award for Outstanding Law School Dean from Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit group that focuses on public interest law and advocates on behalf of underserved communities and causes.

In giving him the award, Equal Justice Works commended Kramer’s support of public service initiatives and work to groom a new generation of public interest lawyers.

In turn, the Stanford Law School itself recognized advocates of voting and children’s rights.

Debo P. Adegbile, the director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, received the National Public Service Award for his work defending against a constitutional challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Adegbile also represented minority voters in a civil rights suit that resulted in improvements in Florida’s election system after the controversial 2000 presidential election.

Corene Kendrick, a 2003 alumna of the Law School and a lawyer at the Youth Law Center in San Francisco, received the Miles L. Rubin Public Interest Award. Kendrick focuses on confidentiality of juvenile records, due process in parole proceedings, education for youth in foster care and juvenile justice, conditions of secure confinement and foster care, and issues relating to race, mental health and developmental disabilities. She is working on a federal class action lawsuit alleging that California violated the constitutional rights of juvenile parolees.

The National Public Service Award is designated for an attorney whose work on behalf of the public has had national impact. The Miles L. Rubin Public Interest Award is given to a Stanford Law School graduate who has demonstrated courage in challenging social inequity and promoting positive solutions for social change. The awards were established in 2006 by the school’s Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law as part of its mission to raise awareness about the importance of public service.

—Adam Gorlick, photo courtesy of Steven Purcell and Equal Justice Works