Legal Aid DC Raises $2.3M at Servant of Justice Awards Dinner

Legal Aid DC celebrated the organization’s 36th annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner on April 28, 2026, recognizing an inspiring group of honorees and raising a record $2.3 million. 

About 700 members of the local legal community attended the dinner at the JW Marriott in Washington in support of Legal Aid’s work and this year’s distinguished honorees.  

This year’s Servant of Justice Awards were presented to former U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, now a partner at Cooley, and longtime Morgan Lewis partner Grace Speights. Each was recognized for an exceptional career shaped not only by prestigious positions and high-profile cases but also grounded in service to others.  

“As lawyers, we don't just litigate principles; we represent people. Cases are not abstractions; they are stories, they are lives,” Ms. Prelogar said after accepting her award. “Our responsibility as advocates is to make sure the law reflects the lived realities of the communities we represent. And that's the work that Legal Aid does day in and day out.”

Ms. Speights said receiving the Servant of Justice Award was an “incredible honor.”

“The work your organization does every day—helping people stay in their homes, protecting workers, supporting survivors, and ensuring that people who otherwise could not afford a lawyer still have access to justice—is essential to the health of our community and our legal system,” she said.

Samantha Sergent, an associate at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP, accepted the Klepper Prize for Volunteer Excellence for her dedication to Legal Aid’s pro bono record sealing program. And Legal Aid presented the Partnership Award to former client Alexander Hoskins; Hoskins went weeks without running water in his Ward 8 apartment but won his case with help from Legal Aid DC and stood up for other tenants in a similar position.  

“This is hard work. It is urgent work. And it is possible because of the people in this room—because of your generosity, your partnership, and your belief that equal justice is still worth fighting for,” Legal Aid DC Executive Director Vikram Swaruup said.  

Dozens of law firms, companies, and individual donors sponsored this year’s dinner. The show of support came at a critical time, as the DC Council considers the mayor’s proposal to cut funding for legal services by 86%. More than 150 dinner attendees sent emails that night to the DC Council to urge them to fund the Access to Justice Initiative.  

Elizabeth Prelogar served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2021 to 2025 before returning to Cooley as a partner to lead the firm’s Supreme Court and Appellate practice. Over the course of her career, she has argued 35 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court on critical issues including reproductive health care, voting rights, administrative law, First Amendment rights, technology, immigration policy, affirmative action, consumer protection, gun safety, and protections for domestic violence survivors. In one consequential case for Legal Aid DC’s client community, Ms. Prelogar successfully defended the constitutionality of a federal statute that restricts people who committed acts of domestic violence from accessing firearms.  

Ms. Prelogar is regarded as one of the country’s top appellate lawyers, delivering more Supreme Court arguments since 2021 than any other advocate.  She has been recognized with the Harvard Law School Association Award, the law school’s highest alumni honor, and the Edmund J. Randolph Award, the highest award conferred by the U.S. Department of Justice. She clerked for Judge Merrick Garland on the D.C. Circuit and for Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court.

Samantha Sergent is an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Ms. Sergent has been a driving force in building the pro bono component of Legal Aid’s Reentry Justice Project. Legal Aid began partnering with pro bono attorneys on criminal record sealing in 2020, and since then, Ms. Sergent has helped Simpson Thacher become a pillar of the program.  

Over the past five years, Ms. Sergent has taken on 12 criminal record sealing matters for Legal Aid clients, while also mentoring colleagues and helping expand pro bono participation at her firm. She has become a trusted resource within her firm for colleagues taking on reentry cases.