Press Release

CHICAGO, June 19, 2009 – Winston & Strawn LLP is the 2009 corporate honoree of the Midwest Light of Human Rights Awards sponsored by the Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center. The firm is receiving the award for providing pro bono representation to nearly 70 asylum seekers and immigrant victims of crime and domestic violence since 2003. 

"Winston & Strawn leads the legal community in responding to the growing need for competent pro bono representation relating to gender persecution and domestic violence… Beyond the life-saving impact these attorneys have made in the lives of individual asylum-seekers, they have fought tirelessly in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals to bring fairness and accountability to the adjudication of asylum claims," said Mary Meg McCarthy of the Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center.

The firm will be honored with the Midwest Light of Human Rights Corporate Award during the tenth annual awards luncheon today.

Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights helps people who are threatened by poverty or danger to improve their lives and realize their human rights. For more than 100 years they have been providing solutions—both through services and advocacy—creating paths from crisis to stability and on to success. Their work in housing, health care, legal protections, and economic security supports more than 200,000 people annually, helping them build a better future.