Distinguished attorney and businesswoman recognized for strengthening Tahirih’s pro bono attorney network
WASHINGTON — Tahirih presented distinguished attorney and businesswoman Laura Loeb with the Washington, D.C. Area Volunteer Service Award on April 9 at its 17th Annual Gala, “Saving Lives, Celebrating Courage.”
The award is presented annually to a Tahirih volunteer who advances Tahirih’s mission to protect immigrant women and girls who refuse to be victims of violence.
After a distinguished legal career as a partner at Hogan Lovells and then King & Spalding, Loeb retired to focus on other business endeavors, and volunteered to lead Tahirih’s pro bono evaluation project.
The project will help Tahirih rigorously evaluate its award-winning pro bono program that partners with volunteer attorneys to protect immigrant women and girls who have suffered gender-based violence, including rape, female genital mutilation, domestic violence, human trafficking, honor crimes, and forced marriage.
Tahirih’s pro bono network is vital to its work to protect hundreds of immigrant women and girls each year. Its robust network of more than 1,200 pro bono attorneys and firms donated more than $10.2 million in free legal services to Tahirih clients in 2012 alone. Tahirih’s vast pro bono network, which also includes medical professionals and other experts, enabled Tahirih to turn every $1 donated into $4 of impact in 2013.
Loeb’s exemplary leadership of the pro bono evaluation project has been invaluable.
As the leader of the project, Loeb managed more than a dozen volunteer attorneys, and provided oversight for interviews of more than 70 clients, pro bono attorneys, pro bono coordinators, and Tahirih in-house counsel. She also conducted vital research on behalf of Tahirih’s Forced Marriage Initiative, a program launched in 2011 to combat forced marriage in the United States.
