In February the Pro Bono Institute honored Dean Judy Areen with the 2004 Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award, marking the first time the award has gone to an academic professional.
     The award was presented to Dean Areen in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court on February 20th. In her introductory remarks, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg described Areen’s many accomplishments:“In her years as dean, the largest law school in the nation has become as well one of the best in the nation.With her firm hand at the helm, the Georgetown law faculty has grown in size and strength, the Law Center’s physical facilities have been improved beyond measure, and the school’s programs have become models for the country in, among other fields, international law, clinical law, and legal ethics.”
     According to Esther Lardent, president of the Pro Bono Institute, Dean Areen was selected because, under her leadership, the Law Center has “truly integrated public interest law into every aspect of the study and lives of the Law Center’s students, faculty, and alumni.”
     During her 15-year tenure, Dean Areen established and created a permanent home for the law school's groundbreaking Office of Public Interest and Community Service (OPICS). She also supported and strengthened its Womens Law and Public Policy Fellowship program, which promotes the leadership of women in supporting justice around the world.
     Also under her tenure, the Law Center established the Pro Bono Pledge, which challenges each law student to perform 75 hours of law-related pro bono service before graduation, and launched one of the first faculty pro bono programs, through which Georgetown professors are asked to contribute 50 or more hours of service annually.
She also greatly strengthened and improved the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, making it one of the top loan assistance programs in the country.
     Under the leadership of Dean Areen and Associate Dean Wally Mlyniec, the clinical program at the Law Center has become the largest, strongest and most diverse in the country. Nearly 60% of each graduating class participates in at least one of the 14 clinical courses.
     She has also greatly enhanced the Public Interest Law Scholars program, providing the financial assistance needed to enable students to pursue the range of public interest options available to them during and after law school. Dean Areen has more than doubled career advising services for students interested in pursuing public interest careers. The school’s two full-time public interest counselors advise more than 600 students each year on postgraduate fellowships, government honors programs, academic and summer internships, and other employment options. In addition, OPICS conducts numerous job fairs and other career-related programs each year, and it administers a public interest mentor program through which alumni provide guidance to current students on public interest career opportunities.

Pro Bono Institute President Esther Lardent, left, said the institute chose Dean Areen to receive its award because she has “truly integrated public interest law” throughout the Law Center community.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, standing with Dean Areen and Areen’s 2004 Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award, said the Law Center “has become one of the best in the nation” during Areen’s tenure.