Daniel M. Gribbon Pro Bono Advocacy Award, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 2011
Zuckerman Spaeder LLP is pleased to announce that partners William J. Murphy and John J. Connolly received the 2011 Daniel M. Gribbon Pro Bono Advocacy Award from the Judicial Conference of the District of Columbia Circuit’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services. Mr. Murphy and Mr. Connolly were recognized for their five-year advocacy on behalf of a Yemeni national who was released after being held for more than eight years in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“We are humbled to receive this award on the occasion of a District Court reception honoring the pro bono service of all the Guantanamo habeas lawyers,” said Mr. Murphy. “We followed in the footsteps of extremely dedicated and talented lawyers, many working with and for the Center for Constitutional Rights, Reprieve, and other legal, educational, and charitable institutions.”
The award was presented by the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, during a reception honoring the pro bono work of more than 500 other attorneys who have represented detainees seeking release from Guantanamo Bay.
Mr. Connolly and Mr. Murphy, along with associate Daniel P. Moylan, began representing the detainee in March 2005—several months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay had a statutory right to file petitions for habeas corpus in the federal courts. After five years of litigation and other advocacy by Mr. Murphy, Mr. Connolly, and their colleagues, the client was returned to his homeland.
The Daniel M. Gribbon Pro Bono Advocacy Award annually honors the memory of the Washington, DC lawyer and his strong commitment to pro bono service.