Supporting Firms and Organizations | History of the Award | Wiley A. Branton Award Recipients | Alfred McKenzie Award
Vincent E. Reed Awards | Outstanding Achievement Awards | Download Program (PDF) Download Update Newsletter (PDF)| Download Partners Unlimited Bulletin Board Newsletter (PDF)

The Vincent E. Reed Award was first presented by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee in 2003. The award is given in the name of Dr. Vincent Reed, the distinguished educator whose encouragement and support were directly responsible for the Committee’s decision to establish its public education support programs.
Following his graduation from West Virginia State College and military service during the Korean War, Vincent Reed began his career as an educator in the D.C. Public Schools in 1956. Within several years, he was promoted from a teaching position to a series of important administrative posts in the school system, culminating in his appointment as D.C. School Superintendent in 1975. His appointment to this post came at a time when the local schools were experiencing enormous stress and public criticism. Dr. Reed’s charismatic leadership and the rigorous educational programs he championed helped immeasurably to restore public confidence in the city’s schools.
In 1978, Dr. Reed met with the staff of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee and encouraged them to seek law firm volunteers to serve as legal counsel for parent leaders at a dozen public schools in Southeast Washington. This initial effort became the basis for the Committee’s representation of Parents United for the D.C. Public Schools and the D.C. Public School/Law Firm Partnership Program, which now operates in 45 schools across the city.

Following his tenure as D.C. School Superintendent, Dr. Reed went on to serve as an Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education and as Vice President for Communications at the Washington Post Company.

McDermott Will & Emery LLP

In 1997, McDermott Will & Emery began its strong and productive relationship with the staff and students at Anthony Bowen Elementary School. Over the past eight years, the firm’s far-ranging programs have involved hundreds of firm employees and touched the lives of hundreds of children. McDermott’s partnership is built around a highly effective one-on-one tutoring program. The firm has augmented its tutoring program with the sponsorship of field trips, holiday parties and support for special book drives. The Bowen partnership was a major factor in the firm’s decision to make children-oriented projects the primary focus of its pro bono program. The success of the D.C. partnership was also the inspiration for the firm’s decision to establish similar partnerships in its offices in several other cities.

Recently, Guy Collier, a partner at the firm, joined a special Lawyers’ Committee Advisory Committee, with the goal of expanding partnership programs to additional law firms and corporate legal departments throughout the city.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson thriving partnership with School Without Walls represents a model for law firms working with high school students. Begun as part of Georgetown University’s Street Law Project, the firm’s work has expanded dramatically over the past ten years in association with the Committee to encompass mentoring, book drives and the sponsorship of field trips. A focus of the firm’s effort has been the “Walls Roundtable”, a program involving discussions on a variety of topics with highly motivated students, and the hosting of a special presentation honoring high achievers who have completed an enhanced reading curriculum.

For several years, the firm has been an active participant and frequent winner of the Committee’s annual baking competition and fundraiser for partnership schools.