On December 11th, PILI will recognize four award recipients for their efforts and dedication to pro bono and public interest law service in their communities. PILI’s Annual Awards Luncheon will bring together the Illinois legal community to celebrate the very best ideals of the profession. PILI will celebrate these award recipients as well as the countless lawyers, law students, legal professionals, law firms and corporations who dedicate themselves to providing legal assistance to those in need and ensuring access to justice for all.
Congratulations to this year’s award recipients!
DISTINGUISHED PILI INTERN ALUMNI AWARD: MARTIN H. COZZOLA
Marty joined Impact for Equity’s housing team in September 2022, where he focuses on removing barriers and promoting housing choice across the Chicago region, including for families living in or seeking subsidized or other affordable housing. Since he joined Impact for Equity, Marty has led efforts to expand the availability of affordable housing in the Chicago region. In 2023, Marty led Impact for Equity’s participation in a coalition of nonprofits that worked to amend the Illinois Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act (AHPAA). Prior to joining Impact for Equity, Mary worked at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS), where he represented countless low-income clients throughout Cook County, including families facing homelessness due to foreclosure, the death of a loved one, or the loss of a Housing Choice Voucher. Most recently, Marty was the Supervising Attorney for CVLS’ portion of the Illinois Armed Forces Legal Aid Network and the Early Resolution Program, a new initiative designed to level the playing field in Cook County’s eviction courts. Marty served as Chair of PILI‘s Alumni Network Leadership Council, where he continues to serve as a member. He also served as a community representative for the Local School Council at Frederick Funston Elementary School in Logan Square.
DISTINGUISHED PILI FELLOW ALUMNI AWARD: PRIYA DESAI
Priya is an associate in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office and a member of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice. Since 2017, Priya has devoted more than 1,000 hours to pro bono work, always exceeding Mayer Brown’s goal of 60 pro bono hours per attorney while also managing a full client caseload. During her time at the firm, Priya has worked on numerous pro bono matters, including representing a prisoner in a civil rights case because of a failure to protect him from threats from other inmates; research on behalf of the Family Defense Center on national and state models surrounding issues of mental health information and confidentiality in the course of child protection investigations; FOIA requests on behalf of Muslim Advocates to track training of law enforcement agencies by anti-Muslim pressure groups; two family separation cases; and two other prisoner civil rights case alleging failure to provide adequate medical attention. A “Double PILI,” Priya was a PILI Law Student Intern at CAPRLS, and continued her work there after graduation as a PILI Graduate Fellow sponsored by Mayer Brown. She is involved in several Chicago-area public interest organizations, including serving as a member of the CARPLS Professionals Board, Uptown People’s Law Center Board and as an Alumni Class Representative for PILI.
DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD: BARRY C. TAYLOR
From 1996-2023, Barry served as the Vice President for Civil Rights and Systemic Litigation at Equip for Equality. At Equip for Equality, he developed, litigated, and oversaw many individual and systemic disability discrimination cases, including successful ADA suits against the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Chicago Police Department, and the Chicago Transit Authority. He was co-counsel in eight class actions, including lead counsel in Ligas v. Eagleson, a class action on behalf of people with developmental disabilities seeking community services. Prior to joining Equip for Equality, Barry was the AIDS Project Attorney in the Midwest Regional Office of Lambda Legal working to advance the civil rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. His caseload included a successful challenge to discriminatory inquiries by the Chicago Public Schools on teacher applications. Barry is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, where he has taught Disability Rights Law to second and third-year law students since 2021. He is also a member of the board of directors of Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), the leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center.
PRO BONO INITIATIVE AWARD: CHAPMAN AND CUTLER LLP
This year, Chapman introduced a 1L Pro Bono Fellow program, welcoming three first-year law students to the firm for an eight-week period dedicated exclusively to pro bono work. The fellows participated in a pro se asylum clinic for recent immigrants, assisted with the defensive asylum case of a transgender individual from Togo, observed various court proceedings, including those involving incarcerated litigants, and observed cases at the Domestic Violence Courthouse. This pioneering initiative allows law students to immerse themselves in pro bono activities and fosters a culture of service from the outset. As an early adopter of Illinois Free Legal Answers, Chapman has been recognized as an ABA Free Legal Answers Pro Bono Leader for six consecutive years. Chapman’s program has been honored by several organizations throughout the years, including the Illinois Bar Association, the Center for Disability and Elder Law, and the Greater Chicago Legal Clinic, among others. Chapman has a long history of providing pro bono legal services to organizations throughout Chicago, and now serves pro bono clients from coast to coast.