Suzette Pringle Honored With Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights 2015 Keta Taylor Colby Award
January.22.2015
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) of the San Francisco Bay Area has chosen Orrick associate Suzette Pringle as the recipient of its 2015 Keta Taylor Colby Award. Each year, the Keta Taylor Colby Award is presented to an attorney who provides outstanding representation to pro bono clients through the LCCR’s Second Chance Legal Clinic, which addresses the civil consequences of the disproportionate representation of people of color and low-income affected by the criminal justice system.
Ms. Pringle first began working with the Second Chance Legal Clinic in 2012, when she assisted a client in re-applying for a pharmacy technician license after his first application was denied due to prior misdemeanor drug convictions. Ms. Pringle helped the client gather his application materials, including letters of recommendation and additional documents providing evidence of his post-conviction rehabilitation efforts. She also helped him prepare a personal statement explaining the circumstances of his convictions as well as his attempts to rectify his mistakes, and submitted a letter to the California State Pharmacy Board summarizing those points. As a result of Ms. Pringle’s assistance, the California State Pharmacy Board granted the client his pharmacy technician license in May 2013. Recently, Ms. Pringle also assisted a client whose prior criminal history hindered his ability to find permanent employment. She filed a Motion to Seal portions of the client’s criminal record, which was granted in July 2014.
The LCCR will recognize Ms. Pringle at the 28th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards Luncheon on Friday, January 23 in San Francisco. This year’s keynote speaker is Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative.