MADISON – Legal Services Corporation (LSC) President Ronald S. Flagg will join the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund (WEJF) for their annual Howard B. Eisenberg Lifetime Achievement Awards Dinner, which will be held on Saturday, November 4 at The Madison Club. LSC is the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans in the nation, and Flagg will speak on the topic of legal aid and the justice gap. His roots trace back to Wisconsin, where he commenced his career as a law clerk to Judge Myron L. Gordon in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Subsequently, he practiced law at Sidley Austin for 31 years and started work with the LSC in 2013. Throughout his distinguished career, Flagg has participated actively on numerous law-related committees and boards, often in leadership roles, championing the cause of pro bono and public interest law throughout the nation.
Judge David D. Raasch (retired) will receive the 2023 Howard B. Eisenberg Lifetime Achievement Award at the dinner. The award honors those who have devoted significant time, talents, or resources to the provision or advancement of pro bono civil legal aid in Wisconsin. Raasch’s commitment to the justice system spans over five decades, encompassing roles as a sheriff’s deputy, clerk of municipal court, chief judge of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Council Tribal Court, and peacemaking advisor and trainer. Currently, he serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute in West Hollywood, CA, and holds the position of Board Chairman for Judicare Legal Aid in Wisconsin. Raasch has been an unwavering advocate and board member of Judicare for over a decade and has been at the helm as Chairperson since 2017.
WEJF will also recognize Phoua Yang from Judicare Legal Aid with the Distinguished Service Award for 2023 for her exemplary record of legal service to underserved populations. Yang’s tenure at JLA spans an impressive 21 years, during which she has fulfilled various roles within client services, from receptionist and interpreter to her current pivotal position as Client Services Director. Her unwavering commitment to her work has solidified her as an invaluable member of the JLA management team. She has trained and supervised more staff than anyone, and as part of that training, she has worked to support all employees in maintaining a culture of hard work, respect, and compassion for their clients and each other.
Registration for the dinner is open now on the WEJF website, wejf.org/dinner-registration. Sponsorships are also available for the event.
About Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund: The Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund (WEJF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Madison that raises funds to support three of the largest pro bono civil legal aid organizations in the state: Legal Action of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Judicare, and Disability Rights Wisconsin. WEJF’s Board of Directors consists of 29 attorneys from private law firms and in-house legal departments across Wisconsin. Since its inception in 1997, WEJF has raised over $7 million to help these organizations address civil legal problems such as domestic violence, housing and homelessness, and barriers to employment for Wisconsin’s poorest citizens.
About Legal Services Corporation: Under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Americans are only guaranteed a lawyer in criminal cases and must go without assistance if they are a senior citizen being evicted from their home, the victim of domestic violence, or a veteran being denied earned benefits. The LSC was created to financially support legal aid organizations that assist with these and other types of civil matters, and it provides grants for high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. Two of WEJF’s beneficiaries, Legal Action of Wisconsin and Judicare Legal Aid, are among the 131 service providers that receive grants from the LSC.
