Jim Long (’84) and Tom Walsh (’04) Honored for Pro Bono Service

The Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) has selected two Law School alumni, Jim Long (’84) and Tom Walsh (’04), as recipients of the organization’s 2016 Pro Bono Publico awards, which recognize significant contributions to pro bono service in Minnesota’s most populous county.

Jim Long will receive the Distinguished Service Award in honor of his career-long dedication to volunteer legal work on behalf of the community. Long, a shareholder at Briggs and Morgan and the chair of the firm’s pro bono committee, works to instill a spirit of service in his colleagues and those in the greater legal community as well. Working through the Volunteer Lawyers Network, in particular the Hennepin County Civil Counsel Pro Bono Project and the Benefactors Board, Long has provided 330 pro bono legal services in just the past five years. Long has also worked to expand guardianship resources for the Hennepin County Self-Help Center and has aided the county by obtaining and training Legal Access Point attorneys. Through Briggs and Morgan’s summer associate program, Long seeks to pass on his passion for pro bono work to a new generation of lawyers.

Tom Walsh will receive the HCBA’s Award of Excellence for a Public Attorney. As a staff member of the Minneapolis-based Volunteer Lawyers Network, Walsh works to provide legal services for indigent Minnesotans; in that role, he has significantly increased his clients’ access to representation in family law and bankruptcy cases. But his advocacy goes much further: he has founded a thriving bankruptcy legal advice clinic, was instrumental in creating the Special Immigration Juvenile Status Third Party Custody Pro Bono Project, and is currently working with the Hennepin County Juvenile Court to develop custodians in cases involving children in need of protection or services and termination of parental rights. Walsh has a national presence as well, having been asked to help create and improve pro bono programs across the United States.

Walsh and Long will be honored at the 36th annual Hennepin County Bar Benefit, to be held March 10 at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center.