OUTLaw Student Group Earns NYSBA President's Pro Bono Service Award

May 02, 2023

Albany Law School’s OUTLaw student group was selected for a New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) President’s Pro Bono Service Award for their work educating the law school community—and greater legal community—on issues relating to the queer community as well as the group’s volunteerism alongside community partners.

OUTLaw aims to provide a safe, welcoming community for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals, as well as for their allies, both on campus and off.

The group hosts a variety of events throughout the year including an event for National Coming Out Day, an annual luncheon with established queer legal professionals, and a bi-annual professional headshot event. OUTLaw collaborated with the Albany Law School Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to help the Pride Center of the Capital Region clean up their outdoor space.

Their cornerstone event is a collaboration with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASSNY). The groups assist transgender individuals with pro se name change paperwork and hope to “make a complicated process more accessible to the transgender individuals who need it.”

"OUTLaw is honored to receive NYSBA's President's Pro Bono Service Award for our work with LASNNY's name change clinic for transgender individuals. We are proud to begin our legal careers with pro bono work, because we believe it is a foundational part of the legal profession and are committed to giving back to the community,” said Julia McCarthy ’24, President of OUTLaw and Laura "Korra" Johnson '24, Vice President of OUTLaw. "We look forward to continuing our work with LASNNY and the name change clinic as well as further opportunities to provide pro bono work to our LGBT community and beyond."

OUTLaw was honored at NYSBA’s Pro Bono Service Awards, held annual on May 1 – Law Day.