Withington '81 Honored by Legal Aid Society for 30 Years of Public Service

Mary Withington '81 was honored for her more than 30 years of public legal service at the annual dinner and 90th anniversary celebration of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc., on May 2, 2013.

Withington received the organization's Ruth M. Miner Award, named after a 1920 graduate of Albany Law School who went on to be the first staff attorney and executive director of the Legal Aid Society. The award is conferred each year to a woman who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to the Legal Aid Society.

After graduating from Albany Law in 1981, Withington joined the Legal Aid Society as a staff attorney, and she has been a supervising attorney since 1986, focusing on disability and family law. She is also a 1998 recipient of a Denison Ray Civil Legal Services Staff Award, which is presented by the New York State Bar Association Committee on Legal Aid.

Also at the ceremony, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman received the Arthur J. Harvey Award, named after a 1930 graduate of Albany Law and conferred to an individual demonstrating passionate commitment to civil legal services.

The Legal Aid Society, now in its 90th year, provides free legal services and education, as well as advocacy, for people with low income or other barriers to legal representation.