NYCLA’s 2025 Annual Public Sector Awards Honors Outstanding Lawyers in Public Service

December 6,  New York, New York – The New York County Lawyers Association will present awards to dedicated public sector and public interest attorneys at their awards ceremony and reception on January 23, 2025, at 6:00 P.M. at the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York at 500 Pearl Street.  The awards will be presented by the event chair, Catherine A. Christian, former Unit Chief, Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, current partner with Liston Abramson LLP, and legal analyst for NBC News.

Since 1990, NYCLA has presented its Public Service Awards to honor lawyers in the public sector and public interest attorneys who have distinguished themselves as role models, innovators and problem solvers of complex legal issues.  The Awards recognize the efforts of lawyers who dedicate themselves to public service, but whose achievements are not often publicly acknowledged.  It is especially fitting that we do this at a time when harsh economic realities, especially the high cost of education, exact enormous sacrifices from those who choose public service as their career path.

We congratulate our 2025 awardees:

• Elsie Chandler, Founding Director, Youth Law Practice, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem

• Melissa Lim Chua, Co-Director, Immigration Protection Unit, New York Legal Assistance Group

• Christopher C. Edel, Assistant District Attorney, Office of the Special Narcotics  Prosecutor

• Megan J. Freismuth, Assistant United States Attorney, Civil Division, United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York

• Linda Lopez, Senior Deputy Director, Sanctuary’s Legal Center, CBWLS, Sanctuary for Families

• Sheryl R. Neufeld, Acting First Assistant Corporation Counsel, New York City Law Department

• Lemuel M. Srolovic, Bureau Chief, Environmental Protection Bureau, Office of the New York State Attorney General

About the New York County Lawyers Association
The New York County Lawyers Association (nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as one of the first major bar associations in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence.  For more information on NYCLA please visit nycla.org

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