The American Bar Association Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division has named Kenneth W. Babcock, Executive Director and General Counsel of the Public Law Center of Orange County (PLC), recipient of the Dorsey Award.

The award recognizes exceptional work by a public defender or legal aid lawyer

Babcock has worked tirelessly to provide exceptional legal services to underprivileged clients for more than two decades. In 1989, he began his career in public interest law with Public Counsel in Los Angeles. As Directing Attorney of the Consumer Law Project and then Director of Litigation and Advocacy, Babcock recruited, trained and matched volunteer lawyers with hundreds of indigent clients; worked on legislative issues; and handled cases. In 2000, Babcock became Executive Director of the PLC. Since then, he increased the size of the staff, number of cases handled, and number of hours of free legal services the PLC provides. He also expanded PLC’s services by creating community clinics in more locations, new programs to assist immigrants and nonprofits, a healthcare advocacy project, and an AmeriCorps legal fellowship program. Babcock is a determined fundraiser; co-chairs the California Commission on Access to Justice; and served for five years on the California Judicial Council’s Civil and Small Claims Advisory Committee.

The Dorsey Award was established as a tribute to the late Charles H. Dorsey, Jr., long-time Executive Director of Maryland’s Legal Aid Bureau, Inc., champion of the poor and underprivileged and – at the time of his death – Chair Elect of the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division.

The ABA’s Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division will honor the 2010 Dorsey, Hodson and Nelson award winners at the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco during a reception on August 6, 2010 at the JW Marriott hotel from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.

Eligible recipients are lawyers who serve indigent persons and are in the employ of legal aid bureaus, indigent defense, or Legal Services Corporation funded organization serving the disadvantaged. To be eligible, nominees must be employed by an entity that receives government funding.