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Judith A. Litzenberger ’98 Recognized with 2011 President's Pro Bono Service Award

USD School of Law alumna Judith A. Litzenberger, ’98, received the 2011 President's Pro Bono Service Award from the State Bar of California.

The State Bar of California’s President’s Pro Bono Service Awards recognize California attorneys, law firms, associations, accredited law schools and current law students who have provided or enabled the direct provision of legal services to poor persons or organizations whose primary purpose is to provide legal services to the poor, free of charge, without expectation of compensation from the client, in the preceding calendar year. A solo practitioner and a veteran focusing on military, criminal and civil law, Judith “Jude” A. Litzenberger, ’98, dedicated herself to the development of the San Diego Superior Court Veterans Treatment Review Calendar (VTRC).

VTRC is a calendar devoted to criminal cases of veterans suffering from service-related, treatable mental disorders. Through VTRC, veterans in such circumstances have greater access to court-supervised treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Jude also helped train citizen volunteers to serve as individual mentors for VTRC participants, guided the experts from various agencies—including prosecutors, defense lawyers, probation and court staff—into a team to operate a collaborative court, and forged a bond of trust with San Diego’s military community. 

In 2010, Jude devoted some 1,200 pro bono hours to developing VTRC and assisted at least 100 veterans to seek alternative sentencing in local criminal cases. Jude’s dedication to serving the veterans also led her to the drafting of legislation to support treatment courts for veterans throughout the state, co-founding of the San Diego Returning Veterans Legal Task Force, and serving on the San Diego Citizens’ Review Board for Police Practices. She also found time to train 20 JAG lawyers to represent clients at homeless court and provided 30 MCLE presentations to hundreds of attorneys. We congratulate Jude on this recognition.

View all the 2011 State Bar of California President’s Pro Bono Service Award recipients