The National Law Journal selected WilmerHale as one of only four law firms to receive a 2006 Pro Bono Award. Seth Waxman, David Ogden, and Danielle Spinelli were honored for their work in the Roper v. Simmons case, which was one of the most important death penalty cases in recent history argued successfully before the US Supreme Court.

The feature article in the National Law Journal describes how the WilmerHale team of three lawyers became involved in the case of a juvenile client on death row in the state of Missouri. Jennifer Herndon, a solo practitioner who was appointed to represent juvenile client, Christopher Simmons, against a death penalty sentence, sought out WilmerHale’s assistance when the case ended up at the Supreme Court.

Missouri State Solicitor, and the team’s opposition arguing Roper v. Simmons, James Layton, praises Mr. Waxman in the article saying that he is “one of the best advocates there is. We’ve had him on our side when he was [US] solicitor general. It was a little daunting to have him on their [opposing] side.”

The article ran in the January 2, 2006 issue of the National Law Journal. Click here to view a PDF of the article. This legal publication can be found online at www.nlj.com.