Equal Justice Works News Release

	news release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 25, 2009 CONTACT: James Carroll (202) 466-3686 ext. 102	jcarroll@equaljusticeworks.org www.equaljusticeworks.org
JUDITH LICHTMAN JOINS BOARD OF EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Equal Justice Works announced today that Judith Lichtman, former president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, has joined its board of directors. Ms. Lichtman has been a leading advocate for women and families for more than 30 years. She became the Executive Director and first paid staff member of the Women’s Legal Defense Fund in 1974. When the organization changed its name to the National Partnership for Women & Families in 1998, she became its President, a position she held until just recently when she stepped down to serve as Senior Advisor. Under her leadership, the organization has been at the forefront of every major piece of legislation related to women and families for the past 25 years. Ms. Lichtman's vision resulted in the passage of some of the most important legal protections for American women and families, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. In 1996, the National Partnership helped shape key provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that make it easier for women and their families to get and keep health coverage. More recently, Ms. Lichtman served as the leading voice for the more than 185 health care and consumer organizations supporting passage of the Patients' Bill of Rights Act (PBRA). Introduced into Congress in 1998 and reintroduced in 1999, the PBRA is a comprehensive health care reform proposal that would require health plans to provide quality care. ”Judy is one of the true heroes of the public interest movement. Her work has helped to shape a generation and we’ve all benefitted from her considerable accomplishments,” said David Stern, Chief Executive Officer for Equal Justice Works. “We are delighted to welcome her to our board.” Prior to joining the Women’s Legal Defense Fund in 1974, Ms. Lichtman worked at the Urban Coalition, at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and as legal advisor to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Ms. Lichtman received her law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1965. - end - Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1986 by law students dedicated to working for equal justice on behalf of underserved communities and causes. Today, Equal Justice Works is the national leader in creating summer and postgraduate public interest opportunities for law students and lawyers as well as in advocating for more public interest programming at law schools. For more information, visit www.equaljusticeworks.org.
EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS \| 2120 L Street, NW \| Suite 450 \| Washington, DC 20037 tel: (202) 466-3686 \| fax: (202) 429-9766 \| www.equaljusticeworks.org