About the Fund & Award
-
Tony was a “lawyer’s lawyer.” He trained a generation of Carmody attorneys and earned the respect and admiration of his clients and colleagues. Tony was a long-time supporter of Connecticut Bar Foundation and was a Charter James W. Cooper Fellow. Carmody lawyers and staff, friends, and others made the initial contributions to the Fund, and proceeds were donated to CBF to establish the Fund.
The Award recognizes excellence in advocacy, a hallmark of Tony’s career. It provides an opportunity to acknowledge the dedicated service and outstanding achievements of CT nonprofit civil legal service providers or legal aid attorneys who demonstrate a commitment to the provision of zealous and skilled legal representation to low-income clients. CBF presents the award and cash prize annually.
Amy Eppler-Epstein, 2025 Fitzgerald Honoree
Connecticut Veterans Legal Center
The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) started the United States’ first medical-legal partnership with federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2009. We work in interdisciplinary teams with mental health and medical clinicians to solve legal problems that affect veteran recovery. CVLC is the only medical-legal partnership to be co-located and staffed on a daily basis at a VA facility. To this end, CVLC provides free legal assistance to veterans who are in recovery from homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse to help them overcome legal barriers to housing, healthcare and income. The CVLC’s vision is for all military veterans in CT to live with adequate means, safe and secure housing, and affordable health care.
CVLC grew out of the volunteer work of Margaret Middleton and Howard Udell. Howard first came to the VA Connecticut’s Errera Community Care Center in 2007 as a volunteer. The Errera Center is a nationally-recognized VA facility providing mental health, substance abuse, housing and employment assistance to indigent veterans. When veterans learned Howard was an attorney, they started asking him for advice about their legal troubles. Soon a line would form by the elevator on days when Howard was coming in. Before long Howard was assisting thirty veterans on his own; he was walking proof of the unmet legal needs of veterans rebuilding their lives.
In 2009, Howard joined with Margaret to incorporate CVLC with seed funding from the Yale Initiative for Public Interest Law. The mission of the organization was, and remains, to help veterans recovering from homelessness and serious mental illness overcome legal barriers to housing, healthcare and income. CVLC now employs fourteen staff members.
To date, CVLC has served more than 4,700 veterans -- helping them to resolve destabilizing legal problems. In 2014, CVLC added the VA’s Newington Facility as a second program delivery location and in 2017 added the CT Department of Veteran’s Affairs as its third site. In April 2015, CVLC proudly accepted the VA’s National Community Partnership Award for its groundbreaking medical-legal partnership with the VA CT’s Errera Community Care Center. In 2017, CVLC was awarded the Community Partnership Award from the CT Psychological Association and the Pro Bono Partner award from Corporate Pro Bono Institute.
CVLC drafted and successfully lobbied for a state bill which grants veterans second chances to avoid jail and overcome mental health and substance abuse issues related to their service. In 2019, CVLC pro bono attorneys from Halloran & Sage were awarded the Hartford County Bar Association 2019 Pro Bono Award for their work with CVLC to provide pro bono representation to low-income veterans facing homelessness. And CVLC’s partnership with Sikorsky Aircraft and Teamsters Local 1150 was recognized with the 2019 Corporate Pro Bono Partner Award from the Pro Bono Institute. In 2020, CVLC launched its national policy initiative – The Veterans Inclusion Project – and will be publishing a legal practice manual on discharge upgrade cases in the near future.
Nominations and Selection
The award recognizes the dedicated service and outstanding achievements of a Connecticut nonprofit civil legal service provider or legal aid attorney(s). CBF Awards Committee solicits nominations from the James W. Cooper Fellows, and may consider nominations from other sources. A nomination should describe how the nominee has demonstrated excellence in the provision of zealous and skilled legal representation for low-income clients in Connecticut.
Eligibility
Connecticut Bar Foundation presents the Anthony M. Fitzgerald Award for Excellence to a legal service provider that currently receives an Interest on Lawyers Trust Account grant from CBF ("Grantee"), or an attorney employed by, or who provides volunteer legal services through, a Grantee. Access to justice is a fundamental right, and legal aid providers and attorneys perform a crucial role in ensuring fair and equal access to those most at risk of being excluded from our legal system. Without the zealous and passionate representation of civil legal aid providers, those who face the loss of basic human needs – including housing, safety from domestic violence, health care benefits, employment, and educational opportunities – are often ill-equipped to protect their legal rights.
The Anthony M. Fitzgerald Award for Excellence honors legal service providers and attorneys who demonstrate a commitment to providing skilled legal representation for low-income clients, including direct client or other activities that ensure that Connecticut citizens have legal assistance when facing important civil legal concerns affecting their safety, health, shelter, and survival. Other activities may include implementing a new legal service program, project, or service that expands access to justice for low-income residents of Connecticut.
