Highlights from 2025 Fall Events

Each Fall, Equal Justice Works brings together its community of Fellows, alumni and supporters for a series of cornerstone events: the Scales of Justice celebration and Leadership Development Training (LDT). These gatherings celebrate our shared commitment to advancing equal justice and supporting the next generation of public interest law leaders.

The Scales of Justice

On November 5, 2025, Equal Justice Works convened with over 900 supporters in Washington, D.C. for the 2025 Scales of Justice, the organization’s premier fundraiser and recognition of the incredible public interest work accomplished by our community. 

This year’s event honored Rishi Varma, for his commitment to service and recognized Equal Justice Works alum, Taylor Sartor with the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award, for her leadership in building infrastructure to support systems-impacted youth in Florida.  

This year, we raised over $3 million to support Equal Justice Works in mobilizing a community of lawyers committed to public service and equal justice! 

Hosted by Board Chair Frank Jimenez, the event highlighted Text-to-Give Fellow Bri Crawford who advocates for systems-impacted youth. In response, attendees texted in donations totaling more than $81,000 to fund a 2026 Equal Justice Works Fellow who, like Bri, will pursue their passion to help individuals and communities in need. Guests also heard from 2022 Fellow Adrieanna Hutson, who shared her work providing legal aid to tenants who were impacted by disasters. Click the image below to watch Adrieanna’s video: 

Watch: 2022 Fellow Adrieanna Hutson on Communities Affected by Extreme Heat

Thanks to everyone who made the 2025 Scales of Justice possible: Champion of Justice sponsors Cargill; Greenberg Traurig, LLP; and Wilkinson Stekloff LLP, as well as our other event sponsors, the 2025 Steering Committee, additional event speakers Ernest Greer and Archi Pyati, our staff, and all who attended and supported the Scales of Justice! 

Leadership Development Training 2025 

Leading up to Scales of Justice celebration, 169 of our current Fellows had an opportunity to learn, network, and hear from 22 experts at the Leadership Development Training (LDT) 2025. LDT is our annual networking and career development event for Fellows, and this year focused on “Movement Building: Power, Purpose & Public Service in Challenging Times”.  

Through a series of community collaboration sessions and skill-based workshops, facilitators provided expertise in areas such as storytelling, community organizing, and movement lawyering. Our Alumni community was also instrumental in making this year’s LDT a success, with 19 Equal Justice Works alumni returning to speak on panels, facilitate issue area-focused networking sessions, and the Alumni Advisory Council stepping up to host a networking event for Fellows on the first day of the event. 

We are so grateful to our community for joining us for another successful year of fall events. If you missed out this year, consider donating here. We are already looking forward to next year, when we will celebrate Equal Justice Works’ 40th anniversary. We hope to see you there!