Colby Anne Kingsbury is the 2013 recipient of the Edward J. Lewis II Pro Bono Service Award, the Chicago Bar Association and Chicago Bar Foundation's highest pro bono honor for attorneys in private practice.
Kingsbury was recognized for her legal work with immigrants, youth and incarcerated individuals and for "[improving] the system for countless others through her innovative and visionary systemic work." She is a partner at Faegre Baker Daniels LLP where she focuses on commercial litigation, intellectual property litigation and employment litigation.
Throughout her career, Kingsbury has successfully represented various inmates of Cook County Jail in civil rights actions seeking relief from excessive force and inadequate protection from other inmates. For more than a decade, she has served as co-counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union representing a class of all detained youth at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center seeking improved confinement conditions. She has also represented several immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. and serves on the NIJC's Litigation Steering Committee.
Kingsbury sits on Faegre Baker Daniels' Pro Bono Advisory Committee and is the central force behind the firm’s Africa Project, a pro bono collaboration with Advocates for Human Rights to advance the rule of law in Africa. In addition, Kingsbury serves as the board president of the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy and on the Litigation Steering Committee for the National Immigrant Justice Center.
"Colby truly embodies the spirit of pro bono service," said Kathleen Lyons, executive director of the center. "She is passionate about access to justice for all in the legal, educational and community systems that can be nearly impossible for the unrepresented to navigate."
The Chicago Bar Foundation presented Kingsbury with the Lewis Award at the Annual Pro Bono & Public Service Award Luncheon on July 16, 2013, at The Fairmont Hotel in Chicago. As part of the recognition, Kingsbury was invited to direct a $2,500 award to a grantee organization of the Chicago Bar Foundation.
Last year, Kingsbury participated in the College of Law's oral history series, a part of the DePaul centennial celebration. See footage of Kingsbury discussing her DePaul experience and expounding upon the merits of a law degree.