On Monday, November 28, 2022, Arthur N. Read, Esquire, General Counsel of Justice at Work (formerly Friends of Farmworkers), was honored with the sixth annual Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Immigration Law Pro Bono Award.
The PBA Immigration Law Pro Bono Award, which is sponsored by the business immigration law firm of Green and Spiegel, U.S. and coordinated by the PBA Immigration Law Committee, was created to annually recognize the pro bono accomplishments of an individual or organization working with the PBA in immigration law. The award is given to those that have provided a unique service resulting in a significant provision of legal services to the neediest of foreign nationals on a pro bono basis or as part of legal aid outreach. The winners are selected in consultation with PBA leadership.
Jonathon Grode, Green and Spiegel, U.S. Practice Director and Managing Partner, celebrated Reed: “Art is one of the most creative, passionate, and dedicated immigration lawyers I have ever met. His ability to protect those who have been disadvantage and taken advantage of is unparalleled. Art is an advocate in the fullest sense of the word, and I am so pleased that he is the 2021 recipient of the PBA Immigration Law Pro Bono Award.
Read has worked for farm workers’ rights in the Philadelphia area since 1979, handling employment and labor law representation of farm workers, low wage immigrant workers, unions, and rank and file workers within unionized and non‐unionized settings. He has faced down everything from physical violence to litigation bad faith in a career that has made life better for thousands of workers and their families.
Wendy Hess, a co-founder of the PBA Immigration Law Committee, noted: “I can’t think of anyone more worthy of this— or of any other immigration award. You have put your heart and soul into protecting our clients since I first met you, first with the mushroom workers in the camps, later with circus workers and now mentoring the next generation of ‘Arts’.”
“Mazel Tov!” Hess added.
Green and Spiegel, U.S. has donated in honor of Reed’s award to the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the PBA, to benefit the PBA Pro Bono Office.
Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence, and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access of legal services; and serve the lawyer members of the state’s largest organized bar association.
