2021 Champions of Justice Gala Benefiting Veterans Program

J A M E S B. S A L E S B O OT S O N T H E G R O U N D AWA R D Allison Eichenfeld Neal Allison, a graduate of Emory University’s School of Law, has spent her legal career addressing all types of complicated legal issues and helping those who need a strong ally in their fight for justice. Allison started her legal career at the ACLU of Alabama and was eventually named Legal Director of that office. She was involved in a number of high-profile lawsuits, including Henderson v.

Thomas, a successful challenge to Alabama’s policy of segregating prisoners with HIV and denying them equal access to rehabilitative programs. She also worked to protect immigrant children’s access to public schools, and end gender discrimination in schools.

In 2013, Public Justice, a national impact litigation and advocacy nonprofit in Washington D.C., named Allison as a finalist for their Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for her contribution to the public interest with her precedent-setting, socially significant casework. In Virginia, she worked in private practice, representing indigent juveniles, adults facing misdemeanor and serious felony charges, and children as a guardian ad litem.

As an attorney at Texas Advocacy Project, she currently works to protect survivors of interpersonal violence. When a Domestic Violence Victim Advocate in the military approached the Texas Advocacy Project for help on a high-profile case, Allison jumped on board. The local prosecutor had refused to assist the servicewoman in obtaining a protective order, but Allison handled the case with compassion and expertise, and was able to obtain the protective order.

Allison demonstrates a passion for justice and is a consummate professional. She inspires law students and her colleagues to continue to improve their own work and finds ways to help victims of abuse who have fallen through the gaps find access to justice. She embodies the virtues for whom this award was named.