Nissen cited by ABA

Steven A. Nissen, executive director and general counsel for Public Counsel, is the 1997 recipient of the American Bar Association's prestigious John Minor Wisdom Award.

Nissen, 46, directs a staff of 40 and a volunteer corps of 10,000 who provide free legal services to about 10,000 Los Angeles County children and low-income adults every year. Public Counsel's legal services last year were conservatively estimated at about $24 million.

When Nissen, a former partner at the firm then known as Manatt, Phelps & Rothenberg, took the helm at Public Counsel in 1984, it had four employees. Today, it is the largest pro bono organization in the country.

The Wisdom Award recognizes attorneys who make significant contributions to the quality of justice in their community.