2021 was the inaugural year of the LGBTQ+ Bar’s Legal Services Justice Award. This award recognizes a Legal Services practitioner whose work on behalf of low-income, marginalized members of the LGBTQ+ and HIV+ communities has advanced the cause of justice and equity with excellence and compassion.
2026 Winner
Amy Schwartz-Wallace, Esq. is the Director of Training & Technical Assistance at the Empire Justice Center, a statewide civil legal services and policy advocacy dedicated to advancing justice for low-income New Yorkers. Amy has spent more than two decades leading the organization’s domestic violence and family law initiatives, while also directing major statewide LGBTQ+ rights and family violence projects. In this position, she has developed and delivered legal training and technical assistance for thousands of attorneys, judges, court personnel, domestic violence advocates, and community organizations throughout New York State. In her current role, Amy is leading the development of a new, comprehensive statewide legal training center for civil legal services providers throughout New York State.
Widely recognized as a leading expert in the intersections of domestic violence, LGBTQ+ rights, family law, and poverty law, Amy has played a significant role in shaping New York policy and legislation affecting survivors of violence and LGBTQ+ individuals. Her advocacy and legislative work have contributed to numerous local, state, and national law and policy reforms, including protections for domestic violence survivors and expanded legal recognition for LGBTQ+ families. She has drafted or co-authored multiple enacted bills and has frequently testified, lectured, and trained on issues involving intimate partner violence, gender identity, family court practice, and access to justice.
In addition to her policy and training work, Amy has been involved in impact litigation and appellate advocacy. She is especially noted for her work in the landmark New York cases Dickerson v. Thompson (2010 and 2011), which helped secure access to New York courts for the dissolution of out-of-state civil unions, significantly advancing legal protections for LGBTQ+ families. Over the course of her career, she has overseen statewide domestic violence practice initiatives, created numerous original tools and practice guides for serving LGBTQ+ domestic violence survivors, supervised LGBTQ+ legal advocacy projects, and collaborated extensively with courts, bar associations, legal aid providers, and victim services organizations.
Amy has received multiple professional honors recognizing her leadership and advocacy, including the 2023 LGBTQ+ Vanguard Award from the New York State Bar Association, the 2018 Excellence in the Law: Top Women in Law Award from the Daily Record, and the 2015 Ally Windsor Howell Champion of Diversity Award from the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys. She is regularly invited to present continuing legal education programs and statewide trainings on emerging legal issues affecting survivors of domestic violence, transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, and marginalized families navigating the justice system.
Past Winners:
2025 | Lavender Law - New York City
Elizabeth Kristen – California Women’s Law Center
2024 | Lavender Law - Washington D.C.
Michelle Garcia – New Mexico Legal Aid
2023 | Lavender Law - Chicago
Tina Luongo – The Legal Aid Society
2022 | Lavender Law - Los Angeles
Allison J. Rice – Duke Law School
2021 | Lavender Law - Virtual
Vickie Neilson – The Catholic Legal Immigration Network