NCVLI’s Outstanding Achievement Awards recognize attorneys, advocates, and organizations that have made significant and notable contributions to the enhancement of crime victims’ status and standing within the criminal justice system.  The Legal Advocacy Award recognizes crime victims’ rights attorneys who have dedicated and committed their time to representing victims of crime in the criminal justice system.  The awards are presented each year at NCVLI’s Crime Victim Law Conference.

About Steven Kelly

Steve Kelly became involved in the struggle for crime victims’ rights shortly after his older sister was murdered in Maryland in 1988, when he was 14. He helped to create a curriculum on victim sensitivity and to found a support group for young survivors of homicide while he was in high school. After college, he went to work for the Stephanie Roper Foundation and helped start a first of its kind program to match crime victims with pro bono attorneys. As a protégé of victims’ rights icon Roberta Roper, Steve has helped pass numerous state and federal victim’s rights laws. Steve continued his work with the Roper Foundation as he attended Georgetown law school at night.

Upon graduation from law school, Steve returned to his native Baltimore to practice law. As an attorney, Steve specializes in representing victims of crime in civil cases and he maintains an active pro bono practice representing a wide range of crime victims in criminal cases in state and federal courts throughout the country. Steve serves on the Maryland Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and regularly trains crime victim advocates and other criminal justice professionals on the interplay between criminal and civil law, especially as it pertains to restitution. Steve is married with three children.

Past Recipients of the Legal Advocacy Award Include:
o Wendy Murphy (2001)
o Lyn Schollett (2002)
o Cynthia Lee Carter (2003)
o Jay Howell (2003)
o Richard D. Pompelio (2004)
o Paul Cassell (2005)
o Cynthia Hora (2006)
o Jamie Mills (2007)
o Steven J. Twist (2008)
o Crime Victims Legal Assistance Project (2009)
o Heidi Nestel (2010)