Andrew Larsen ’01 and Monsignor Peter Vaghi ’66 Honored for Volunteer Legal Work

Two Gonzaga alumni—Andrew Larsen ’01 and Monsignor Peter Vaghi ’66—were honored for their volunteer legal work at a brunch following the Red Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral last week.

Andrew Larsen ’01 was one of three local attorneys and two law firms to receive the John Carroll Society’s 2019 Pro Bono Legal Service Award for volunteering with the Catholic Charities Legal Network, which serves low-income people in the Washington region.

After graduating from Gonzaga in 2001, Larsen attended Ursinus College and Washington and Lee University School of Law. Now a lawyer at the Department of Commerce, Larsen has been conducting in-person client intake for the Legal Network since 2017. He also assists the program’s director with evaluating difficult cases for legal merit and proper disposition.

At the burnch, Msgr. Vaghi, chaplain of the John Carrol Society, was also surprised with an award for his service to the Legal Network. According to the Catholic Standard: “Msgr. Vaghi, who before entering the seminary served as an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP, created the Legal Network’s Advisory Council in 1989. Since then, hundreds of lawyers and law firms have been involved with the program to promote access to first-rate pro bono legal services for low-income and homeless individuals residing throughout the Archdiocese of Washington. The Legal Network has received many awards over the years, such as the Justice Potter Stewart Award from the Council for Court Excellence in 2001 and the DC Bar Foundation’s Jerrold Scoutt Prize, which was awarded to the program’s director in 2014. Msgr. Vaghi has personally recruited many outstanding lawyers and law firms to participate in the Legal Network. As a result, the network and its volunteer attorneys and supporting law firms have served more than 10,000 clients over the past 30 years.”

Click here to read the full article from the Catholic Standard about the awards. Congratulations to Andrew and Msgr. Vaghi!
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