Ned Pillersdorf to receive American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. (WYMT) - An Eastern Kentucky lawyer is set to be honored for his work in the mountains.

Ned Pillersdorf is one of five recipients nationwide who will receive the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award.

“We’ve represented former Conn clients in more than 2,000 hearings,250 federal court cases and we’ve been largely successful, thousands of former Conn client’s who’ve lost their benefits, we’ve gotten them back,” Pillersdorf said.

The award is given every year to lawyers who volunteer services for low-income or disadvantaged people.

“The way I look at it, if you’re on the playground and you see a bully beating up a vulnerable person, what do you do? I have a law license, my fellow volunteers have law licenses, we can fight for these people,” he said.

Pillersdorf says his work isn’t done, even after nine years.

“I’ve done 15 hearings this month, I did three yesterday, it’s certainly not over, but we will fight them to the end of the Earth on behalf of our vulnerable neighbors. who have been under attack,” he said.

The ABA’s description of Pillersdorf’s work reads:

Ned Pillersdorf of Prestonsburg, Kentucky, has shown commitment to finding representation for the victims of a Social Security disability fraud perpetrated by former Kentucky attorney Eric Conn, who is now in prison. The representational crisis, now entering its ninth year, involves as many as 4,000 disabled beneficiaries in Appalachia and has generated national attention, including the recent four-part AppleTV+ series, “The Big Conn.” Since 2015, when the Social Security Administration sent notices to nearly 2,000 of Conn’s former clients, Pillersdorf has helped recruit the largest volunteer network in history to represent former Conn clients in 2,000 hearings and more than 250 federal district court cases, in addition to representing over a hundred of those targeted by the SSA. As a result of these volunteer efforts the SSA’s mass hearings were declared unconstitutional and hundreds of former Conn clients had their benefits reinstated.

The award will be presented in Denver during the 2023 ABA Annual Meeting on August 4.

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