Vilia B. Hayes has been selected to receive the prestigious 2025 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Second Circuit. A long-time partner at the New York law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, Hayes became senior pro bono counsel at the firm upon her retirement. She will receive the award at a special awards ceremony in New York City in October.

“A child of New York’s working-class ‘outer boroughs,’ Vilia grew up without the benefits of family wealth, connections, and education, in an environment that was not especially encouraging of the intellectual or professional development of female children,” write Gerard E. Lynch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, P. Kevin Castel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mary Kay Vyskocil of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Sara L. Cave of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, who jointly nominated Hayes for the award. “The obstacles that faced Vilia as a young woman have clearly shaped her understanding of the need for legal services among those who cannot afford to pay Wall Street rates, and of the need for support and mentoring of young lawyers, especially for young women, members of minority groups, and first-generation college and law school graduates.”

As senior pro bono counsel, Hayes litigates pro bono cases involving such issues as prisoner’s rights, voting rights, immigration, family law, and housing. She also co-chairs the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and supervises many pro bono matters in both federal and state courts. Previously, Hayes spent more than 35 years working as a litigation associate and then partner. Her specialties included employment, product liability, insurance, bankruptcy, and commercial litigation. She also offered counseling and negotiation related to employment law and insurance law.

Hayes is a member of the board of directors for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and a member of the Advisory Board of Legal Momentum, a program of the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund. She served as the president of the New York American Inn of Court from 2012 to 2014.

Hayes earned her undergraduate degree with honors from Marymount College in 1972. In 1980, she earned a cum laude law degree from Fordham University School of Law, where she was associate editor of the Fordham Law Review.

The American Inns of Court, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, inspires the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring. The organization’s membership includes more than 30,000 federal, state, and local judges; lawyers; law professors; and law students in more than 350 chapters nationwide. More information is available at www.innsofcourt.org.

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Vilia B. Hayes, Esq., selected to receive prestigious 2025 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the 2nd Circuit.