Laura V. Yaeger Receives the AAJ Richard D. Hailey Distinguished Service Award
Laura V. Yaeger, a partner with Justice Law Collaborative, LLC, was recently honored with the prestigious American Association for Justice (AAJ) Richard D. Hailey Distinguished Service Award. Presented at the AAJ Annual Conference held last month in San Francisco, the award recognizes members of the AAJ Board of Governors who, during the past year, have been of special assistance to the President of the AAJ.
Laura Yaeger has dedicated more than two decades to the AAJ, creating, serving on, and leading various committees. She is a President’s Club Member, an AAJ Leadership Academy Graduate, a PAC M Club member, and an Evergreen contributor.
She co-founded the LGBT Caucus and served as its chair in 2016. At the same time, she joined the Women Trial Lawyer Caucus (WTLC) as a member of its executive board, and in 2020, served as its Chair. Yaeger has served as a member of the Board of Governors, the Executive Committee, the Budget Committee, and she currently chairs the Evergreen Advisory Board.
A natural progression for Laura was to pursue a position within AAJ executive leadership, positions that require position holders to be elected by its membership. She threw her proverbial hat in the ring this year and campaigned for the position of parliamentarian. At the culmination of voting at AAJ’s Annual Conference, she emerged victorious and now holds the role of AAJ Parliamentarian for the 2025-2026 term.
Laura’s professional accolades within the AAJ have also been noted by the receipt of numerous Distinguished AAJ Service Awards and Certificates of Recognition for her contributions. In 2021, Yaeger was honored with the AAJ Harry Philo Award for her outstanding contributions to the civil justice system. She is a recipient of the AAJ’s Above and Beyond Award (2023, 2024), the Evergreen Award (2019), the Founder’s Award (for LGBT Caucus; 2017), and earned honors for her fundraising efforts as a member of the National Finance Council in 2023.
Justice Law Collaborative (JLC), with offices in California and Massachusetts, is the largest women-owned and led plaintiff’s firm dedicated to trauma-informed legal advocacy and legislative reform. The firm has represented athletes abused by Olympic coach Larry Nassar, teenagers tormented by hostile, uncertified schools parading as therapy-based programs for troubled teens, and consumers and patients harmed by corporate greed and negligence, specifically the pharmaceutical, reproductive medicine, and tobacco industries. JLC attorneys have extensive experience in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, wrongful death, medical malpractice, reproductive rights, sexual assault and abuse, and personal injury cases. Additionally, JLC’s partnership is spearheading efforts to modify statutes of limitations and enact new laws to protect the innocent and to provide proper financial and judicial remedies to victims.
Justice Law Collaborative was ranked a 2025 Best Law Firm by Best Lawyers®, and firm partners have been named to the Massachusetts Super Lawyer® and Best Lawyers® lists for multiple, consecutive years. Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly has named Justice Law Collaborative to its list of Top Women-Led Law Firms (2024 and 2025) and has included JLC as a noteworthy law firm that empowers women (2024 and 2025).
August 20, 2025