Douglas S. Eakeley

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Douglas Eakeley, born in Morristown and raised in Westfield, New Jersey, credits his parents and his Presbyterian upbringing for the empathy that has fueled his lifelong passion for justice. "Like many people in my generation," he says, "I went to law school to keep my options open." The Rhodes Scholar and 1968 summa cum laude Yale graduate earned a B.A. in jurisprudence from Oxford University (1970) before returning to Yale Law School for his J.D. (1972). There he became involved with Yale New Haven Legal Services, a forerunner of the Legal Services program, that was funded by the Ford Foundation. "That's how I really got my taste for, or a sense of, what it was like not to have access to justice, and what it meant for people who did not have the means to hire a lawyer."

Since that early exposure, Eakeley has never wavered in his commitment to access to civil legal justice. While working for Debevoise and Plimpton in New York City, he served on the boards of the Legal Aid Society of Manhattan and the Community Law Offices of East Harlem. Upon his return to New Jersey in 1980, he served on the board of Essex Newark Legal Services (ENLS).

Fellow Rutgers Law professor and former ENLS board member Lou Raveson says, "Doug was the voice of reason" during the time of funding challenges and staffing conflicts in the early days of the ENLS program.

Eakeley served as first assistant attorney general of the state of New Jersey during the administration of Governor James J. Florio. In 1993, he was appointed by President William J. Clinton to the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which he chaired until April 2003.

Friend and fellow LSC board member, the Honorable John T. Broderick, Jr., recalls, "I was so taken, not just by his intelligence, which we all know he has, but, by his heartfelt commitment to justice for people who had often been left behind and left out—it was palpable … and by his temperament and his experience, but mostly by his commitment and resilience. Doug Eakeley may be the most resilient person I have ever met."

"Doug is an icon in Legal Services, not just in New Jersey, but nationally as well," says LSNJ President Dawn Miller. "He has been a constant steady hand through the best and worst of times and we are eternally grateful for his unwavering and consistent support.

Even when faced with tremendous political resistance, Eakeley never gave up the fight for increased federal funding. After the Reagan cuts of the 1980s and threats to the very existence of the board, he united the bipartisan board to demand more financial support. As board chair of Legal Services of New Jersey (LSNJ) from 1982 to 1990, he worked with former LSNJ President Melville D. Miller, Jr. to secure increased state funding and the adoption of the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) mechanism for funding the Legal Services statewide system.

He is a founding trustee (1999) and former board chair of the New Jersey Institute of Social Justice (NJISJ). Fellow board member and Grammy Award winning host of Due Process, Sandra King, describes his time on the board of NJISJ and the New Jersey Network Foundation before that, as "Always available, always able to pull together a consensus, and always kind, and always generous—in every way."

After several decades in private practice specializing in complex commercial litigation and representing high-profile public officials, including the chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and the governor of New Jersey, Eakeley joined Rutgers Law School as the first Alan V. Lowenstein Chair in Corporate and Business Law in 2021. A Distinguished Professor of Professional Practice, he is the founder and codirector of the Rutgers Center for Corporate Law and Governance and the founder and co-director of the Rutgers Law School Entrepreneurship Clinic.

"Doug is brilliant," says Raveson. "That same notion I have of Doug, as the voice of reason on the board of Essex Newark Legal Services—he's the voice of reason at the law school. … Over the years, when I have needed to run some litigation issues that I've been involved in with another lawyer, I've always gone to Doug, and he's always been extremely generous with his time, brilliant in his advice. And I know personally that that's how everybody in the law school feels about him."

Says Miller, "As a person and lawyer who truly understand and believes in the mission of Legal Services, Doug has been and remains an important voice on LSNJ's board. We are grateful to be able to recognize Doug for his many decades of work on our behalf and on behalf of low-income New Jerseyans. We are blessed to call Doug a friend of Legal Services."

Reflecting on this lifetime of service, Eakeley shares, "Access to justice, and supporting organizations that provide that access and work to advance social justice, are sources of inspiration and energy. That's what keeps me going."

Awards

Pro Bono Publico Award (renamed the Debevoise-Eakeley Award), Legal Services of New Jersey and the New Jersey State Bar Association
Reynoso-Abascal Don Quixote Award, California Rural Legal Assistance
Making Democracy Work Award, League of Women Voters of New Jersey
Lifetime of Leadership Award, Lead New Jersey
John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award, American Bar Association Litigation Section
Judge Learned Hand Award, American Jewish Committee, New Jersey Chapter
Award of Excellence for professional distinction and commitment to justice, civil rights, and education, Thurgood Marshall College Fund

Affiliations

Chair, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Chair, Legal Services Corporation (1993 - 2003)
Member, LSC Pro Bono Task Force (2011 - present)
Trustee, Legal Services of New Jersey (Chair, 1982 - 1990)
Chair, Editorial Board, New Jersey Law Journal (1986 - 1990)
Chair, New Jersey Network Foundation (2007 - 2010)
Treasurer, New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority