September 2, 2025
Valerie L'Herrou Receives 2025 Virginia Legal Aid Award
Valerie L'Herrou, deputy director of the Center for Family Advocacy at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, has received the 2025 Virginia Legal Aid Award.
The Virginia Legal Aid Award, presented by the Virginia State Bar’s Access to Legal Services Committee, honors excellence in legal aid society work, recognizing those who demonstrate innovation and creativity in advocacy, experience and excellence in service, and impact beyond their own program’s service area.
In his nomination, James “Jay” W. Speer, chief executive officer at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, noted that he has worked closely with L’Herrou for almost a decade, and she has become one of the most effective, visionary, and compassionate legal aid attorneys in the state.
“Her work centers on preserving families and transforming systems that too often criminalize poverty and punish struggling parents,” Speer said. “Whether in the courtroom, the General Assembly, or community forums, Valerie brings intellect, tenacity, and heart to everything she does.”
L’Herrou has championed kinship care and expanding legal representation for parents. She has driven numerous policy wins that will have a lasting impact on thousands of children and families. In 2024, her advocacy helped secure long-overdue improvements to child welfare legal proceedings that will help preserve and strengthen families – breakthroughs that she is now working to implement.
In 2023, L’Herrou was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Families Forward “Champion for Virginia’s Children” Award, recognizing her tireless service to Virginia’s most vulnerable families. She is also a trusted mentor to legal aid attorneys across the Commonwealth, sharing her knowledge, experience, and support with the next generation of public interest lawyers.
Mona A. Raza, General Counsel for the Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley, said she’s had the opportunity to work with L’Herrou on a proposed pilot project to provide comprehensive representation to parents whose children are involved in dependency cases.
“Valerie has been advocating for such a program in Virginia because of the remarkable results in establishing permanency and stability for children seen in other states,” Raza said. “After learning that the City of Roanoke tends to have the highest number of children in foster care of any municipality in the Commonwealth, Valerie worked with the Children’s Ombudsman and the judges of the Roanoke City Juvenile and Domestic Relations District to devise a program that would be housed at my organization.”
L'Herrou prepared a proposal for the Legal Aid Society's Access to Justice board of directors and traveled to Roanoke to attend a board meeting in person to pitch the project for approval. After gaining approval, she is now working to fund the program.
“As I have seen Valerie’s dedication to making life better for providing access to justice for Virginia’s low-income families,” Raza said. “I do not hesitate to recommend that she receive the Legal Aid Award.”
L’Herrou will be presented with the award at the Annual Statewide Legal Aid Conference at the Hotel Roanoke in Roanoke, which runs October 21–24.