Illinois Prison Project Selected as the 2025 Emil Gumpert Award Recipient
$150,000 grant to provide legal representation for incarcerated individuals with significant medical challenges seeking compassionate release
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA (June 24, 2025) – The American College of Trial Lawyers has selected Illinois Prison Project (IPP) as the 2025 Emil Gumpert Award Recipient. The award, the highest honor conferred by the American College of Trial Lawyers on a single organization annually, recognizes programs whose principal purpose is to maintain and improve the administration of justice. The Award includes a $150,000 grant funded by the Foundation of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
“The College is pleased to present our Emil Gumpert Award to IPP in support of their work,” said ACTL President Richard H. Deane, Jr. “The award will help fund legal representation for incarcerated individuals who are faced with complex medical challenges and are seeking compassionate release. The College is proud to support such a worthy project.”
Implemented in Illinois in 2022, the Joe Coleman Medical Release Act created a path out of prison for growing numbers of terminally ill or mentally incapacitated inmates. Yet, IPP found that only one-third of the hundreds eligible for release have achieved it. Legal representation is the strongest predictor of success: 75% of represented individuals were granted release, compared to fewer than 15% of those without counsel.
“We are honored and humbled to receive the Emil Gumpert award from the American College of Trial Lawyers,” said Jennifer Soble, IPP’s founder and executive director. “This incredible honor will allow us to provide much-needed legal representation to medically vulnerable incarcerated people so they can spend their remaining days getting the care they need with the support of their loved ones.”
Through the Coleman Act, IPP has helped nearly 100 clients secure compassionate release, giving them the opportunity to spend the remainder of their lives in dignity.
To read the full press release, click here.