On My Side 2025 Awardee
The Advocate of the Year Award recognizes a pro bono attorney who has shown extraordinary commitment to advocacy in support of trafficking survivors’ rights. This year, the Human Trafficking Legal Center is honoring Carolyn Small and her team at Jenner & Block LLP.
In 2023, the Human Trafficking Legal Center referred a complex labor trafficking case to Jenner & Block, which Small accepted as a pro bono matter. Since then, she has led the Jenner pro bono team with immense skill and compassion. The original referral anticipated a federal civil trafficking case for this survivor, who had suffered forced labor and extensive financial fraud. Carolyn Small and her team invested significant time in assessing the survivor’s needs and listening to her concerns in preparation for filing the civil case.
Over the course of the representation, Small identified alternative remedies, other than civil litigation, to benefit this traumatized survivor. Exhibiting exemplary trauma-informed lawyering, Small and her colleagues investigated multiple additional avenues to win justice for this client, including an application for compensation to the California State Crime Victim Fund, applications for debt relief, investigation for tax relief, and advocacy to cancel loans fraudulently obtained in the survivor’s name.
Small’s pro bono representation in this case has reflected a profound understanding of the survivor’s trauma. The Jenner team advocated with creativity, innovation, and flexibility, identifying pro bono remedies to address the core issues at the heart of this case. Small’s representation has drawn heavily on her expertise prosecuting fraud, complex financial crimes, money laundering, and tax evasion. The Jenner team’s commitment to this case has been inspiring. Carolyn Small was the ideal pro bono advocate to handle this complex matter that demanded all of these skills.
The Human Trafficking Legal Center presents this award to Carolyn Small and the Jenner & Block pro bono team: Natasha Brown Harris, Carolyn Brown, Tayisiya Tkachuk, Luba Yartseva, Michelle Li, Laura Koeller, and Tal Ratner Solovey. The award celebrates their patient and innovative survivor-centered advocacy. The Human Trafficking Legal Center commends Carolyn Small for her leadership and uncompromising focus on a survivor’s needs and goals.
About the Honoree
Carolyn Small is a partner at Jenner & Block. As a member of the firm’s Investigations, Compliance, and Defense Practice, she counsels clients in their most sensitive matters, including government investigations, criminal prosecutions, and civil enforcement proceedings. Small also draws upon her significant courtroom experience, including multiple federal jury trials, to represent clients in complex civil litigation. She maintains an active pro bono practice focused on representing clients in criminal matters.
Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Small served as a federal prosecutor for over six years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. During her tenure as an AUSA in the Major Frauds section, she investigated and prosecuted government procurement fraud and antitrust violations, as well as complex financial crimes including securities fraud, corporate embezzlement, COVID-related fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. Her work on a high-profile securities fraud case involving a well-known financial institution earned her the Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention. As a fraud prosecutor, Small used a trauma-informed approach to ensure that victims’ voices were heard and their rights were respected throughout the criminal justice process.