Peter W. Thomas, JD, managing partner, Powers Law, has been named one of six international recipients of the Henry Viscardi Achievement Award. The award recognizes those who have had a profound impact on shaping attitudes, raising awareness, and improving the quality of life of people with disabilities.
The Viscardi Achievement Awards were developed to honor the extraordinary societal contributions of the awardees in the spirit of the legacy and vision of Dr. Henry Viscardi Jr., a prosthesis user who founded the Viscardi Center. As one of the world’s leading advocates for people with disabilities, he served as a disability advisor to eight presidents, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter.
More than 100 individuals from around the world have received the award since its inception in 2013. Previous awardees include US-based disability leaders Judy Heumann, Andy Imperato, Lex Frieden, Marca Bristo, David McGill, James Weisman, and Paul Schroeder.
Thomas leads the disability and rehabilitation practice at Powers along with his partners through the years, the late Bobby Silverstein and John D. Kemp. Thomas served on The Viscardi Center board of directors for more than ten years and currently serves on the Center’s Public Policy Committee. He served as cochair of the Health Task Force of the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities for 30 years, general counsel to the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics, and coordinates disability coalitions to advance access to rehabilitation services, assistive devices and technologies, and disability and rehabilitation research. He is a coauthor of The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Guidebook for Management and People with Disabilities.
“I had the pleasure of meeting Henry Viscardi long ago and being inspired by his life’s work,” Thomas said. “I am so very honored to receive this award and congratulate my fellow awardees. I am humbled by the list of former Viscardi Award recipients in whose footsteps I walk.”
