Dentons partner John Cotton Richmond was honored for his lifelong commitment to combatting human trafficking with the Wilberforce Award for Exceptional Leadership in the Fight Against Human Trafficking from Rescue:Freedom, an NGO focused on the rescue and restoration of those in sexual slavery and the prevention of exploitation. Resident in the Washington, DC, office, Richmond is a member of Dentons’ Federal Regulatory and Compliance practice.

Named after William Wilberforce, a British political leader and activist who led the charge to abolish the slave trade throughout the British Empire in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Wilberforce Award honors those who have dedicated a significant portion of their lives and careers to combatting slavery at the highest levels. Richmond was the sole recipient of this year’s award.

The entirety of Richmond’s career has been spent at the intersection of law, policy and human rights. He began his career by launching anti-trafficking programs in India. He has worked in more than 50 countries, developing an understanding of various countries legal systems, government structures and bureaucratic processes. He also spent more than a decade as a federal prosecutor with the US Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, where he prosecuted numerous victim-centered labor and sex trafficking cases. He then co-founded the Human Trafficking Institute and served as founding director there, until he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to serve as the US Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons from 2018 to 2021. Serving in the nation’s highest ranking position dedicated to human trafficking, he led US foreign policy related to modern slavery and coordinated the US government’s response the crime.

At Dentons, Richmond leverages his decades of relationships and expertise to support the Firm’s US and global clients in their efforts to develop and implement effective compliance programs, respond to investigative demands in the US and abroad and engage in legislative efforts on these topics.