Howard Westwood (1909-1994) was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, attended Swarthmore College and in 1933 received a law degree from Columbia University.

He was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harlan F. Stone for a year before he joined Covington & Burling in 1934.

During World War II, he was a Marine Corps drill instructor at Parris Island, S.C.

He specialized in airline law, and in the 1950s became involved with legal aid in the District of Columbia. He joined the Commission on Legal Aid of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, which initiated a groundbreaking report on the legal aid needs in D.C. (published in 1958). Westwood was one of the key leaders who helped establish a neighborhood legal services program in Washington, D.C. before the OEO legal services program had been created, and was a great influence in the formation of the federal legal services program (Howard Westwood recommended Clint Bamberger for the position as the first OEO-LSP director).

He continued to remain on the board of the NLSP, and worked as counsel for NLADA, where he advocated for the ongoing federal support of the legal services program. He retired from Covington & Burling in 1979.

Westwood was awarded the “Servant of Justice” Award in 1992.