Civil Law

The American Bar Association Section of Litigation is presently accepting nominations for the the 2009 John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award and for the 2009 Diversity Leadership Award.

John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award

Diversity Leadership Award

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John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award

The John Minor Wisdom Award recognizes members of the legal profession whose accomplishments reflect the highest professional ideals of service while also contributing meaningfully to the quality of justice in their communities. The Award recognizes those who ensure that our legal system meets the needs of the poor, the disenfranchised and other persons in need of access to justice.

The Award honors service by lawyers regardless of their employment environment. Nominees may be career public service or public interest lawyers, private practitioners, corporate counsel, educators or judges. The Award also recognizes firms that have made a substantial commitment to public service through their accomplishments in significant pro bono litigation and their support of pro bono work on a firm-wide basis.

The Award is named for the late John Minor Wisdom, an illustrious member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, from 1957 to his passing in 1999. Judge Wisdom remains an inspiration to profession and to all of our citizens. His service and judicial scholarship recognized the critical need for service by the profession to those most in need, but least able, to obtain legal representation.

The Section of Litigation will present the 2009 Wisdom Awards at its Section Annual Conference, April 29-May 1, 2009 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, GA.

Deadline for receipt of all nominations is November 14, 2008.

More Information
Nomination Process & Selection Criteria
Past Award Recipients

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Diversity Leadership Award

The Diversity Leadership Award was established in 2008 to recognize those individuals or entities who have demonstrated a commitment to promoting full and equal participation in the legal profession through the encouragement and inclusion of women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and/or persons of differing sexual orientations and gender identities.

Selection Criteria
Qualified nominees for the Diversity Leadership Award include: individual lawyers; judges; law firms; law schools; corporate legal departments; and any other individual or entity within the field of litigation that has made a significant contribution to increasing diversity in the legal profession according to the criteria set forth below.

If the nominee holds a paid position specifically devoted to diversity (e.g. Director of Diversity), he/she will only be considered for activities beyond their job description. Qualified nominees do not have to be members of the Section of Litigation or the American Bar Association. Members of Section of Litigation Leadership and employees of Navigant Consulting, Inc. are eligible to be nominated.

Recipients may demonstrate a commitment to diversity through any one of the following activities:

• Achievement of leadership position(s) that advance diverse attorneys in the legal profession.
• Personal mentoring or similar activities that foster and encourage participation of diverse attorneys in the legal profession.
• Creation of an environment that eliminates barriers to diversity and thus promotes the full contribution and participation by all in the profession.
• Other achievements, activities, programs, policies or initiatives that are designed to increase diversity.

Nomination Process
Only members of the Section of Litigation are entitled to submit nominations for the Diversity Leadership Award. For more information on the nomination proces see the More Information link below.

The dedline for submitting nominations is November 21, 2008.

More Information
Nomination Form [PDF]