The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the American Inns of Court announce the solicitation of nominations for the Twenty-second Annual American Inns of Court Professionalism Award in the Second Circuit. This award went last year to Vermont’s own Bar Counsel, Mike Kennedy, Esq.
Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit hopes to be able to present the Award in New York at the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, Courtroom 1703, 40 Foley Square, in fall 2023.
The person chosen for this honor is a quintessential mentor who embodies the fundamental values of the profession to which the American Inns of Court is dedicated. The honoree is a senior lawyer who for a generation or more has guided younger practitioners in government, private practice, or public service, by word and by example. He or she is a “lawyer’s lawyer”— a master of the craft—whose life and work reflect civility, competence, and ethical behavior. In short, we seek nominations of first-rate attorneys who have taught, supervised, and nurtured developing lawyers; and who, in doing so, have assured that the finest traditions of the Bar will be sustained. Nominees should (1) have engaged in the practice of law for at least twenty years, (2) be serving now as a lawyer in Connecticut, New York, or Vermont, and (3) occupy a senior position in the office of a prosecutor, defender, government agency, private law firm, or other private entity. Judges and full-time professors are not eligible.
Nominations should be in letter form and include sufficient information about the nominee to allow the committee to make a reasoned judgment. Additional letters of recommendation should be included in the package, such as by younger lawyers describing their associations with the nominee and the benefits conferred by the nominee’s teaching, mentorship, and example. Nominations must be received at the American Inns of Court Foundation offices, 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 770, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, no later than April 10, 2023; copies of the nominations must also be e-mailed as a single PDF to Michael D. Jordan, Circuit Executive, at AIC_Award@ca2.uscourts.gov. Nominations should be addressed to the attention of Hon. Carl E. Stewart, Chair of the American Inns of Court Awards Committee.
For more information, follow this link to the Inns of Court web page, or contact Cindy Dennis at (571) 319-4703.
The honoree will be selected by a combined committee of the Second Circuit and the American Inns of Court.
Second Circuit Committee members will be:
Hon. Richard C. Wesley, U.S. Court of Appeals, Chair
Hon. Eunice C. Lee, U.S. Court of Appeals
Hon. Naomi Reice Buchwald, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Hon. Nicholas G. Garaufis, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
American Inns of Court members will be:
Hon. Carl E. Stewart, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Chair
Hon. Deanell Reece Tacha, Former Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and Former Dean of Pepperdine University School of Law, Vice Chair
Kim J. Askew, Esquire, DLA Piper LLP
Hon. Consuelo M. Callahan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Hon. Denny Chin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Hon. Kent A. Jordan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Hon. William C. Koch, Jr., Former Justice, Tennessee Supreme Court and Dean, Nashville School of Law
Hon. Cheryl A. Krause, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Thomas C. Leighton, Thomson Reuters Legal
Hon. Mary M. Schroeder, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Hon. Collins J. Seitz, Jr., Chief Justice, Delaware Supreme Court