American Bar Association
Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel
2012 Distinguished Service Awards

 

  1. Guidelines
    1. Criteria
      1. Awards shall be reserved for individuals or commands that have accomplished: 1) exceptional achievement(s) or 2) exceptional service to the armed forces legal assistance effort. No award shall be given solely for sustained superior performance of routine duties.
      2. Individual awards shall be in recognition of:
        1. a significant legal assistance innovation; or
        2. demonstrated superior effort, exceeding the performance of routine duties, dedicated to providing legal assistance service over a specified period; or
        3. exceptional service to, or support of, the armed forces legal assistance effort.
      3. Group awards shall be in recognition of:
        1. a superior legal assistance program worthy of emulation by peers; or
        2. a major legal assistance innovation; or
        3. maintaining a quality legal assistance program through outstanding effort despite limited resources; or
        4. exceptional service to, or support of, the armed forces legal assistance effort.
      4. An individual or group recipient of an award may not receive another award within four (4) years of the date of the receipt of a previous award.
    2. Nomination Procedures
      1. Nominations for the award may be made by:
        1. any armed forces liaison to the Committee;
        2. any member of the Committee
        3. the Judge Advocate General of the Army, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard, or the Director, Judge Advocate Division, USMC.
      2. Nominations must be in writing and shall include the nominating individual’s narrative justification for the proposed award and copies of documents demonstrating the nominee’s fulfillment of the applicable criteria. Narrative justifications for each entry may not exceed two typewritten pages, using standard margins and no smaller than a 12-point typeface.
      3. No nomination of a military member, military group or civilian employee of a service legal office shall be considered unless comments from the respective Chief of Legal Assistance of the service concerned are made available to the Committee. Those comments must be in writing and must address the following points:
        1. How the nomination meets the substantive criteria;
        2. How the award, if given, would further the purpose for which this program was established; and
        3. Special requests or information regarding presentation of the award, if approved.
      4. Persons who may NOT make direct nominations for awards are encouraged to recommend appropriate individuals and groups for nomination through their respective chain of command. Furthermore:
        1. Recommendations for nominations of military members, military groups or civilian employees of service legal offices shall be submitted to the Advisory Committee Member of the Service concerned; and
        2. Recommendations for the nominations of other individuals or groups shall be submitted to the Committee.
      5. Recommendations for nominations should be in writing, on the attached form, and should address the points set forth in paragraph I(A)(2) or (3) above.
      6. Time and Protocol for Submission:
        1. Award nominations that are submitted should encompass legal assistance services performed from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012, inclusive. The complete packet of materials from each service, including the respective chiefs’ top 5 (five) recommendations in each of the categories, individual and group, shall be received in the ABA LAMP offices by Friday, March 1, 2013;
        2. Submissions may be made via email.
        3. Awards are to be voted on at the March Committee meeting;
        4. Award recipients are to be notified by May 1, 2013; and
        5. Awards are to be presented between May 1 and August 31, 2013.
  2. Application Format

    3. 1. Type of award for which you are applying:   Individual___   Group___

    2. Nominee's Name or Command Title:

    3. Grade:

    4. Service:

    5. Present Duty Assignment (Billet and Unit Title):

    6. Present Address:

    7.  Duty Telephone Number: 

    8.  Narrative justification:

    9.  Name of Nominating Individual

    10. Position:

    Encl. Service Chief of Legal Assistance Comments

Updated: 03/27/2013

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