Past Recipients
‹ Past Winners
In 1990, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (YLD) in conjunction with the Center on Children and the Law established the Child Advocacy Award to honor lawyers for distinguished service on behalf of children. The award recognizes the contributions to the legal profession by child advocates who have actively labored on behalf of children. The award celebrates the often unheralded service that child advocates bring to children and the legal profession.
2011-2012 Winners
Each year two lawyers are honored for their distinguished service on behalf of children. Award recipients are selected based on the individual's personal achievement and commitment to child advocacy. This year’s recipients are:
Young Lawyer Category: Ian Spechler, Attorney with the Legal Representation for Dually Managed Youth Project at Disability Rights Texas
Lawyer Category: James Bell, Founder and Executive Director of the W. Haywood Burns Institute.
Ian Spechler | Ian graduated with a B.A. from the University of Texas in 2004 and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2007. He began his legal career with Advocacy, Inc., as a Skadden Fellow representing children receiving inappropriate or inadequate special education services. In January 2010, he began his current project, the Legal Representation for Dually Managed Youth Project, at Advocacy, Inc. (since renamed Disability Rights Texas). He and two other lawyers, Dustin Rynders in Houston and Alison MacManus in Dallas, represent foster children with disabilities who are involved with either the justice system or the system of institutions for people with developmental disabilities known as the State Supported Living Centers. He represents the youth in court and advocates for them to receive better access to mental health, education, and other resources and supports to help them avoid long-term institutionalization. He also frequently delivers presentations on representing foster children with disabilities to lawyers, judges, caseworkers, and others who work with foster children or the justice system. The project is funded generously by the Supreme Court of Texas Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families; the Meadows Foundation; and the Rees Jones Foundation. Outside of work, Ian serves on the Board of Directors of Jewish Family Service, University of Texas Hillel, and the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Community Association of Austin. He is also head coach of a sled ice hockey team for people with disabilities and served for seven years on the Board of Directors of Easter Seals Central Texas. |
James Bell | James Bell is the Founder and Executive Director of the W. Haywood Burns Institute. Mr. Bell has been successfully working to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the youth justice system in over 90 jurisdictions across the United States. He works closely with judges, law enforcement, probation, attorneys, community organizations, youth and families to engage this seemingly intractable problem. |
Past Recipients
ANGELA CIOLFI, Legal Director of JustChildren, Charlottesville, Virginia
ALFREDA D. COWARD, Partner with Coward & Coward, P.A., Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
H. J. DAVID AMBROZ, Los Angeles City College Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
PAMELA B. BANKERT, Lawson, Weitzen & Bankert, Brewster, MA
ANDREW BLOCK, The Just Children Program of the Legal Aid Justice Center, Charlottesville, VA
GAIL CHANG BOHR, Children's Law Center of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
HONORABLE FREDERICA BRENNEMAN, State Judge Trial Referee, Hartford, CT
GLORIA M. BRUZZANO, Department of Education, New York, NY
FRANK P. CERVONE, Support Center for Child Advocates, Philadelphia, PA
DAVID COLE, Dallas Count District Attorney’s Office, Dallas, TX
PETER DAUGHERTY, Butler, Wooten, Overby, Cheely, Pearson & Fryhofer, Columbus, GA
ANTHONY DE MARCO, Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA
BARBARA J. ELIAS-PERCIFUL, Texas Lawyers for Children, Dallas, TX
ABIGAIL ENGLISH, National Center for Youth Law, Chapel Hill, NC
KENNETH ENGRIGHT, Hawaii Attorney General’s Office, Honolulu, HI
ANA ESPANA, San Diego County Dept. of the Public Defender, San Diego, CA
MICHAEL FINLEY, Youth Law Center, Washington, DC
REBECCA GUDEMAN, Public Counsel Law Center, Los Angeles, CA
STEVE HILTZ, Children’s Attorneys Project (CAP) of Clark County Legal Services, Las Vegas, NV
SCOTT HOLLANDER, KidsVoice, Pittsburgh, PA
MICHELE JOHNSON, Tennessee Justice Center, Nashville, TN
MARIE KENYON, Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry, St. Louis, MO
MOLLY LANGER, Guardian Ad Litem Program, Tampa, FL
KATHERINE LOCKER, Legal Aid Society, New York, NY
PEGGY MAINOR, Baltimore Child Abuse Center, Baltimore, MD
PHILLIP (JAY) MCCARTHY, Hufford, Hortsman, Monginni, Parnell & McCarty, P.C., Flagstaff, AZ
MARTIN N. OLSEN, Olsen and Olsen, Salt Lake City, UT
AMY M. PELLMAN, The Alliance for Children’s Rights, Los Angeles, CA
ERIK PITCHAL, Children's Rights, New York, NY
KIMBERELY SHELLMAN, Fulton County Children's Advocacy Center, Roswell, GA
SHARI SHINK, Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center, Denver, CO
HONORABLE KRISTIN SWEENEY, Juvenile Court Judge, Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, OH
MARVIN VENTRELL, National Association of Counsel for Children, Denver, CO
SARAH J. VESECKY, Children's Law Center, Los Angeles, CA
LEECIA WELCH, National Center for Youth Law, Oakland, CA
ROBERT WOLF, Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, Philadelphia, PA
CECILIA ZALKIND, Association for Children of New Jersey, Newark, NJ
CHRISTINA ZAWISZA, Children First Project, Legal Services of Greater Miami, Miami, FL
