2020 Father Drinan Award

During a reception sponsored by Arnold and Porter, the American Bar Association's Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice honored ABA leader and 2017-18 Section Chair Robert N. Weiner with the Father Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service during the 2020 ABA Midyear Meeting in Austin, Texas. As he accepted the award, Rob Weiner issued a passionate call to action. 

The Section commemorated the tireless work of Rob Weiner, who has devoted his career to advancing civil rights and social justice through the rule of law. A member of the Section since 1980, he led as Chair from 2017-18. During this year, he initiated the Section’s Rapid Response Project, which gave way to more proactive and timely programs more frequently. He is the Chair of the ABA Working Group on Building Public Trust in the American Justice System,  spearheaded the development of the ABA’s Ten Guidelines on Court Fines and Fees, published in August 2018, and continues to work on a new report on Privatization in the Criminal Justice System. 

Reception Highlights

During the Valentine's Day reception, Section Chair Wendy Mariner ushered in the large crowd of Midyear Meeting attendees. The room was filled to the brink with some of the most prominent names within the legal profession in attendance. Wendy welcomed former Father Drinan Award recipients (Mark D. Agrast, Michael Greco, Stephen Hanlon, Myles Lynk, Estelle Rogers, Stephen Wermiel), members of the ABA Board of Governors (Howard Wall, Lynne Barr, David Clark, James  Durant, Russell Frisby, Rew Goodenow, Michale Byowitz, Michele Wong Krause, Jim Homes, Michaela Posner, Beverly Quail), ABA Secretary Mary Smith, members of the ABA House of Delegates, and Past ABA Presidents (Bob Carlson, Hilarie Bass, Linda Klein, Laurel Bellows, Bill Neukom, Karen Mathis, Jim Silkenat).

Wendy first introduced current ABA President Judy Perry Martinez, who detailed her experiences with Rob at the 2018 CRSJ Fall Meeting in the Civil Rights Triangle (Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma, AL).

Trish Refo, the current President-elect, also spoke highly of the impact Rob has made on the Section and the ABA as a whole, citing his many notable contributions. 

"[Everyone is] here to honor you... because of the service you have given in so many ways to our profession; to the causes of social justice, human rights, and civil rights; and to an extraordinary career."

Wendy offered an insightful, detailed look at the work of a past Section Chair and active ABA leader. She noted that he far exceeds the framework of a traditional legal career, going above and beyond in his many pro-bono activities. She stated that Rob "has instilled the Section’s principles and values in all these endeavors. He is truly an ambassador for the Section’s mission."

After much well-deserved acclaim, Rob Weiner approached the podium quite hesitantly and somewhat bashful. He answered his predecessors' remarks with some aptly timed self-deprecating humor, noting that his wife said, "Don't try to be charming or funny. Just be yourself."

I cannot know what it is like to be the victim of systemic racial discrimination, but that small taste of exclusion was sufficient to make me a zealous advocate of civil rights.
—Robert N. Weiner
2020 Father Drinan Award Recipient

Rob then humorously detailed his upbringing,  noting he was a "half-British, half-Nebraskan Jewish kid growing up in San Antonio in the 1950s and 60s," before delving into the more serious parts of his life that led to his passion for legal and social equality.

Rob mentioned that though he believes it is one of the worst times to be a lawyer - with more civil rights violations and social turmoil than ever - it is also an opportunity to act. "This is our opportunity to make a difference, to apply our skill and judgment to preserving our democratic system and values.  This is our duty, and it is our time."

About the Selection

“Rob Weiner always says yes. Yes, to work on projects for the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice,” said Wendy Mariner, Chair of the Section. “Yes, to a leadership role. Yes, to toil unheralded in the trenches. Yes, to advocate for civil rights and social justice throughout the ABA. Yes, to carry out CRSJ’s mission in his multiple pro bono activities. He manages his prodigious professional and volunteer schedule with remarkable efficiency, energy, modesty and a wry sense of humor.”
— Wendy Mariner
2019-20 Chair, Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice

About the Recipient

The American Bar Association Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice will honor Washington, D.C., trial lawyer and legal strategist Robert N. Weiner with its Father Robert F. Drinan Award during a reception at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2020, during the ABA Midyear Meeting at the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas.  

The Father Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service honors those who have strengthened the Section’s mission to provide leadership to the legal profession.

Weiner, partner and former head of the litigation practice group at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., is known for designing creative legal approaches to dispose of cases expeditiously. He has a long history representing business and sovereign clients in litigation, and is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington.

Weiner has litigated First Amendment and other constitutional challenges to state and federal laws, served as national coordinating and trial counsel in product liability and toxic tort cases, and defended private clients and government officials in media-intensive Congressional investigations and regulatory inquiries.  He also advised the September 11th Commission regarding executive privilege and represented the State of Israel in litigation involving national security policies.

Weiner served as associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he oversaw the defense of the Affordable Care Act; as senior counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office; and as an associate independent counsel.

Weiner graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and received his J.D. from Yale Law School. At the start of his career, he served as a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly and for Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Weiner chaired the ABA Civil Rights and Social Justice Section from 2017-18 and served on the ABA Board of Governors from 2008-11.  He has been the State Delegate from Washington, D.C. to the ABA House of Delegates since 2015. Currently, Weiner chairs the National Health Law Project and the ABA Presidential Working Group on Building Public Trust in the American Justice System, which published the ABA Ten Guidelines on Fines and Fees in August 2018. He also was President of the District of Columbia Bar, chaired the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, and served on the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary as well as its Commission on Women in the Profession.  He has received numerous awards for public service from organizations such as the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals, NLADA, and the Legal Aid Society.

Mariner added, “Rob represents the best of our profession: keen intelligence, mastery of the law and its nuances, and insight into its consequences on the lives of the most vulnerable. He has been CRSJ’s angel, mentoring our members, quietly offering guidance and support, and stepping back to allow them to shine. I can think of no one more deserving of the Father Drinan Award.”