The Section is proud to announce that former Section Chair Brooksley E. Born received the 2012 Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service. The award, named in honor of the late Father Robert F. Drinan, a former member of Congress who chaired the Section in 1990-91, recognizes service to the Section that advances its mission of providing leadership to the legal profession in protecting and advancing human rights, civil liberties, and social justice.
Brooksley is a retired partner of Arnold & Porter LLP, which she joined as an associate in 1965. She was the head of the firm’s derivatives practice and represented domestic and international clients in legislative, litigation, regulatory, and transactional matters involving derivatives transactions and financial markets. From 1996 to 1999, she was chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal government agency that oversees the futures and commodity option markets and futures professionals. While at the CFTC, Brooksley served as a member of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions. Since 2009, she has served as a commissioner on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which issued a report last January on the causes of the financial crisis.
Brooksley has served on the ABA Board of Governors, the American Bar Foundation Board of Governors, and the District of Columbia Bar Board of Governors. At the ABA, she has chaired the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary, the Consortium on Legal Services and the Public, and the Council of the Fund for Justice and Education. Brooksley is a founder of the ABA Women’s Caucus and chairs the Board of the National Women’s Law Center.
The Drinan Award was presented to Brooksley at a reception on Feb. 3 2012 in New Orleans during the ABA Midyear Meeting.