Awards

Alexander Award for Excellence in Pipeline Diversity

Sponsored by ABA Council for  Diversity in the  Educational Pipeline

This award recognizes exemplary leadership in Pipeline work by an individual or organization. The award honors those demonstrating success working along the educational pipeline in a collaborative approach involving more than one segment of the continuum from elementary to high school to college to law school to the practice of law.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Beginning of October

Paul G. Hearne Award

Sponsored by ABA Commission on Disability Rights

This award is made annually to an individual or organization that has performed exemplary service in furthering the rights, dignity, and access to justice for people with disabilities.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Mid April

Stonewall Award

Sponsored by ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

This award recognizes those lawyers, judges, legal academics who have effected real change to remove barriers on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in the legal profession and to recognize those who have championed diversity for the LGBT community.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Mid-June

Spirit of Excellence Award

Sponsored by ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession

This award celebrates the efforts and accomplishments of lawyers who work to promote a more racially and ethnically diverse legal profession. Awards are presented to the lawyers who excel in their professional settings; who personify excellence on the national and international level; and who have demonstrated a commitment to racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Beginning of July

Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards

Sponsored by ABA Commission on Women in the Profession

This award recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of women lawyers. The Brent Awards shine the spotlight on the unsung heroines -- women lawyers making an impact on their communities or making a difference on the national level.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Mid-November

Robert F. Drinan Award

Sponsored by ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This award, named in honor of the late Father Robert F. Drinan, a former member of Congress who chaired the Section in 1990-91, recognizes individuals whose sustained and extraordinary commitment to the Section has advanced its mission of providing leadership to the legal profession in protecting and advancing human rights, civil liberties, and social justice.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: N/A

Thurgood Marshall Award

Sponsored by ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This award honors U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who epitomized individual commitment, in word and action, to the cause of civil rights in this country. The award recognizes similar long-term contributions by other members of the legal profession to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Early December

Dean Henry J. Ramsey, Jr. Diversity Award

Sponsored by ABA Law Student Division

This award is a testament to Dean Henry J. Ramsey, Jr., of Howard University, for his  lifetime commitment to issues of inclusiveness and his efforts to increase the quality of the practice and study of the law.

The Diversity Award recognizes excellence in activities that have contributed toward the achievement and advancement of women, minorities, persons with disabilities in the profession, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. The Henry J. Ramsey, Jr. Award for Diversity is presented to a student, faculty, administrator, or student group/organization from an ABA - approved law school each year during the ABA’s Annual Meeting.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: April 1

Diversity Leadership Award

Sponsored by ABA Section of Litigation

This award recognizes those individuals or entities who have demonstrated a commitment to promoting full and equal participation in the legal profession through the encouragement and inclusion of women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and/or persons of differing sexual orientations and gender identities. 

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Early December. 

Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award                       

Sponsored by ABA Section of Business Law

This award recognizes the significant contributions women have made to the ABA Section of Business Law and to the profession. This prestigious award is given to a woman who has achieved professional excellence in her field and has worked to advance opportunities for other women in the profession and the Section.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Late January

Partnership Awards

Sponsored by ABA Division for Bar Services

This award salutes bar association projects that seek to increase the participation and advancement of lawyers of color as well as other underrepresented constituents — attorneys with disabilities, women attorneys and those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender — and to attract students from these groups to the legal profession. Award-winning projects are showcased at the joint annual meeting of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, the National Association of Bar Executives, and the National Conference of Bar Foundations.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Late April 

TIPS Leadership Award

Sponsored by ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section

This award honors lawyers and judges who take a leadership role by demonstrating, through choices made in their careers and work done in private or public-sector positions, that they have actively promoted diversity in the legal profession.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Beginning of January

Environment, Energy, and Resources Dedication to Diversity and Justice Award

Sponsored by ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources

The Environment, Energy, and Resources Dedication to Diversity and Justice Award recognizes and honors the accomplishments of a person, entities, or organizations that have made significant accomplishments or demonstrated recognized leadership in the areas of environmental justice and/or a commitment to gender, racial, and ethnic diversity in the environment, energy, and natural resources legal area.


NOMINATION DEADLINE: End of May