This award recognizes individuals or organizations who have distinguished themselves in environmental law and policy, contributing significant leadership in improving the substance, process or understanding of environmental protection and sustainable development.
Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
Distinguished Achievement Award in Environmental Law and Policy
How do I submit a nomination for this award?
The 2020 award nomination period ended on May 31. Nominations for 2021 will be accepted beginning in Fall 2020.
Who is eligible for this award?
Eligible individuals must be attorneys who formerly practiced law and who have demonstrated a lifetime of achievement or leadership in developing environmental, energy or resources law and policy in the United States.
Eligible individuals may be former practitioners in the private, public or corporate sectors, judges, public officials, or law professors. The nominee should not be actively engaged in practice, but must be living at the time of nomination.
Individuals who have been Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Council (Council) members, officers, or ABA staff within two years of the year of nomination are not eligible for the award and their immediate families and household members, are not eligible to receive the Award. Self-nominations are not accepted. Individuals must be at least 18 years old at the time of nomination.
What is the award process?
Nominations will be made through an online survey system. You will provide brief information about your nominee. The Section's awards committee will review your nomination and let you know if they need additinal information. Once the nomination period closes, the Awards Committee will review all nominations and make a recommendation to the Section's Council for its final approval. You will be notified either way if your nominee was selected.
When are the awards bestowed?
The 2020 awards will be bestowed at the virtual 28th Fall Conference, October 19-27, 2020.
Past recipients of this award
2020:
Organization: The Environmental Law Institute’s “ELI at 50” Program
2019:
Individual: Robert Percival, Director, Environmental Law Program, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
2018:
Individual: John Leshy, Emeritus Harry D. Sunderland and Distinguished Professor of Real Property Law, University of California Hastings College Of The Law
Individual: Nicholas A. Robinson, University Professor on the Environment and Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus; Co-Director, Global Center for Environmental Legal Studies, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
2017:
Organization: Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Individual: Richard L. Ottinger
2016:
Organization: Stetson University College of Law's Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy
2015:
Individual: Edward L. Strohbehn, Jr.
Organization: DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
2014:
Individual: William M. Tam
Organization: The George Washington University Law School – The George Washington University Law School Environment and Energy Law Program
2013:
Individual: Leslie Carothers
Organization Award Recipient: National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition
2012:
Individual: Professor Svitlana Kravchenko, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Organization: University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic
2011:
Individual: Richard Lazarus
Organization: IUCN Academy of Environmental Law
2010:
Individual: Nicholas C. Yost, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, San Francisco, CA
Organization: Environmental Law Section – Los Angeles County Bar Association
2009:
Individual: Dinah Bear, Washington, DC
Organization: Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
2008:
Individual: Daniel Barstow Magraw, Jr., President, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Washington, DC
Organization: Alliance for the Great Lakes
2007:
Individual: Ken Alex, Environment Section, California Office of the Attorney General, Sacramento, CA; and James R. Milkey, Environmental Protection Division Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, Boston, MA
Organization: University of Denver Sturm College of Law - Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program
2006:
Individual: Professor Oliver A. Houck, Tulane University Law School, New Orleans, LA
Organization: University of Hawai’i William S. Richardson School of Law – Environmental Law Program
2005:
Individual: John R. Quarles, Morgan Lewis, Washington, DC
Organization: Pace University School of Law
2004:
Individual: J. William Futrell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Law Associates, Arlington, VA
Organization: New Mexico Environmental Law Center
2003:
Individual: Professor Edith Brown Weiss, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC
Organization: Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project of the California District Attorneys Association
2002:
Individual: Daniel C. Esty, Director, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, New Haven, CT
Organization: Vermont Law School Environmental Law Center
2001:
Individual: Barry E. Hill, Director, U.S. EPA Office of Environmental Justice, Washington, DC
Organization: Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College
2000:
Individual: Professor Louis B. Sohn, George Washington University National Law Center, Washington, DC
Organization: Tulane Environmental Law Clinic