The ABA Section of State and Local Government Law established the Jefferson B. Fordham Awards to honor outstanding attorneys and law offices that have achieved professional excellence within the area of state and local government law.
April 01, 2018 Section News
Call for Fordham Award Nominations
Award Categories and Criteria
Below are brief descriptions of the criteria used to select recipients in each category.
Law Office Accomplishment—Recogniizes sustained outstanding performance or a specific extraordinary accomplishment by a state and local government law office. Eligible candidates include all state and local government and public sector law offices, including departments or units within such offices.
Lifetime Achievement—Recognizes outstanding contributions to the practice of state and local government law by an individual over an entire career or for contributions over a number of years of service.
Advocacy—Recognizes outstanding legal advocacy within the area of state and local government law and celebrates excellence in advocacy, both written and otherwise.
Up & Comers—Presented to a young practitioner (36 or under) who, through his or her efforts and accomplishments, shows great promise to continue these contributions for future achievements.
Guidelines for Submission
- Nominee: Please submit as the cover sheet for the nomination package the full name, address, and telephone numbers of the nominee.
- Employer: The nomination package must include the name of the law office’s director or manager for the Government Law Office Award, including the size and mission of the office.
- Accomplishments: Provide a detailed summary of the nominee’s or office’s achievements and a brief explanation of outstanding or extraordinary public and/or professional services rendered (50 to 100 words).
- Service: Please include an explanation of the nominee’s performance and service, information regarding the time frame for the services described, accomplishments, or superior contributions over a number of years, outstanding advocacy, or legal writing; qualifications as a young lawyer for the Up & Comer Award, whose past efforts and accomplishments show great promise to continue contributions for future achievement; and an assessment of the impact of the service for which you are nominating the individual or office (no more than two typed pages).
- References: The nomination package must also include names, titles, and phone numbers of three other persons (including at least one lawyer or jurist) who are familiar with the nominee’s performance, achievement, and so on.
Nominator: To assist the Awards Committee’s evaluation, please also include a brief statement about the nominator’s background.
Nominations for the 2018 Fordham Awards must be received in the Section office on or before March 31, 2018. The Section’s Awards Committee will select recipients for the 2018 Awards in spring 2018. The Awards will be presented at the Jefferson Fordham Society Luncheon in August 2018 during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
For more information, contact Tamara Edmonds Askew at 312/988-5652 or Tamara .[email protected], fax 312/988-5121.