This award, a joint effort of the American Bar Association Young Lawyer Division and Judge Advocate Association, recognizes the legal contributions of one young judge advocate from each uniformed service: the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard. Every judge advocate command is encouraged to nominate one young officer.
The 2025 nominations process will open in January. Nominations must be submitted to your Service POC by your Service’s deadline (please note that your Service deadline may be earlier than the ABA deadline).
All nominees must be approved by a Service point-of-contact.
Nominations will be evaluated based on a narrative description of professional accomplishments, service to the community, leadership, and development of subordinates. Please also note the following criteria:
Nominees must be active-duty officers under the age of 36, or first admitted to practice by his or her bar association within the past 5 years. Nominees are NOT required to be members of the ABA; however, nominees cannot have been previous Outstanding Young Military Lawyer Award (OYMLA) recipients.
All nominations must be sent to your service point of contact (POC). The POCs for each branch are:
Nominations must be submitted by a licensed attorney.
The deadline is March 8, 2025.
Nominations must use the required PDF form.
Nominations shall encompass all service to date. Additional endorsements, attachments, or supporting documents are not required and will not be considered. Avoid using acronyms, but if unavoidable, spell out the acronym when first used.
Nominations will be evaluated based on a narrative description of professional accomplishments, service to the community, leadership, and development of subordinates.
Questions concerning the award or the nomination process can be directed to the Service POC or:
Christie R. McGuinness
[email protected]
(212) 980-7205
Questions concerning the award or the nomination process can be directed to the Service POC or:
Captain Fabiani A. Duarte [email protected] [email protected]
DSN: 314-478-8844
Office DSN from USAFE Comm: 06371-405-48844 Office DSN from US Comm: 011-496-371-405-8844
