CHICAGO, June 30, 2023 – The American Bar Association Judicial Division announced today that Judge Thomas L. Ludington of the U.S. District Court in Bay City, Michigan, will receive the Honorable William D. Missouri Civility Award for 2023.
Ludington was nominated for the award by his chambers staff and was supported with letters from fellow judges in Michigan’s Eastern District and a judge with the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
The Missouri Award honors judges and legal professionals who exhibit exceptional qualities of civility, courtesy and professionalism toward colleagues, litigants and the public. It is named in honor of the late Judge William D. Missouri of Maryland, who embodied courtesy in the courtroom.
“Not everyone who appears before my colleague, Judge Thomas Ludington, leaves with the satisfaction of victory,” wrote U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson. “But to a person, they all understand that they have been heard and their cause has been taken seriously… Judge Ludington treats those with whom he interacts with dignity and respect. He is a kind and gracious man.”
Ludington is the only district judge in the U.S. District Court serving the Northern Division of Michigan’s Eastern District. The staff in the Northern Division “treats every litigant with respect and kindness,” wrote U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy. “This emanates from Judge Ludington, there can be no doubt about that. He sets the tone for the building and all of its staff, and it is one of kindness and cooperation.”
Ludington was nominated to the federal bench by President George W. Bush and has served since 2006. Prior to that, he was a state court judge from 1995 to 2006, serving as chief judge of the 42nd Circuit Court of Michigan. He is a graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law.
Ludington will receive the Missouri Award at the 2023 ABA Annual Meeting in Denver on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 6 p.m. at the Colorado Bar Association. For more information on the award, contact Kris Berliant of the ABA Judicial Division at [email protected]. For a photo of Judge Ludington, click here.
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.