Initiatives & Awards - Awards & Prizes

E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Awards
Sponsor:  ABA Center for Professional Responsibility

Annual competition for projects aimed at enhancing professionalism among lawyers. Up to three cash awards of $3,500 are presented each year to law schools, state and local bar associations, law firms, and not-for-profit law related organizations. The award was established in 1991 and is funded through the E. Smythe Gambrell Fund for Professionalism that was established by the ABA Board of Governors in 1984.
Status: Ongoing

Warren E. Burger Prize
Sponsor:  American Inns of Court

The Warren E. Burger Prize recognizes practical scholarship in the areas of legal ethics, civility and professionalism.

A. Sherman Christensen Award
Sponsor:  American Inns of Court Foundation

Given in the name of the founder of the first American Inn of Court, this award is bestowed upon a member of an American Inn of Court who, at the local, state, or national level has provided distinguished, exceptional and significant leadership to the American Inns of Court movement.

Florida Bar Center for Professionalism: Professionalism Student Essay Competition
Sponsor:  Florida Bar Center for Professionalism

Florida law student essay competition with monetary reward
Status: Ongoing

Isaac Hecht Award for Excellence in the Field of Law Client Protection
Sponsor:  National Client Protection Organization

The Isaac Hecht Award is presented annually by the National Client Protection Organization at the National Forum on Client Protection. This award honors the memory and career of Isaac Hecht, whose professional career and his pioneering support of law client protection funds stand as lasting monuments to a lawyer’s life “lived greatly in the law.”

Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Award for Professionalism and Ethics
Sponsor:  American Inns of Court

Award bestowed upon a person who has rendered exemplary service in the areas of legal excellence, professionalism and ethics.
Status: Annually since 1990

M. Keck Foundation Award and Lectureship
Sponsor:  American Bar Foundation

Award given to honor distinguished legal scholarship in legal ethics and professional responsibility

Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award
Sponsor:  American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility

In 1994, the Center for Professional Responsibility created the Michael Franck Award for Professional Responsibility to acknowledge "individuals whose contributions in the area of lawyers' professional responsibility set an example of insight into the demands of legal professionalism, dedication to the highest level of ethical conduct, and a vision of constant improvement of lawyer regulation in the public interest."

Model of Excellence Award
Sponsor:  American Inns of Court Foundation

The annual Model of Excellence Award recognizes the Inn that excels in all aspects of local administration and operations.

Multnomah Bar Association Professionalism Award
Sponsor:  Multnomah Bar Association, Oregon

The Association gives an annual award to a practicing attorney who is a member of the Multnomah Bar Association and exhibits the high ethical standards and exemplary conduct in the practice of law.
Status: Ongoing
For more information:
Tel: 502-222-3275

National Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching Professionalism
Sponsor:  ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism and the Conference of Chief Justices

Co-sponsored by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism and the Conference of Chief Justices and supported by the Burge Endowment for Law & Ethics.

Professionalism Awards
Sponsor:  Florida Bar Center for Professionalism

Awards for programs enhancing professionalism among lawyers.
Status: Ongoing

Program Awards
Sponsor:  American Inns of Court Foundation

The annual program awards recognize outstanding program development in local Inns of Court.

Sandra Day O'Connor Award for Professional Service
Sponsor:  American Inns of Court

The American Inns of Court has established the Sandra Day O'Connor Award for Professional Service honoring an American Inn member in practice ten or fewer years for excellence in public interest or pro bono activities.

Wickersham Award for Exceptional Public Service and Dedication to the Legal Profession
Sponsor:  Friends of the Law Library of Congress

Annual award given to a person who has shown exceptional public service and dedication to the legal profession
Status: Annually since 1992