Nominees should (1) have engaged in the practice of law for at least twenty years, (2) be serving now as a lawyer in Connecticut, New York, or Vermont, and (3) occupy a senior position in the office of a prosecutor, defender, government agency, private law firm, or other private entity. Judges and full-time professors are not eligible.
Nominations should be in letter form and include sufficient information about the nominee to allow the committee to make a reasoned judgment. Additional letters of recommendation should be included in the package, such as by younger lawyers describing their associations with the nominee and the benefits conferred by the nominee’s teaching, mentorship, and example.
Nominations must be received at the American Inns of Court Foundation offices, 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 770, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, no later than April 10, 2025; copies of the nominations must also be e-mailed as a single PDF to Michael D. Jordan, Circuit Executive, at AIC_Award@ca2.uscourts.gov. Nominations should be addressed to the attention of Hon. Carl E. Stewart, Chair of the American Inns of Court Awards Committee.
Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit hopes to be able to present the Award in New York at the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, Courtroom 1703, 40 Foley Square, in fall 2025.
The person chosen for this honor is a quintessential mentor who embodies the fundamental values of the profession to which the American Inns of Court is dedicated. The honoree is a senior lawyer who for a generation or more has guided younger practitioners in government, private practice, or public service, by word and by example. He or she is a “lawyer’s lawyer”— a master of the craft—whose life and work reflect civility, competence, and ethical behavior. In short, we seek nominations of first-rate attorneys who have taught, supervised, and nurtured developing lawyers; and who, in doing so, have assured that the finest traditions of the Bar will be sustained.
For more information, go to www.innsofcourt.org/ProfessionalismAwards or contact Cindy Dennis at (571) 319-4703.
The honoree will be selected by a combined committee of the Second Circuit and the American Inns of Court.
Second Circuit Committee members will be:
Hon. Eunice C. Lee, U.S. Court of Appeals, Chair
Hon. Sarah A. L. Merriam, U.S. Court of Appeals
Hon. Naomi Reice Buchwald, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Hon. Ramón E. Reyes, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
American Inns of Court members will be:
Hon. Carl E. Stewart, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Chair
Kim J. Askew, Esquire, DLA Piper LLP
Hon. J. Michelle Childs, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Hon. Denny Chin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Hon. Kent A. Jordan, Retired Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Hon. William C. Koch, Jr., Former Justice, Tennessee Supreme Court and Dean, Nashville School of Law
Hon. Cheryl A. Krause, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ‘Thomas C. Leighton, Thomson Reuters Legal
Hon. Barbara M.G. Lynn, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ‘Hon. Collins J. Seitz, Jr., Chief Justice, Delaware Supreme Court
American Inns of Court Professionalism Award in the Second Circuit Recipients
2024—Alan Vinegrad, Esquire
2023—Terrence M. Connors, Esquire
2022—Michael Kennedy, Esquire
2021—Susan Kellman, Esquire
2020—Steven M. Edwards, Esquire and James I. Glasser, Esquire
2019—Zachary W. Carter, Esquire
2018—Susan E. Farley, Esquire
2017—Peter Enrique Quijano, Esquire
2016—Peter G. Eikenberry, Esquire
2015—Bettina B. Plevan, Esquire and Lee S. Richards III, Esquire
2014—Patricia M. Hynes, Esquire
2013—Doreen A. Simmons, Esquire and Roger L. Zissu, Esquire
2012—The Honorable Barbara D. Underwood
2011—Marilyn C. Kunstler, Esquire; Sharon M. Porcellio, Esquire; and Guy Miller Struve, Esquire
2010—Alan G. Krams, Esquire
2009—John Sand Siffert, Esquire
2008—Anthony L. Ricco, Esquire
2007—John C. Yavis, Jr., Esquire
2006—John B. Webber, Esquire
2005—Henry Putzel III, Esquire
2004—Thomas J. Concannon, Esquire
2003—Gerald Walpin, Esquire
2002—Marcia B. Paul, Esquire