Call for Nominations for 2011-State Bar Awards

The State Bar of California is seeking nominations for the President’s Pro Bono Awards and the Loren Miller Legal Services Award. Both awards recognize extraordinary service to California’s poor. Please nominate your colleagues who qualify for these awards.

Please look to your local legal aid program and those involved in its success for a nominee for the Loren Miller Legal Services Award. This award recognizes a lifetime commitment to legal services and extending legal services to the poor. While many prior recipients of the award have been Executive Directors of legal aid programs, others have been staff attorneys and private bar attorneys. It is not the level in the organization that matters; it is the longevity of dedication to legal services and breadth of service that are key. Each year we receive various nominations for the award, but can only give it to one person. If you know someone who was previously nominated, but did not receive the award, please nominate that person again.

Bar members and law students who performed extraordinary pro bono service during 2010 are eligible for the 2011 President’s Pro Bono Awards. Up to nine awards may be given each year from among nominees who may be California attorneys, California law firms or the California offices of national and international law firms, associations of California lawyers, law schools accredited by the ABA or the State Bar, and law students (provided the student did not receive compensation or academic credit for the work). The work must be legal work, not civic or public service (i.e., building houses or serving meals in a soup kitchen would not qualify.) If you know someone was previously nominated but not recognized, please consider nominating that person again if their pro bono service in 2010 was significant.

The nomination deadline for all awards is March 15, 2011. Information and instructions for all awards are available on the State Bar’s website. The 2011 awards will be presented at a reception in September 2011 during the State Bar Annual Meeting in Long Beach. If you have any questions about the awards, please contact Lynn Martinez, Awards Chair, at slmartinez@wclp.org or 213-235-2630, or the SCDLS Staff Liaison, Sharon Ngim, at sharon.ngim@calbar.ca.gov or 415-538-2267.