State & Local News Vol. 21, No. 2, Winter 1998 ABA Board of Governors to Consider Jefferson Fordham Award By John Copelan Since our last issue, the Section's Executive Committee has voted to establish a Jefferson B. Fordham Award for our Section. Pending approval by the ABA Board of Governors, this award will be presented for the first time this year. Chair Fred Leonhardt asked me to chair an ad hoc committee to establish the categories and procedures for the awards. The space normally allotted to my Legally Speaking column as editor will be used to announce the Jefferson B. Fordham Award and nomination procedures. Announcement of Jefferson B. Fordham Award The Section of State and Local Government Law of the ABA voted at its Fall 1997 Council Meeting to establish an award in honor of its first Chair, Jefferson B. Fordham, who served as Chair of the then Section of Local Government Law in 1949B50. In 1949, his casebook on local government law revolutionized the teaching of this field. Here, for the first time, were addressed planning and finance, housing and blight, transportation and congestion; in short, the whole range of urban problems whose solutions required a larger concept of community. Fordham pioneered the concepts of home rule, and the landmark decisions sustaining home rule owe a large debt to his analysis and writing. During his years of service, the Section became a distinguished national resource for state and local government law. Four Categories of Recipients and Criteria of Selection The Jefferson Fordham Award would be presented annually in each of four categories, although, depending on the recommendation of the judges, it would not have to be presented in each category each year. The four categories will cover: State and Local Government Law Office Accomplishment: This award would recognize sustained outstanding performance or a specific extraordinary accomplishment by a state or local government law office. Eligible nominees would include all state and local government public sector law offices, including departments or units within the offices. State and Local Government Law Lifetime Achievement: This award would recognize outstanding contributions to the practice of state and local government law by an individual. It would be given for either an individual's specific extraordinary accomplishments or for sustained superior contributions over a number of years. State and Local Government Law Advocacy: This award would recognize outstanding advocacy or legal writing within the area of state and local government law. It would foster and encourage excellence in advocacy, both written and otherwise, in state and local government law. State and Local Government Law Up & Comers: Presented to a young lawyer as defined by the ABA who, through past efforts and accomplishments, shows great promise to continue these contributions for future achievement. Nomination Procedures Interested parties wishing to nominate an individual or office for any of the Jefferson Fordham Awards would submit the following: Full name, address (including zip code), and telephone number of nominee. Name of nominee's or law office's director or manager. a. Size of nominee's office (number of lawyers, number of support personnel, approximate annual budget), if applicable. b. Mission of nominee's office (brief explanation of the nominee unit's principle function as a government or public law office), if applicable. Summary of nominee's or office's achievements. Detailed narrative explanation of the nominee's performance and service, information regarding the time frame for the extraordinary service described, accomplishments or superior contributions over a number of years; outstanding advocacy or legal writing; or (in the case of Up & Comers Award) qualifications as young lawyer whose past efforts and accomplishments show great promise to continue contributions for future achievement; provide assessment of the impact of the service for which you are nominating the office; include such other factors as you deem important (no more than two pages). Names, titles and phone numbers of three other persons (including at least one lawyer or jurist) not associated with nominee who are familiar with nominee's performance, achievements, etc. Specifically for the nominator, provide a brief statement about yourself (name, title, address, phone number, years of practice, and any other factors which you believe would assist the Awards Committee in evaluating the nomination). Deadline and Judging All nominations must be submitted to Jackie Baker, Section Administrator, ABA, Section of State and Local Government Law, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610, no later than February 28, 1998. A committee of three persons, chaired by the Immediate Past Chair, would provide a recommendation to the Executive Committee, who would approve the final selection. Presentation Pending approval by the ABA Board of Governors, the awards would be presented at the Section's Spring Meeting in April 1998 in Amelia Island, Florida, at a banquet to which all attending the meeting will be invited, and at the Annual Meeting of the ABA in August 1998. State & Local Law News home page | Table of Contents