Awards and Contests

The following is a list of awards and contests administered by the Virginia State Bar and/or its various sections and committees. Please contact the appropriate persons listed below to obtain specific information and any necessary application materials.

Award of Merit Competition
Fifty Year Awards
Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award
Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. Achievement Award
Family Law Service Award
Law in Society Scholarship
Lewis F. Powell Jr. Pro Bono Award
Lifetime Achievement Award
Local Bar Leader of the Year
Oliver White Hill Law Student Pro Bono Award
R. Edwin Burnette Jr. Young Lawyer of the Year Award
Tradition of Excellence Award
Virginia Legal Aid Award
William R. Rakes Leadership in Education Award
 

Title: Award of Merit Competition
Sponsor: VSB Conference of Local Bar Associations
Criteria: This competition is designed to recognize outstanding projects and programs of Virginia bar associations; share successful programming ideas and resources with all bar associations; encourage greater service to the bench, bar and public; and inform the public about some of the excellent work of voluntary bars and the legal profession in general.
Nomination Deadline: April 26, 2013
Presentation: VSB Annual Meeting in June
Contact: Paulette Davidson, (804) 775-0521, davidson@vsb.org

more information

Title:

Fifty Year Awards
Sponsor: Virginia State Bar
Criteria: Certificates are presented to all members in good standing of the VSB who have been licensed in Virginia for 50 years.
Nomination Deadline: n/a
Presentation: VSB Annual Meeting in June
Title: Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award
Sponsor: VSB Criminal Law Section
Criteria: Recognizes an individual (judge, defense attorney, prosecutor, clerk or other citizen) who has made a singular and unique contribution to the improvement of the criminal justice system in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This Section does not necessarily present this award every year, but only as often as the caliber of nominations deems appropriate.
Nomination Deadline: December 3, 2012
Presentation: Criminal Law Seminar in February
Contact: Bet Keller, (804) 775-0516, keller@vsb.org
Additional Information and Past Recipients
Title: Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. Achievement Award
Sponsor: VSB Diversity Conference
Criteria: Recognizes individuals who are examples of excellence that members of the bar can emulate to meet its mission and goals of fostering, encouraging, and facilitating diversity and inclusion in the bar, the judiciary, and the legal profession.
Nomination Deadline: May 15, 2013
Presentation: VSB Annual Meeting in June
Contact: Peter C. Burnett, peterb@burnettwilliams.com

Nomination Information

Additional Information

Title: Family Law Service Award
Sponsor: VSB Family Law Section
Criteria: The Family Law Service Award shall be given to an individual or organization who has consistently given freely of time, talent and energies to provide valuable services in advancing family, domestic relations or juvenile law in Virginia, whether such services are rendered to the Virginia legal community or directly to the citizens of Virginia.
Nomination Deadline: January 31
Presentation: Annual Advanced Family Law Seminar
Contact: Dolly Shaffner, (804) 775-0518, FamilyLaw@vsb.org

Nomination Submission:

Additional Information and Past Recipients
Title: Law in Society Scholarship
Sponsor: VSB Litigation Section
Criteria: The award aims to increase awareness and appreciation of our legal system among high school students. Criterion for the competition is an essay in response to a hypothetical on a predetermined topic. Awards are given to those students whose essays demonstrate a superior understanding of the role and value of our legal system in our every day lives.
Deadline: February 13, 2013
Presentation: Awards will be presented in May at the winners’ schools.
Contact: (804) 775-0594, lawinsociety@vsb.org
Title: Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Pro Bono Award
Sponsor: VSB Access to Legal Services Committee
Criteria:

The award honors attorneys and attorney groups who have made outstanding pro bono contributions. The recipient of the award must meet one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Demonstrated dedication to the development and delivery of pro bono legal services in the Commonwealth of Virginia;

(2) Contributed significantly toward the development of innovative approaches to the delivery of volunteer legal services;

(3) Participated in an activity that resulted in satisfying previously unmet needs for legal services or in extending services to underserved segments of the population;

(4) Successfully handled pro bono cases that favorably affected the provision of other services to the poor in Virginia;

(5) Successfully supported legislation that contributed substantially to providing legal services to the poor; or,

(6) Devoted significant time to furthering the delivery of legal services to the poor in Virginia by handling pro bono matters or providing training or recruiting volunteer attorneys for the Pro Bono Initiative of the Virginia State Bar or a local pro bono program.

Nomination Deadline: January 25, 2013, by 5:00 p.m.
Presentation: spring
Contact: (804) 775-0522
Entry Information and Past Recipients
Title: Betty A. Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award
Sponsor: VSB Family Law Section
Criteria: Recognizes and honors an individual who has made a substantial contribution to the practice and administration of family law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Nomination Deadline: January 31
Presentation: Annual Advanced Family Law Seminar
Contact: Dolly Shaffner, (804) 775-0516, FamilyLaw@vsb.org

Nomination Submission:

Additional Information and Past Recipients
Title: Local Bar Leader of the Year
Sponsor: VSB Conference of Local Bar Associations
Criteria: The award recognizes past and presently active leaders in their local bar associations who have continued to offer important service to the bench, bar and public. The award serves as a continuing monument to the dedication of local bar leaders. It also serves to emphasize the importance of close cooperation between the Virginia State Bar and local bar leaders. The Conference does not necessarily present this award every year, but only as often as the caliber of nominations deems appropriate.
Nomination Deadline: April 26, 2013
Presentation: VSB Annual Meeting in June
Contact: Paulette Davidson, (804) 775-0521, davidson@vsb.org

Entry Information and Past Recipients

Title Oliver White Hill Law Student Pro Bono Award
Sponsor: VSB Access to Legal Services Committee
Presentation: spring
Contact: (804) 775-0522
Nomination Deadline: January 25, 2013, by 5:00 p.m.
Entry Information
Title: R. Edwin Burnette, Jr. Young Lawyer of the Year Award
Sponsor: VSB Young Lawyers Conference
Criteria: This award honors an outstanding young Virginia lawyer who has demonstrated dedicated service to the Young Lawyers Conference, the legal profession and the community.
Nomination Deadline: April 1
Presentation: VSB Annual Meeting in June
Contact: Maureen Stengel, (804) 775-0517, stengel@vsb.org
Title: Tradition of Excellence Award
Sponsor: VSB General Practice Section
Criteria: The Virginia State Bar General Practice Section annually recognizes an outstanding lawyer who embodies the highest tradition of personal and professional excellence in Virginia. This special award recognizes attorneys who have devoted significant amounts of time, efforts, and/or funds to activities that benefit their community and help enhance the image and esteem of general practice attorneys in the Commonwealth. All candidates must be current members of the VSB in good standing, with a minimum of ten years of law practice, at least five of which must have been as a general practitioner.
Nomination Deadline: April 1, 2013
Presentation: VSB Annual Meeting in June
Contact: Catherine Huband, (804) 775-0514, huband@vsb.org
Entry Information and Past Recipients
Title: Virginia Legal Aid Award
Sponsor: VSB Access to Legal Services Committee
Criteria: The recipient of the award will exhibit the following qualities in his or her work: 1) Innovation and creativity in advocacy; 2) experience and excellence in service; and 3) Impact beyond his or her own program's service area. The nominee must be a member of the VSB and an employee of a legal aid society that is licensed by the VSB to operate in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Nomination Deadline: April 1, 2013
Presentation: VSB Annual Meeting in June, Legal Aid Award Luncheon
Contact: Paulette Davidson, (804) 775-0521, davidson@vsb.org
Entry Information and Past Recipients
Title: William R. Rakes Leadership in Education Award
Sponsor: VSB Section on the Education of Lawyers in Virginia
Criteria: The fundamental criteria for the award will be to recognize an individual from the bench, the practicing bar or the academy who has made a significant contribution to (1) improving the state of legal education in Virginia, both in law school and throughout a lawyer’s career; and (2) enhancing communication,cooperation and meaningful collaboration among the three branches of the legal profession.
Nomination Deadline: December 3, 2012
Presentation: TBA
Contact: Bet Keller, (804) 775-0516, keller@vsb.org

More Information

2012 recipient

Title: Phase Three of Pilot Project for Awards in Three Circuits – Citing Appointed Counsel or Pro Bono Attorneys for Extraordinary Contributions Made to the Virginia Justice System.
Sponsor: VSB Special Committee on Access to Legal Services
Criteria: Pilot Project to recognize appointed counsel in criminal or civil cases or pro bono attorneys making extraordinary contributions to the Virginia Justice System in one of three judicial circuits or divisions: Sixth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-second. Link shown below and VSB RPC 6.1 and 6.2 give additional details about types of qualifying work.
Nomination Deadline: information on phase four to come in 2011
Presentation: Framed certificate given to honoree at opening term of court or other suitable occasion in the locality.
Contact: (804) 775-0522

2009 Award Recipients
2007 Award Recipients (PDF)
2005 Award Recipients

 

 

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Updated: Apr 15, 2013