Internationally Known Lawyer Patricia Wald to Get Top ABA Honor
Patricia Wald, a lawyer internationally known for her work as a judge and on public interest projects, is this year’s recipient of the American Bar Association Medal, the ABA’s top honor.
Wald, who was the first woman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, served 20 years, including five years as chief judge, before resigning in 1999 to serve for two years on the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. She says she is thrilled to learn she will receive the award, the ABA reports in a press release.
Among Wald’s many other public service endeavors, she has served on the governing board of the ABA Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, now a component of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative that supports development of legal systems, judicial training, independent legal professions and other justice initiatives in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa, the press release recounts.
In addition to leading the organization, she was a volunteer in its programs, making 15 trips to places like Sarajevo, Serbia and Slovakia to monitor elections, advise on establishing court systems and assist in drafting new constitutions.
At one point, Wald told the New York Times in 1999, she and others were sitting around a table writing a constitution with the help of homemade vodka.
“As people across the world continue to strive toward justice under the rule of law, and discard the yoke of repression, Patricia Wald embodies an extraordinary commitment to service in the name of law,” says ABA President William H. Neukom in the press release.
The ABA Medal is presented by the ABA periodically, in years when an individual has “rendered exceptionally distinguished service to the cause of American jurisprudence.” Last year’s ABA Medal recipient was U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.
This year’s award will be presented to Wald on Aug. 12 at the ABA’s Annual Meeting in New York.
More coverage of Wald:
Inside UVA (2005): “Judge wins University’s top honor in law”
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy: “Patricia M. Wald”
Bar Report (1995): “Legends in the Law”
Patricia M. Wald (PDF) : “Three Perplexing Predicaments in Human Rights Law”
PAST ABA MEDAL WINNERS
1929 Samuel Williston, Cambridge, Mass.
1930 Elihu Root, New York City 1931 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston 1932 John Henry Wigmore, Chicago 1934 George Woodward Wickersham, New York City 1938 Herbert Harley, Ann Arbor, Mich. 1939 Edgar Bronson Tolman, Chicago
1940 Roscoe Pound, Cambridge, Mass. 1941 George Wharton Pepper, Philadelphia 1942 Charles Evans Hughes, Washington, D.C. 1943 John J. Parker, Charlotte, N.C. 1944 Hatton W. Sumners, Dallas 1946 Carl McFarland, Washington, D.C. 1947 William L. Ransom, New York City 1948 Arthur T. Vanderbilt, Newark, N.J.
1950 Orie L. Phillips, Denver 1951 Reginald Heber Smith, Boston 1952 Harrison Tweed, New York City 1953 Frank E. Holman, Seattle 1954 George Maurice Morris, Washington, D.C. 1956 Robert G. Storey, Dallas 1957 William Clarke Mason, Philadelphia 1958 E. Smythe Gambrell, Atlanta 1959 Greenville Clark, New York City
1960 William A. Schnader, Philadelphia 1961 Jacob Mark Lashly, St. Louis 1962 Tom C. Clark, Washington, D.C. 1963 Felix Frankfurter, Washington, D.C. 1964 Henry S. Drinker, Philadelphia 1965 Edmund M. Morgan, Nashville, Tenn. 1966 Charles S. Rhyne, Washington, D.C. 1967 Roger J. Traynor, San Francisco 1968 J. Edward Lumbard, New York City 1969 Walter V. Schaefer, Chicago
1970 Frank C. Haymond, Charleston, W.V. 1971 Whitney North Seymour, New York City 1972 Harold Gallagher, New York City 1973 William J. Jameson, Billings, Mont. 1974 Ross L. Malone, New York City 1975 Leon Jaworski, Houston 1976 Bernard G. Segal, Philadelphia 1977 Edward L. Wright, Little Rock, Ark. 1978 Erwin N. Griswold, Washington, D.C. 1979 Lewis F. Powell Jr., Washington, D.C.
1981 Chesterfield Smith, Lakeland, Fla. 1982 Earl F. Morris, Columbus, Ohio 1984 Robert W. Meserve, Boston, Mass. 1986 Justin A. Stanley, Chicago 1987 Warren E. Burger, Washington, D.C. 1988 F. Wm. McCalpin, St. Louis 1989 Wm. Reece Smith Jr., Tampa, Fla.
1990 A. Sherman Christensen, Salt Lake City, Utah 1991 Robert B. McKay, New York City 1992 Thurgood Marshall, Washington, D.C. 1993 Randolph W. Thrower, Atlanta 1994 William J. Brennan, Jr., Washington, D.C. 1995 Shirley M. Hufstedler, Los Angeles 1996 John Minor Wisdom, New Orleans 1997 Sandra Day O’Connor, Washington, D.C. 1998 Morris Harrell, Dallas 1999 John H. Pickering, Washington, D.C.
2000 Oliver W. Hill, Richmond, Va. 2001 Robert MacCrate, New York City 2002 William H. Webster, Washington, D.C. 2003 Talbot (Sandy) D’Alemberte, Tallahassee, Fla. 2004 Father Robert F. Drinan, Washington, D.C. 2005 George Leighton, Chicago 2006 Jerome J. Shestack, Philadelphia 2007 Anthony M. Kennedy, Washington, D.C.
