Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award
Criteria for Selection
The individual (a lawyer) demonstrates:
- Substantial length of humanitarian service to the bar and the community
- Outstanding professional performance
- Outstanding achievement in service to the citizens of Ramsey County
- Leadership in the development of law in our community
- Substantial commitment to preserving and carrying out the vision of our Constitution
Nominations
Nominations will open this winter.
Past Recipients
- 1987 | Archie L. Gingold
- 1988 | Joseph A. Maun
- 1989 | Frank Hammond
- 1990 | Judge Ronald Hachey
- 1991 | Professor Maynard Pirsig
- 1992 | C. Paul Jones and Samuel H. Morgan
- 1993 | Charlton Dietz
- 1994 | Roger F. Noreen
- 1995 | William B. Randall
- 1996 | Joseph T. O’Neill
- 1997 | Bruce Beneke and Martha Eaves
- 1998 | Theodore Collins
- 1999 | Father John Malone
- 2000 | Judge Mary Louise Klas
- 2001 | William Haugh
- 2002 | Jeanne Schleh
- 2003 | Justice Paul H. Anderson
- 2004 | Michael Galvin, Jr.
- 2005 | George Latimer
- 2006 | Dan O’Connell
- 2007 | William Cosgriff
- 2008 | Julian Zweber
- 2009 | James Hankes
- 2010 | Philip Carruthers
- 2011 | Judge John Van de North
- 2012 | Judge Gordon Shumaker
- 2013 | Mary S. Ward
- 2014 | Ann Huntrods
- 2015 | Judge Edward Cleary
- 2016 | Michael Black
- 2017 | Judge Joanne Smith
- 2018 | Sally Scoggin
- 2019 | Judge Kelly Olmstead
- 2020 | Evan Tsai
- 2021 | Veena Iyer
- 2022 | Kathy Eveslage, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services
- 2023 | Hon. James Street
- 2024 | Hon. Katie J. Bergstrom
Excellence in Diversity Award
Criteria for Selection
The individual or organization demonstrates:
- A person who best exemplifies the Mission of the Committee. “Person” is defined to mean an individual or a legal entity, such as a sole proprietor, a partnership, company, organization, corporation, or governmental agency
- It should include any person who has a history of encouraging, supporting or promoting diversity and equal opportunities for women, minorities and other members of historically under-represented groups in the community
- The recipient should preferably be a person who lives or works in Ramsey County
Nominations
Nominations will open this winter.
Past Recipients
- 2001 | St. Paul Companies
- 2002 | Judge Edward Toussaint
- 2003 | Mayor Randy Kelly
- 2004 | St. Paul Foundation
- 2005 | Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services
- 2006 | Kelly & Fawcett
- 2007 | John Kostishack
- 2008 | Centro Legal, Inc.
- 2009 | Manuel Guerrero
- 2010 | Children’s Law Center of Minnesota
- 2011 | Alan Maclin
- 2012 | John Choi
- 2013 | Claire Joseph
- 2014 | Toni Newborn
- 2015 | Justice Alan Page
- 2016 | Rhyddid Watkins and Nathan Sellers
- 2017 | Judge Nicole St
- 2018 | Dave Pinto
- 2019 | Melitta Drechsler
- 2020 | Mitchell Hamline School of Law Mobile Law Office
- 2021 | Athena Hollins
- 2022 | Racey Rodne
Liberty Bell Award
Criteria for Selection
The recipient (a non-lawyer) has been involved in activities which:
- Promote a better understanding of our government
- Encourage respect for the law and the courts
- Stimulate a deeper sense of individual responsibility under the law
- Contribute to the effective functioning of our institutions of government
- Inculcate a better understanding and appreciation of the rule of law
Nominations
Nominations will open this winter.
Past Recipients
- 1964 | Bishop James P. Shannon
- 1965 | Phillip Hall
- 1966 | Rev. Emery Barrett
- 1967 | William Sumner
- 1968 | Paul Schilling, Sr.
- 1969 | Lawrence M. O’Shaunessey
- 1970 | Sister M. Giovanni
- 1971 | J.C. “Red” Wolfe
- 1972 | Father Denzil Carty
- 1973 | John M. Budd
- 1974 | Malcolm Moos
- 1975 | Harold Cummins
- 1976 | Ted and Charlotte Mitau
- 1977 | Patrick Butler
- 1978 | Elmer L. Anderson
- 1979 | William C. Norris
- 1980 | Edith Lallier
- 1981 | Frank Marzitelli
- 1982 | Hy Applebaum
- 1985 | Cheryl Indehar
- 1986 | Dr. Carolyn Levitt
- 1987 | LAW of Ramsey County
- 1988 | Mulford Q. Sibley
- 1989 | Public members of the Ethics and Fee Arbitration Committees
- 1990 | Lana Mahoney
- 1991 | Don Shelby
- 1992 | Karen Wandmacher and Doris Simonett
- 1993 | Howard Guthmann
- 1994 | William R. Carter
- 1995 | Warren Schaber
- 1996 | Bruce Robb
- 1997 | Willie Mae Wilson
- 1998 | Candee Goodman
- 1999 | Patricia Berendt
- 2000 | Mary MacBee
- 2001 | Dispute Resolution Center
- 2002 | Dede Wolfson
- 2003 | Stephen Seidel
- 2004 | Paul Verret
- 2005 | Mary Hartnett
- 2006 | Linda Kohl
- 2007 | Roberta Megard
- 2008 | Ramsey County Interpreters Program
- 2009 | Jesse Mollner
- 2010 | Patricia Brummer
- 2011 | Jesse Bethke Gomez
- 2012 | Caty Jirik
- 2013 | Kashif Saroya
- 2014 | Vivian Mason
- 2015 | Joanne Miller
- 2016 | Sarah Walker
- 2017 | Curt Goering
- 2018 | Rowzat Shipchandler
- 2019 | Ramsey County Law Library
- 2020 | Court Visitor Program in Memory of Dennis Libra
- 2021 | Center for Excellence in Supported Decision Making (CESDM) -- Volunteers of America MN and WI
- 2022 | Sahan Journal
- 2023 | Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy.
- 2024 | Emily Lockhart
Pro Bono Award
Criteria for Selection
The recipient (a lawyer) has been involved in activities which:
- Demonstrated dedication to the development and delivery of legal services to low-income clients through a pro bono program
- Contributed significant work toward developing innovative approaches to the delivery of volunteer legal services
- Resulted in satisfying previously unmet needs or resulted in extending services to underserved segments of the population
- Successfully litigated pro bono cases that favorably affected the provision of other services to low-income members of our community.
- Successfully achieved legislation that contributed substantially to legal services to low-income members of our community
- Demonstrated dedication to the development and delivery of pro bono business legal services OR
- Provided sustained pro bono business
Nominate an attorney for the Pro Bono Award using our form. The nomination period for the 2024 Pro Bono Award will close on September 27.
Nominations
Nominations for the Pro Bono Award are closed and will reopen in the summer of 2025.
Past Recipients
- 2004 | Michael Black, William Mullin
- 2005 | Fred Kueppers, Jr., Mary Vasaly, Jeffrey Vesel
- 2006 | Esther Lerman, Tom Sheran
- 2007 | Edward Kautzer, Ann Marie Hanrahan
- 2008 | Hugh Markley
- 2009 | Warren Maas
- 2010 | Lisa Payne Fulton, John M. Degnan
- 2011 | Thomas Hatch
- 2012 | Joseph H. Otterstetter
- 2013 | LB Guthrie
- 2014 | Thomas A. Gilligan, Jr.
- 2015 | Lucas Rezac
- 2016 | Patrick Sauter
- 2017 | Mark Genereux
- 2018 | Valentin Povarchuk
- 2019 | Eric Galatz, Keith Moheban
- 2020 | Karen Tarrant
- 2021 | William Kronschnabel
- 2022 | Lawrence (Larry) McDonough
- 2023 | Wendy Willson Legge and Bill Tilton