The nomination deadline has been extended for the ABA’s 2021 E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Awards. Nominations will be accepted until April 30, 2021.
The Gambrell Awards are presented to exemplary and innovative professionalism programs that “promote the highest principles of integrity and dedication to the legal profession and the public.” Each award carries a $3,500 prize.
The awards are administered by the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism and supported by the E. Smythe Gambrell Fund for Professionalism. Stephanie Villinski, Deputy Director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, is a member of the Standing Committee.
Award Eligibility
Law schools, state and local bar associations, court programs and projects, law firms and not-for-profit law-related organizations with professionalism programs or projects are eligible for a Gambrell Award.
To be considered, the program or project must meet the following criteria:
- Be ongoing
- Easily replicated
- Have operated for at least one year prior to the entry deadline
- Fall under the broad definition of professionalism
- This includes programs that enhance diversity, inclusion, civility, and well-being of the profession
- Must not be a program or project that has won a Gambrell Award in the past
History of the Gambrell Award
The Gambrell Professionalism Awards were established in 1991 and are named for E. Smythe Gambrell, ABA and American Bar Foundation president from 1955 to 1956. Gambrell founded the Legal Aid Society in Atlanta, where he practiced law from 1922 until his death in 1986.
Past recipients have included the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission, the Mississippi Bar’s Access to Justice Initiative, the New York State Judicial Institute on Professionalism in the Law, and the Florida State University College of Law “Raising the Bar” Professionalism Program.
If you know of an exemplary professionalism program, download and complete the nomination form on the ABA’s website. Award recipients will be notified in June.
For more information about the Gambrell Awards and the nomination process, please reach out to Theresa Gronkiewicz, Senior Counsel at the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism, by email or phone at 312-988-5299.
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