2013 Stewart Award Honorees are Sandman, Rosenbaum, Garber
The Council for Court Excellence is delighted to announce this year's recipients of the Justice Potter Stewart Award. Three awards will be presented this year, to Jim Sandman, Jess Rosenbaum, and Bill Garber. The honorees will be recognized at the 17th Annual Justice Potter Stewart Award Dinner on May 9, 2013.
James J. Sandman is President of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), a nonprofit organization which functions as the largest funder of civic legal aid for the low-income Americans. His long career in the Washington, DC legal community was spent mostly with the law firm of Arnold & Porter, where he practiced from 1977 to 2007 and of which he was managing partner from 1995 to 2005. Mr. Sandman left the firm to take the lead as general counsel for the District of Columbia Public Schools in 2007. He joined LSC in 2011. In his many volunteer and community roles, he served as President of the DC Bar from 2006-2007, and was a member of the Bar's Board of Governors from 2003 to 2008. He is also a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission’s District of Columbia State Advisory Committee, a board leader at the Women's Bar Association Foundation and at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, and vice chairman of the Washington Performing Arts Society. Mr. Sandman received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania after graduating summa cum laude from Boston College. Mr. Sandman's award will be presented by DC Public School Chancellor Kaya Henderson.
Jessica T. Rosenbaum is Executive Director of the DC Access to Justice Commission, which was created n in 2005 by the DC Court of Appeals with a goal to increase access to justice for lower inome District residents. She is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Before assuming leadership of the Commission, Ms. Rosenbaum was an attorney at the Legal Aid Society of DC. She has also served in the Department of Justice and the Department of State, where she worked on diverse federal and international issues related to children in the justice system. She is a member of the board of the Washington Council of Lawyers, where she was President from 2006-2007. Ms. Rosenbaum is the former coordinator for the DC Consortium of Legal Services Providers, and she remains an active member of the Consortium. She received her JD cum laude from Harvard after graduating summa cum laude from Princeton University. Ms. Rosenbaum's award will be presented by former Stewart Award honoree Peter Edelman.
One nomination for Bill Garber read: “For over sixty years William J. Garber has served our legal community with the utmost skill, dedication, and unselfishness.” Another letter of support read, “I know no lawyer who has done more serving indigent clients with such dedicated effort, integrity, and such trial skills.” The CCE Award Selection Committee was moved by such glowing praise from peer attorneys, which captures the true spirit of the Justice Potter Stewart Award. After receiving his JD from The George Washington University Law School, William J. Garber launched a solo practice as a criminal defense attorney. He is renowned for the number of jury trials in his career, and in many of these cases he represented indigent defendants. Mr. Garber proudly celebrated his 60th year of practice in 2012. He still works from an office that is just a few blocks from the DC Superior Court. Mr. Garber's award will be presented by former Stewart Award honoree Jacob Stein.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, the Dinner Committee, and the Award Selection Committee, we extend a warm congratulations to these outstanding leaders who have improved justice here in Washington, DC.
We invite you to join us on Thursday, May 9, at the Organization of American States, for the 17th Annual Justice Potter Stewart Award Dinner.
