The American Bar Association Medal (or ABA Medal) is the highest award given by the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

for "exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or lawyers to the cause of American jurisprudence." The ABA Board of Governors chooses the medal's recipient. The medal was authorized at the 50th anniversary meeting of the ABA in 1928. The first medal was given in 1929 and it has been given most, but not all, years since. The medal itself was designed by

Laura Gardin Fraser Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay on ...

. It is four inches in diameter, made of 24K gold, later reduced to 14K gold. On the obverse is a profile of

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

with the inscription "To the end it may be a government of laws and not of men," from the

Constitution of Massachusetts The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the fundamental governing document of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 individual state governments that make up the United States of America. As a member of the Massachuset ...

. On the reverse is "Justitia" with a likeness of

Lady Justice Lady Justice ( la, Iustitia) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia. Lady Justice originates from th ...

List of recipients

:''Source:
Recipients of the American Bar Association Medal
at the

website'' * 1929

Samuel Williston Samuel Williston (September 24, 1861 – February 18, 1963) was an American lawyer and law professor who authored an influential treatise on contracts. Early life, education and family Williston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to a ...

* 1930

Elihu Root Elihu Root (; February 15, 1845February 7, 1937) was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and statesman who served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War in the early twentieth century. He also served as United States Senator from ...

* 1931

Oliver Wendel Holmes Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...

* 1932

John Henry Wigmore John Henry Wigmore (1863–1943) was an American lawyer and legal scholar known for his expertise in the law of evidence and for his influential scholarship. Wigmore taught law at Keio University in Tokyo (1889–1892) before becoming the firs ...

* 1934 George Woodward Wickersham * 1938

Herbert Harley Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

* 1939

Edgar Bronson Tolman Edgar Bronson Tolman (1859–1947) was a prominent Chicago lawyer. Biography Edgar Bronson Tolman was born in Nagaon on September 5, 1859, the son of a missionary, the Rev. Cyrus F. Tolman and his wife Mary (Bronson) Tolman. His family returne ...

* 1940

Roscoe Pound Nathan Roscoe Pound (October 27, 1870 – June 30, 1964) was an American legal scholar and educator. He served as Dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law from 1903 to 1911 and Dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936. He was a membe ...

* 1941

George Wharton Pepper George Wharton Pepper (March 16, 1867May 24, 1961) was an American lawyer, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Christian activist, and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania ...

* 1942

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...

* 1943 John J. Parker * 1944

Hatton W. Sumners Hatton William Sumners (May 30, 1875 – April 19, 1962) was a Democratic Congressman from the Dallas, Texas area, serving from 1913 to 1947. He rose to become Chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee. Early life and career Hatton ...

* 1946 Carl McFarland * 1947 William L. Ransom * 1948

Arthur T. Vanderbilt Arthur T. Vanderbilt (July 7, 1888 – June 16, 1957) was an American judge and judicial reformer. He served as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1948 to 1957, the first Chief Justice under the revamped New Jersey court system ...

* 1950

Orie L. Phillips Orie is a village of approximately 3,000 people, and located in the Isoko South local government area of Delta state, Nigeria. It is also called ''Orie-Irri'' because its inhabitants are generally believed to have originally migrated from Irri ...

* 1951

Reginald Heber Smith Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language. Etymology and history The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...

* 1952

Harrison Tweed Harrison Tweed (October 18, 1885 – June 16, 1969) was an American lawyer and civic leader. Life and career Tweed was born in New York City on October 18, 1885. He was the son of Charles Harrison Tweed, the general counsel for the Central Pacif ...

* 1953

Frank E. Holman Frank Ezekiel Holman (1886–1967) was an American attorney known for his 1948 effort to amend the United States Constitution to limit the power of treaties and executive agreements. Holman's work led to the Bricker Amendment. Early life and ...

* 1954

George Maurice Morris George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

* 1956 Robert G. Storey * 1957

William Clarke Mason William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

* 1958

E. Smythe Gambrell E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet. E or e may also refer to: Commerce and transportation * €, the symbol for the euro, the European Union's standard currency unit * ℮, the estimated sign, an EU symbol indicating that the weight ...

* 1959

Greenville Clark Greenville is the name of several places: Canada * Laxgalts'ap, British Columbia, formerly named Greenville *Greenville, Nova Scotia, in Yarmouth County *Greenville Station, Nova Scotia, in Cumberland County *Lower Greenville, Nova Scotia, in Cum ...

* 1960

William A. Schnader William A. Schnader (October 5, 1886March 18, 1968) was Attorney General of Pennsylvania and co-founder of the law firm Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis. Schnader graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 1908. After earning a law degree ...

* 1961

Jacob Mark Lashly Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...

* 1962

Tom C. Clark Thomas Campbell Clark (September 23, 1899June 13, 1977) was an American lawyer who served as the 59th United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967. Clark ...

* 1963

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judi ...

* 1964 Henry S. Drinker * 1965 Edmund M. Morgan * 1966 Charles S. Rhyne * 1967

Roger J. Traynor Roger John Traynor (February 12, 1900 – May 14, 1983) was the 23rd Chief Justice of California (1964-1970) and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1940 to 1964. Previously, he had served as a Deputy Attorney General o ...

* 1968

J. Edward Lumbard Joseph Edward Lumbard Jr. (August 18, 1901 – June 3, 1999) was a United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Education and career Born on August 18, 1901, in Harlem,Ne ...

* 1969

Walter V. Schaefer Walter Vincent Schaefer (December 10, 1904 – June 15, 1986) was an American jurist and educator. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Schaefer graduated from Hyde Park High School and then received his bachelor's and law degrees from University of C ...

* 1970 Frank C. Haymond * 1971

Whitney North Seymour Whitney North Seymour Sr. (January 4, 1901 – May 21, 1983) was an American attorney who worked primarily as a trial lawyer. He served as assistant solicitor general during the presidency of Herbert Hoover. In 1960, he was elected the 84th pre ...

* 1972 Harold Gallagher * 1973 William James Jameson * 1974

Ross L. Malone Rosser Lynn Malone Jr. (September 9, 1910 – August 13, 1974) was an American attorney who served as United States Deputy Attorney General The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States ...

* 1975

Leon Jaworski Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (September 19, 1905 – December 9, 1982) was an American attorney and law professor who served as the second special prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal. He was appointed to that position on November 1, 1973, soon af ...

* 1976

Bernard G. Segal Bernard G. Segal (June 11, 1907 – June 1, 1997) was an American lawyer known for his advocacy for the poor and his work in the civil rights movement. Early life and education Segal was born in New York City but spent his childhood in Allentown ...

* 1977 Edward L. Wright * 1978

Erwin N. Griswold Erwin Nathaniel Griswold (; July 14, 1904 – November 19, 1994) was an American appellate attorney who argued many cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Griswold served as Solicitor General of the United States (1967–1973) under Presidents Ly ...

* 1979 Lewis F. Powell, Jr * 1981

Chesterfield Smith Chesterfield Harvey Smith (July 28, 1917 – July 16, 2003) was an American lawyer. He co-founded the law firm Holland & Knight and served as president of the American Bar Association in 1973-1974, during the Watergate scandal. Early life and ...

* 1982 Earl F. Morris * 1984 Robert W. Meserve * 1986 Justin A. Stanley * 1987

Warren E. Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul College ...

* 1988 F. Wm. McCalpin * 1989 Wm. Reece Smith, Jr. * 1990 A. Sherman Christensen * 1991 Robert B. McKay * 1992

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African- ...

* 1993 Randolph W. Thrower * 1994

William J. Brennan, Jr. William Joseph "Bill" Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the seventh-longest serving justice ...

* 1995

Shirley M. Hufstedler Shirley Ann Mount Hufstedler (August 24, 1925 – March 30, 2016) was an American attorney and judge who served as the first United States secretary of education from 1979 to 1981. She previously served as a United States circuit judge of the Unit ...

* 1996

John Minor Wisdom John Minor Wisdom (May 17, 1905 – May 15, 1999), one of the "Fifth Circuit Four", and a Republican from Louisiana, was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit during the 1950s and 1960s, when th ...

* 1997

Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...

* 1998 Morris Harrell * 1999 John H. Pickering * 2000

Oliver W. Hill Oliver White Hill, Sr. (May 1, 1907 – August 5, 2007) was an American civil rights attorney from Richmond, Virginia. His work against racial discrimination helped end the doctrine of "separate but equal." He also helped win landmark legal de ...

* 2001 Robert MacCrate * 2002

William H. Webster William Hedgcock Webster (born March 6, 1924) is an American attorney and jurist who most recently served as chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council from 2005 until 2020. He was a United States district judge of the United States Distri ...

* 2003

Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte (June 1, 1933 – May 20, 2019) was an American lawyer, professor, politician, educational administrator, president of the American Bar Association, and president of Florida State University (FSU), from 1994 to 2003. ...

* 2004 Father

Robert F. Drinan Robert Frederick Drinan (November 15, 1920 – January 28, 2007) was a Jesuit priest, lawyer, human rights activist, and Democratic U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Drinan left office to obey Pope John Paul II's prohibition on political ...

* 2005 George Leighton * 2006

Jerome J. Shestack Jerome Joseph "Jerry" Shestack (February 11, 1923 – August 18, 2011) was a Philadelphia lawyer and human rights advocate active in Democratic Party politics who served as president of the American Bar Association (ABA) from 1997 to 1998. He ...

* 2007

Anthony M. Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirem ...

* 2008

Patricia M. Wald Patricia Ann McGowan Wald (September 16, 1928 – January 12, 2019) was an American judge who served as the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) and as a jud ...

* 2009

William H. Gates, Sr. William Henry Gates II (November 30, 1925September 14, 2020), better known as Bill Gates Sr., was an American attorney, philanthropist, and civic leader. He was the founder of the law firm Shidler McBroom & Gates (a predecessor of K&L Gates), ...

* 2010

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...

* 2011

David Boies David Boies (; born March 11, 1941) is an American lawyer and chairman of the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Boies rose to national prominence for three major cases: leading the U.S. federal government's successful prosecution of Microsof ...

and Theodore B. Olson * 2012

Morris Seligman Dees, Jr. Morris Seligman Dees Jr. (born December 16, 1936) is an American attorney known as the co-founder and former chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), based in Montgomery, Alabama. He ran a direct marketing firm before ...

* 2013

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

* 2014 General Earl E. Anderson * 2015

Roberta Cooper Ramo Roberta Cooper Ramo is an American lawyer at Modrall Sperling, a New Mexico law firm with offices in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and Immediate Past President of the American Law Institute, the first woman to hold that position. She was also the f ...

* 2016

Dennis Archer Dennis Wayne Archer (born January 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, jurist and former politician from Michigan. A Democrat, Archer served as Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and as mayor of Detroit. He later served as president of the Ameri ...

* 2017

John Feerick John D. Feerick (born July 12, 1936) is a law professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York City. He served as the school's eighth dean from 1982-2002. From 2002-2004, he was the Leonard F. Manning Professor of Law at Fordham, and ...

* 2018

Bryan Stevenson Bryan Stevenson (born November 14, 1959) is an American lawyer, social justice activist, law professor at New York University School of Law, and the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, he ...

* 2019

Dale Minami Dale Minami (born October 13, 1946) is a prominent Japanese American civil rights and personal injury lawyer based in San Francisco, California. He is best known for his work leading the legal team that overturned the conviction of Fred Korematsu, ...

* 2020 William H. Neukom

References

{{reflist Lifetime achievement awards Awards established in 1929 Legal awards