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- This award is a professional honor within the American Bar Association
- The ABA describes how the award is presented each year
- The ABA lists Bill Gibson as the 2013 recipient
- The award name reflects the career of Samuel S. Smith
- The ABA describes the award as recognizing lifetime achievement
- This type of recognition does not operate like a legal decision
- Sources
Key Facts
- Federal and state: The Samuel S. Smith Award is described as the highest honor bestowed by the ABA Law Practice Division.
- Federal and state: The division states that the award recognizes an individual with outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of law practice management.
- Federal and state: The division describes the award as an annual honor with a new recipient chosen each year.
- Federal and state: The division states that the award is presented at a reception during the ABA LP Annual Meeting.
- Federal and state: The division states that the award was established in 1999 on the occasion of the division’s 25th anniversary.
- Federal and state: The ABA’s published recipient list includes Bill Gibson of Portland, Oregon as the 2013 honoree.
- Federal and state: The division describes Samuel S. Smith as a founding member of the division and a former chair in 1979 to 1980.
- Federal and state: The division describes Smith as a Miami practitioner and a nationally recognized speaker on law practice management topics.
This award is a professional honor within the American Bar Association
The Samuel S. Smith Award is an honor given by the American Bar Association Law Practice Division. The ABA describes the award as the division’s highest honor, and it frames the recognition as a lifetime achievement award in the field of law practice management.
The ABA describes how the award is presented each year
According to the ABA’s description, a new recipient is chosen each year. The ABA also states that the award is presented at a reception during the ABA LP Annual Meeting.
The ABA lists Bill Gibson as the 2013 recipient
The ABA’s published list of award recipients includes Bill Gibson of Portland, Oregon as the 2013 honoree. The ABA’s list is a useful reference point because it reflects the division’s own record of recipients.
The award name reflects the career of Samuel S. Smith
The ABA describes Samuel S. Smith as a founding member of the ABA Law Practice Division, which was previously known as the Economics of Law Practice Section. The ABA also notes that Smith served as section chair in 1979 to 1980 and later served as association secretary in an ABA-wide office.
The ABA describes the award as recognizing lifetime achievement
The ABA’s description ties the award to “outstanding lifetime achievement” in law practice management. In other words, the focus is on a person’s body of work over time, rather than a single project or a single year.
This type of recognition does not operate like a legal decision
Bar association awards are typically presented as professional honors within the legal community. In contrast, court decisions, statutes, and regulations are sources of legal authority that can create binding rules, rights, or obligations.
