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Key Facts
- Federal and state: The Liberty Achievement Award was established to recognize attorneys and judges who take leadership roles in promoting diversity in the legal profession.
- Federal and state: The American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section lists the Liberty Achievement Award among its section awards.
- Federal and state: The award description includes career choices and work in private and public sector positions as factors related to promoting diversity in the profession of law.
- Federal and state: A Legal Current report stated that Sharon Sayles Belton presented the 2013 ABA TIPS Liberty Achievement Award to Steven Shapiro.
- Federal and state: The same report stated that the presentation occurred on August 9, 2013.
- Federal and state: The report described the award ceremony and reception as being held at the law offices of Sedgwick LLP in San Francisco, California.
- Federal and state: The report described attendance at the 2013 ceremony and reception as approximately 200 people.
Understanding what the Liberty Achievement Award is
The Liberty Achievement Award is described by the American Bar Association as an award created to recognize attorneys and judges who take leadership roles in promoting diversity in the profession of law.
According to the ABA’s description, considerations may include choices made in a person’s career and work performed in private and public sector roles that actively promote diversity, along with other diversity-related contributions.
How the award is connected to ABA TIPS
The Liberty Achievement Award appears on the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section awards pages, which list several section awards and include a dedicated page for the Liberty Achievement Award.
What was reported about the 2013 presentation to Steven Shapiro
Legal Current reported that, on August 9, 2013, Sharon Sayles Belton presented the ABA TIPS Liberty Achievement Award to Steven Shapiro, described in that report as legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
That report also stated that the ceremony and reception took place at the law offices of Sedgwick LLP in San Francisco, California, and that attendance was approximately 200 people.
“The TIPS Liberty Achievement Award honors lawyers and judges who take a leadership role by demonstrating, through choices made in their careers and work done in private- and/or public-sector positions, that they have actively promoted diversity in the legal profession.”
Why award descriptions can matter in legal industry reporting
Awards in the legal profession are often described in ways that highlight what the sponsoring organization is trying to recognize, such as leadership, service, or efforts related to diversity and inclusion.
Reading an award’s official description can help separate (1) what the sponsoring organization says the award recognizes from (2) what a particular news report says about an individual recipient or a specific ceremony.
