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Jim Greif
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Washington, D.C. (December 17, 2024) — Camille Nelson, Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law and Jessica Steinberg, John Marshall Harlan Dean’s Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School have been awarded the Deborah L. Rhode Award, a joint recognition by four sections of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).
The annual award serves to honor the legacy of Deborah L. Rhode, who died in January 2021 after an illustrious career in law. She was the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law and director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Stanford Law School. Rhode served as president of the Association of American Law Schools in 1998; was founding president of the International Association of Legal Ethics in 2010; and was the author of 30 books in the areas of leadership, professional responsibility, and gender law and public policy.
“I am truly humbled by this recognition,” Nelson said. “It means so much to me – more than I can adequately convey. It is incredible and fills me with joy and appreciation to have my name uttered in the same breath as the legendary Deborah Rhode. I consider myself blessed to be included among the other recipients of this prestigious Award. You made my year – thank you!”
“It is an enormous honor to receive the Deborah Rhode award,” Steinberg said. “Professor Rhode was a visionary leader in the legal profession and her pioneering efforts serve as a great inspiration in my own work to push for greater civil access to justice and a more just and equitable legal system.”
The Deborah L. Rhode Award is presented by the AALS Sections on Leadership, Pro Bono & Service Opportunities, Professional Responsibility, and Women in Legal Education. It is awarded annually to the law professor or lawyer who exemplifies the groundbreaking work, imagination, and inspired action of Deborah Rhode. This is the third year that the award is presented by the four sections.
“All of this year’s nominees for the Deborah L. Rhode Award were incredibly inspiring,” said Janine Dunlap-Kiah and Deborah Schlosberg, co-chairs of the award selection committee. “The Committee is thrilled to recognize Dean Nelson and Professor Steinberg for their impactful work. They both are shining examples of Professor Rhode’s commitment to access to justice and gender law and policy. We are confident that they will continue to blaze the trail for their colleagues in the legal academy and leave a lasting legacy just as Professor Rhode did.”
The selection committee for the award also included Lee Fisher (Cleveland State University College of Law), Benjamin Edwards (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law), and Lolita Buckner Inniss (University of Colorado Law School). The award will be presented at an awards ceremony at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco on January 9, 2025.
About AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 175 member and 19 fee-paid law schools. Its members enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers. The mission of AALS is to improve and advance legal education. AALS carries out its mission by promoting the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to foster justice, and to serve our many communities–local, national, and international. In support of its mission, AALS serves as both the institutional membership organization for law schools, and as the learned society for law faculty.
