Cook-Friedman Civility Award Award Nomination Due Date

The due date for submissions for this year’s award is by close of business on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.

To nominate someone, please email Executive Director Mindy Herrmann (mindy@edmibar.org).  Please submit as much detail as possible detailing why your nominee is deserving of this prestigious award.  Information on the award can be found below:

The Julian Abele Cook, Jr. – Bernard A. Friedman Civility Award will recognize a civil practitioner who is an outstanding example of professional excellence and civility. This award will be called the Julian Abele Cook, Jr.- Bernard A. Friedman Civility Award, in recognition of the dedication to civility of two outstanding jurists: former Chief Judge Julian Abele Cook, Jr., who, in 1998, constituted the first Civility Committee in the Eastern District of Michigan and fostered the implementation of the Court’s Civility Principles; and Chief Judge Bernard A. Friedman who formed the Court’s second Civility Committee in 2007, and fostered the implementation of the Eastern District’s “Lawyer’s Commitment of Professional Civility.” The Julian Abele Cook, Jr. – Bernard A. Friedman FBA Civility Award shall be awarded yearly at the Annual Dinner. In selecting an attorney to receive the award, the following criteria shall be utilized:

1. The attorney has been significantly engaged in the practice of civil law;
2. The attorney demonstrates the highest levels of legal competency and Professionalism;
3. The attorney’s conduct is in accordance with the highest standards of professional integrity and personal courtesy as set forth in the Civility Principles of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; [COPY APPEARS BELOW ON THIS PAGE]
4. The attorney has demonstrated, while fulfilling the fundamental duty to represent clients vigorously, a mindfulness of the equally important obligation to the administration of justice, which is a truth-seeking process designed to resolve human and societal problems in a rational, peaceful and efficient manner; and
5. The attorney is guided by a fundamental sense of dignity, decency, candor and fair play.

NOMINATIONS IF YOU BELIEVE AN INDIVIDUAL IS WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION, PLEASE SUBMIT THE NAME OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND A BRIEF STATEMENT AS TO THE REASONS WHY THE INDIVIDUAL SHOULD RECEIVE THE RECOGNITION TO THE SELECTION COMMITTEE. PLEASE UTILIZE THE ABOVE CRITERIA & FORWARD YOUR NOMINATION TO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (mindy@edmibar.org). THE SELECTION COMMITTEE FOR THE COOK-FRIEDMAN CIVILITY AWARD CONSISTS OF A PANEL OF FEDERAL JUDGES INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING, PRIOR COOK-FRIEDMAN CIVILITY AWARD WINNERS, AND THE BAR PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT-ELECT. THE MEETING WILL BE CHAIRED BY THE MOST RECENT AWARD WINNER.

2008 Edward M. Kronk

2009 Lawrence G. Campbell

2010 Carl H. von Ende

2011 William A. Woodard

2012 William Sankbeil

2013 Kathryn J. Humphrey

2014 Eugene Driker

2015 Saul A. Green

2016 John Runyan

2017 E. Powell Miller

2018 Thomas W. Cranmer

2019 Sharon M. Woods

2020 Reginald M. Turner

2021 Kathleen L. Bogas

2022 Edward H. Pappas

2023 Dennis M. Barnes

2024 Robert W. Palmer