President's Award

This award, selected at the discretion of the State Bar President, is given to an individual who has contributed enormous effort toward the furtherance of the president's goals and priorities during the president's term in office.

2013 Recipients

JANET A. NAPOLITANO was sworn in on January 21, 2009 as the third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Napolitano was mid-way through her second term as Governor of the State of Arizona. While Governor, Napolitano became the first woman to chair the National Governors Association, where she was instrumental in creating the Public Safety Task Force and the Homeland Security Advisors Council. She also chaired the Western Governors Association. Napolitano previously served as the Attorney General of Arizona and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.
 
Napolitano's homeland security background is extensive. As U.S. Attorney, she helped lead the domestic terrorism investigation into the Oklahoma City Bombing. As Arizona Attorney General, she helped write the law to break up human smuggling rings. As Governor, she implemented one of the first state homeland security strategies in the nation, opened the first state counter-terrorism center and spearheaded efforts to transform immigration enforcement.
 
Napolitano graduated from Santa Clara University in 1979, where she won a Truman Scholarship, and received her Juris Doctor in 1983 from the University of Virginia School of Law. After law school she served as a law clerk for Judge Mary M. Schroeder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit before joining the law firm of Lewis and Roca.

LAWRENCE F. WINTHROP currently the Chief Judge of Division One of the Arizona Court of Appeals. He was appointed to the court by Governor Hull in 2002.

Judge Winthrop is a graduate magna cum laude from California Western School of Law. He was an associate and partner at Snell & Wilmer, doing civil litigation, until 1993, when he founded a small law firm that eventually grew to 25 lawyers by 2002.

His early practice involved all types of civil litigation, ranging from tort defense and workers’ compensation to probate and state tax controversies. He developed a specialty of representing medical professionals in malpractice cases and licensing issues, and concentrated his professional efforts in that area for the last 10 years of practice.

Judge Winthrop is currently vice-chair of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, and chair of the Arizona Supreme Court’s Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee. He is a past-president of the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel and a past-president and current Board member of the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education.

He is a member of the Arizona Judicial Council, the state-wide Commission on Technology and the Attorney Regulation Advisory Committee. In 2012, Judge Winthrop was recognized by the Arizona Supreme Court for his years of service in working to improve public trust and confidence in the Arizona judicial system.

Previous Recipients   

The award has been presented to: