The Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Legal Writing is one of the most prestigious awards in legal writing. Created in 2002, the Blackwell Award honors the life of Thomas F. Blackwell for his personal and professional qualities as a legal writing educator. Each year, ALWD joins with the Legal Writing Institute to give this award to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to improve the field of legal writing by demonstrating an ability to nurture and motivate students to excellence; a willingness to help other legal writing educators improve their teaching skills or their legal writing programs; and an ability to create and integrate new ideas for teaching and motivating legal writing educators and students.

The Blackwell Awards Selection Committee typically calls for nominations in the late spring or early summer of each year. The Presidents of ALWD and LWI announce the award recipient in the fall. The award recipient is honored in person at a reception at the AALS annual meeting. In addition, a plaque listing the winners is on display at Appalachian Law School, where Professor Blackwell taught legal writing.

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The Linda Berger Award for Excellence in Legal Writing Scholarship is ALWD’s highest award recognizing scholarship in the field of legal writing. ALWD created this award in 2016 to recognize the profound impact that Linda Berger has had on the discipline of legal writing through her scholarly work as well as her support of both emerging and established scholars in the field. The Berger Award recognizes lifetime dedication to and advancement of legal writing scholarship. It celebrates those who have written influential articles, books, or essays, and otherwise had a major impact on scholarship, perhaps through making presentations, mentoring, serving on editorial boards of various publications, or sponsoring scholarship workshops.

The Berger Award recipient is honored in person at the ALWD Biennial Conference. The Berger Award Selection Committee typically calls for nominations in the fall preceding each ALWD Biennial Conference, and the ALWD President announces the award recipient in the spring.

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Created in 2000, the Marjorie Rombauer Award honors Marjorie Rombauer for her significant contributions to the field of legal writing. The Rombauer Award is given to salute a person who has contributed significantly to the field of legal writing by educating others about the importance of legal writing; publishing scholarship that advances the teaching of legal writing and the understanding of its underlying principles; contributing to national legal writing organizations and individual legal writing programs; and working to improve the status of legal writing faculty.

The Rombauer Award is not given on a set schedule. To nominate someone for the Rombauer Award, please contact the current ALWD President. A call for nominations will then be posted listing the procedure and deadlines for nomination. When given, the Rombauer Award is presented at the ALWD Biennial Conference.

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Created in 2012, the Darby Dickerson Award for Revolutionary Change in Legal Writing honors Darby Dickerson for her revolutionary contributions to the field of legal writing, including her work as the first author of the ALWD Guide for Legal Citation, which, when she wrote it, was known as the ALWD Citation Manual. The Dickerson Award is presented to a person whose vision and dedication have revolutionized the way legal writing is taught, practiced, or conceptualized and whose ingenuity, creativity, and work ethic are responsible for creating dynamic changes in the field of legal writing.  This extraordinary award is only given periodically by the ALWD Board, on its own motion.

The Ralph L. Brill Award was created in recognition of Professor Brill’s more than 50 years of service in the legal academy and to legal writing specifically. Professor Brill, a professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, was the inaugural recipient of the award in 2011. This extraordinary award is only given to honor those who have assisted their colleagues and students in mastering legal analysis, research, and writing for 50 years or more. To nominate someone for the Brill Award, please contact the current ALWD President.

The ALWD Diversity Award honors a person inside or outside the ALWD membership who has made significant accomplishments in the area of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) or has demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting DEI, including efforts to improve the status of historically underrepresented groups. Diversity includes but is not limited to gender, sexual orientation, race, ability, age, and ethnicity. ALWD created this award in 2020 and announced the inaugural recipients in 2021 in furtherance of ALWD’s continued commitment to contributing to a legal writing discipline that is equitable and inclusive. The meaningful inclusion of diverse voices and experiences is necessary for ALWD to succeed in its mission of improving legal education and the analytic, reasoning, and writing abilities of lawyers.

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