DBA Award Past Winners

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Past Award of Merit Honorees

The Award of Merit recognizes outstanding service and contributions to the DBA and legal profession, or rendered in the interest of the improvement of the administration of justice. Criteria: lawyer, judge or law professor who is a regular member of the DBA and whose distinguished career exemplifies the purpose of the Award of Merit.

1957—Floyd F. Walpole

1958—Ira Quiat

1959—David Rosner

1960—Royal Rubright

1961—Norma L. Comstock

1962—Charles W. Works

1963—David Brofman

1964—Robert W. Steele

1965—Noah Alter

1966—Peter H. Holme

1967—M.B. Holt Jr.

1968—Lawrence M. Wood

1969—William P. Cantwell

1970—Charles A. Baer

1971—John E. Gorsuch

1972—Harry S. Silverstein

1973—Louis G. Isaacson

1974—Richard P. Brown

1975—Edwin A. Williams

1976—Henry J. Walsmith

1977—Sidney H. Grossman

1978—Anthony F. Zarlengo

1979—George C. Keeley

1980—Ira C. Rothgerber, Jr.

1981—Phillip G. Dufford

1982—Mandel Berenbaum

1983—Kenneth E. Barnhill, Jr.

1984—Philip Hornbein, Jr.

1985—William K. Ris

1986—Omer L. Griffin

1987—H. Harold Calkins

1988—O. Otto Moore

1989—Robert Booms & Shannon Robinson

1990—Howard I. Rosenberg

1991—Daniel S. Hoffman

1992—Jon Asher

1993—Willis Carpenter

1994—Garth Grissom

1995—Thomas deMarino

1996—Hal Feder (posthumously)

1997—Dale Harris

1998—Judge Al Harrell

1999—Judge Leonard Plank

2000—Steve Choquette

2001—Judge Robert Kapelke

2002—Edwin S. Kahn

2003—Ben Aisenberg

2004—Brooke Wunnicke

2005—John Castellano

2006—Tony van Westrum

2007—John T. Baker

2008—Stanton D. Rosenbaum

2009—William P. DeMoulin (posthumously)

2010—Mark Fogg

2011—David C. Little

2012—Elsa Martinez Tenreiro

2013—Charles F. Garcia

2014—Judge Richard L. Gabriel

2015—Charles C. Turner

2016—Bill Walters

2017—Sheila Gutterman

2018—Mary Jo Gross

2019—Janet Drake

2020—Judge Christine Arguello

Past Judicial Excellence Honorees

Honors a DBA member of the judiciary for extraordinary service or exceptional contributions to the improvement of the judicial system.

1987 – Robert Fullerton, District Judge

1988 – Harold Reed, District Judge

1989 – Clifton Flowers, District Judge; Edward Simons, County Judge

1990 – John J. McMullen, District Judge; Brian T. Campbell and Larry Bohning, County Judges

1991 – Bill Meyer, District Judge; Kathy Bowers, County Judge

1992 – John Coughlin, District Judge; Ray Satter, County Judge

1993 – Nancy Rice, District Judge; Alfred Harrell and Irving Ettenberg, County Judges

1994 – Connie L. Peterson, District Judge; Jacqueline St. Joan, County Judge

1995 – Robert Hyatt, District Judge; Ray Satter, County Judge

1996 – Morris Hoffman, District Judge; Doris Burd, County Judge

1997 – Award not given

1998 – Award not given

1999 – Award not given

2000 – Steve Phillips, District Judge; Aleene Ortiz-White, County Judge

2001 – H. Jeffrey Bayless, District Judge; John Marcucci, County Judge

2002 – Warren O. Martin, District Judge

2003 – Mary Mullarkey, Supreme Court Chief Justice

2004 – Herb Galchinsky, County Judge

2005 – John Coughlin, District Judge; James Breese, County Judge

2006 – Larry Manzanares, District Judge; Mary Celeste, County Judge

2007 – Andrew Armatas, County Judge; Dana Wakefield, Denver Juvenile Court Judge

2008—Russell E. Carparelli, Colorado Court of Appeals Judge

2009—Orrelle R. Weeks, Denver Juvenile Court Judge

2010—Larry Naves, District Judge

2011—William W. Hood III, District Judge

2012—Daniel M. Taubman, Colorado Court of Appeals

2013—Alex J. Martinez, Colorado Supreme Court

2014—Dennis A. Graham, Colorado Court of Appeals

2015—Ruben Hernandez, Denver Probate Court

2016—Shelley Gilman, 2nd Judicial District

2017—Maria Teresa Fox, Colorado Court of Appeals

2018—Alan Loeb, Colorado Court of Appeals

2019—Beth Faragher and Elizabeth Starrs

2020—Gary Jackson, Denver County Court

Past Young Lawyer of the Year Honorees

Recognizes outstanding service and contributions to the DBA, legal profession, and community. Criteria: a Denver lawyer who is a member of the DBA and is younger than age 37 or has been in practice less than three years.

1981 – Alan C. Friedberg

1982 – Information Not Available

1983 – Information Not Available

1984 – Information Not Available

1985 – Elizabeth McCann

1986 – Christa Meyer Hinkley

1987 – Information Not Available

1988 – Information Not Available

1989 – Information Not Available

1990 – Marcy Rothenberg-Romer

1991 – Jan Church

1992 – Daniel Friesen

1993 – Fredrick L. Fisch

1994 – Kathleen Odle

1995 – Michelle Hannigan

1996 – Marian Carlson

1997 – Gilbert Roman

1998 – Marisa Williams

1999 – Carolynne White

2000 – Laura Embleton

2001 – Stacy Carpenter

2002 – Dawn M. Adeletti

2003 – Marte Timmers

2004 – Megan Brynildsen

2005 – Ilene Bloom & Kenzo Kawanabe

2006 – Michelle Ferguson

2007 – Matthew Crouch

2008 – Aaron P. Bradford

2010 – Kara Veitch

2011 – Lucia Padilla

2012 – Troy Rackham

2013 – Jaclyn K. Casey

2014 – Margrit Parker

2015 – Gillian Bidgood

2016 – Maureen Watson

2017—Robin Hoogerhyde

2018—Richard Murray

2019—Award not Given

2020—Justin Cohen

Past Volunteer of the Year Honorees

Presented to a DBA member who has performed extraordinary voluntary legal or community service. Criteria: a Denver lawyer who is a member of the DBA and has volunteered with distinction for various pro bono projects.

1986 – Doris Truhlar

1987 – Shelley Dodge

1988 – Michael Bender & Lee Foreman & Patrick Burke

1989 – Helen Shreves & Harold Baer

1990 – J.E. "Joe" Kuttler

1991 – Thomas A. Faulkner, Thursday Night Bar

1992 – Stanley Angich, Thursday Night Bar

1993 – John S. Castellano, Lincoln Park Scholar Tutorial Program

1994 – Sheila Gutterman

1995 – Ed Kahn

1996 – Ida Escobedo-Betson

1997 – Jeffrey Goldstein

1998 – Joe Dischinger

1999 – Chris Hardaway

2000 – Steve Collins

2001 – Christopher Little

2002 – Leanne DeVos and Karen DuWaldt

2003 – Rebecca Franciscus & Lisa Williams

2004 – Stacy Carpenter

2005 – Jim Castle & Elsa Martinez Tenreiro

2006 – Neil Oberfeld

2007 – Casie Collignon

2008 – Karen H. Wheeler

2009 – Charlene M. Krogh

2010 – Jason Crow

2011 – Mary Jo Gross

2012 – Erich Bethke

2013 – Karen L. Spaulding

2014 – Ilene Lin Bloom

2015 – John M. McHugh

2016 – Jerry Pratt

2017—Jennifer Holt

2018—Ellie Lockwood

2019—Shalyn Kettering

2020—James Rufus Garts

Past Education in the Legal System Honorees

Honors teachers, programs, and/or schools that exhibit outstanding dedication to teaching students about civics, the American legal system, and the Rule of Law. The DBA will provide a monetary gift to either the honoree teacher’s school, the program being honored, or the school being honored, in an amount and allocation to be determined by the DBA Board of Trustees. The gift will be used for educational purposes in the above described areas. Criteria: A teacher in a Denver school, a program conducted in a Denver school (whether or not sponsored by the school), and/or a Denver school educating students from kindergarten to twelfth grade.

2018—City of Denver’s Youth Outreach Program “Bridging the Gap, Kids and Cops”

2019—Tribal Wills Program, Professor Lucy Marsh

2020—Professor Lucy Marsh and the Tribal Wills Program

Past Outstanding Programs/Projects Honorees

Acknowledges those programs or projects that uphold the highest traditions of the legal profession such as ethics, professionalism, education, access to justice, community service or promoting charitable causes. Recognizes exceptional collaboration between members of the bar. Criteria: A program or project affiliated with the DBA.

2014 – Colorado Lawyers for Colorado Veterans, Denver Clinics

2015 – Denver Bar Association Court Mediation Services Program

2016 – Metro Volunteer Lawyers’ Power of Attorney Clinic

2017—Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program

2018—Nicholas Mitchell

2019—LYRIC (Learn Your Rights in Colorado), Michael Juba and Hannah Seigel Proff

2020—Our Courts Colorado