Former Chief Justice William S. Richardson to receive national 2007 Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association

Richardson will receive the award in February at the ABA's Midyear Meeting in Miami

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Cynthia Quinn, (808) 956-5516
Dale Lee, (808) 956-8636
William S. Richardson School of Law
Posted: Jan 31, 2007

HONOLULU — The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa‘s William S. Richardson School of Law proudly announces that the Honorable William S. Richardson has been selected by the American Bar Association (ABA) as the recipient of the 2007 Spirit of Excellence Award. Established by the American Bar Association‘s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, the award celebrates the achievements of diverse lawyers and others who contribute to the legal profession and society.

The Spirit of Excellence award is presented each year to lawyers who excel in their professional settings; who personify excellence on the national, state, or local level; and who have demonstrated a commitment to racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession. Richardson will receive his award during the ABA Midyear Meeting on February 10, 2007 in Miami, Florida.

"William S. Richardson has spent a lifetime exemplifying the goal of expanding racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession. As the first Native Hawaiian Chief Justice of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court, the founder of Hawaiʻi‘s first and only law school, and continuing role model and mentor, William S. Richardson opened educational and professional avenues for the islands‘ most disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups in a multitude of ways," said Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie, director of the school‘s Center of Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law.

For more information, visit: http://www.hawaii.edu/law