(Formerly the ADR Practitioner of the Year Award)
January 31, 2018
Contact: Barbara Straczynski
Director New Media and Promotions
732-937-7524
NEW BRUNSWICK – The New Jersey State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section is seeking nominations for consideration as this year’s recipient of the James B. Boskey Award. The Boskey Award, formerly the ADR Practitioner of the Year Award, was renamed in honor and in memory of the late Professor James B. Boskey of Seton Hall University School of Law. Jim Boskey was an intellectual, humanitarian, law professor and mediator. For ten years before his untimely death in 1999, he published The Alternative Newsletter, a resource guide on Alternative Dispute Resolution that provided a comprehensive window into the rapidly developing field of ADR. He enjoyed a national and international reputation and was considered by many as the voice of the ADR community.
The Dispute Resolution Section presents the Boskey Award annually to a practitioner in recognition of achievements in (1) informing and educating the public about Alternative and Complementary Dispute Resolution techniques; (2) encouraging and promoting reform and modernization of our legal system; (3) improving the relationship between the legal profession and the general public; (4) exemplifying the goals and purposes of the Dispute Resolution Section; and (5) service to the residents of the State of New Jersey. The Award is widely recognized as the highest honor that an individual can achieve in the development and practice of ADR in New Jersey.
Any member of the New Jersey State Bar Association who serves as an ADR neutral or as an advocate in ADR proceedings, or who advocates in the public sphere to advance the cause of alternative dispute resolution in New Jersey (except for the current members of the Boskey Award Committee), is eligible. Self-nominations are permitted.
Prior recipients have been: David Weiss (2017), Amy Shimalla (2016), N. Janine Dickey (2015), Laura A. Kaster (2014), John R. Holsinger (2013), Hon. Linda R. Feinberg (2012), Hon. John J. Harper (2011), Hon. William A. Dreier (2010), Caroline Petrilla (2009), Richard Jeydel (2008, posthumously), Prof. Jonathan Hyman (2007), Barbara Weisman (2006), Suzanne M. McSorley (2005), Bonnie Blume Goldsamt (2004), Robert E. Margulies (2003), Holly C. Bakke (2002), Robert J. MacPherson (2001), Hon. Rosemary Higgins-Cass (2000); and as the ADR Practitioner of the Year Award, Hanan M. Isaacs (1999), Richard H. Steen (1998) and Robert S. Greenbaum (1997).
The By-Laws of the Dispute Resolution Section provide for the Chair of the Section to appoint the members of the Boskey Award Committee each year. The Committee’s composition and this year’s members are as follows:
• The Chair of the Dispute Resolution Section (Hon. Harriet F. Klein, retired)
• An officer or member of the Board of the Section, who is to be the Chair (Andrew L. Smith)
• A member of the Section who is neither an officer nor a Board member (Hon. Barbara Byrd Wecker, retired)
• Two past recipients of the Award (Bonnie Blume Goldsamt and John R. Holsinger)
• Chairs (or a Chair’s designee) of two other Sections or Special Committees of the NJSBA (Jeffrey J. Greenbaum, Chair of Class Actions Section and Stephanie F. Hagan, Chair of Family Law Section)
Nominations should be sent either by email to Andrew L. Smith, Boskey Award Chair, at [email protected] or by regular mail to:
Boskey Award Committee,
Attention: Barbara Straczynski
New Jersey State Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section
One Constitution Square
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1520
The deadline for submission of nominations is Friday, March 9, 2018. CLICK HERE for the nomination form, which requires a statement of no more than 500 words describing why the nominee deserves the 2018 Boskey Award.