In 2004 my predecessor, Aric Press, created The American Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Awards to honor men and women who had distinguished careers at the country’s preeminent law firms and legal departments. Press had very specific criteria in selecting the first class: The lawyers must have achieved notable professional and pro bono/government or civic success. He wasn’t knocking the workaholic lawyers who single-mindedly devote themselves to their paying clients. Instead, Press was trying to recognize attorneys who might serve as a role model for law firm lawyers: accomplished practitioners who found the time to help the indigent or take a few years (and a pay cut) to do government service. Press also wanted to draw honorees from the ranks of lawyers who were late in their careers or who had retired. He envisioned the awards like the Baseball Hall of Fame, where an inductee’s work would be judged by the rearview mirror of history.Robert Joffe, the renowned Cravath, Swaine & Moore presiding partner, also shaped Press’s thinking. Joffe thought The American Lawyer should honor men like his colleague Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., who, over the course of his working life, went back and forth between Cravath and stints advising an important U.S. Senate investigation and serving as New York City’s corporation counsel. Schwarz, and others like him, became the model for selecting our honorees—including the 2013 class of Lifetime Achievers.

— Robin Sparkman, editor-in-chief



Previous Lifetime Achievers coverage :: 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007

THE 2013 LIFETIME ACHIEVER HONOREES



ABE KRASH
The veteran litigator remains the public face of the 1963 Gideon decision as he continues to advocate for reform.
CHARLES JAMES
An attorney who hit a professional trifecta: successful careers in government, at Jones Day, and at Chevron.
WALTER DELLINGER III
O’Melveny’s appellate leader stands out for his expert advocacy.
STUART EIZENSTAT
A longtime public servant, the Covington partner made it his mission to obtain restitution for Holocaust victims.
JOAN HALL
Before “Lean In” became a corporate mantra, this commercial litigator was working to promote women in the legal profession.
FLOYD ABRAMS
The Cahill partner didn’t set out to become the nation’s preeminent First Amendment lawyer, but then the Pentagon Papers case came along.
RONALD OLSON
In his four decades at Munger Tolles, this litigator built up a client list that includes some of the West Coast’s biggest names.