BAR REPORT - NJ Commission on Professionalism to honor Badolato, Sciarra and Professional Lawyers of the Year
New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law to present O'Hern and Hollenbeck awards and recognize others
September 24, 2018 at 08:00 AM
4 minute read
Two longtime attorneys who exemplify the best of the legal profession will receive top honors at the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law's annual awards luncheon on October 11.
The Daniel J. O'Hern Award will go to former New Jersey State Bar Association President Richard J. Badolato, a civil trial attorney at Walsh, Pizzi, O'Reilly, Falanga. The Charles J. Hollenbeck Award will honor David G. Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center.
The O'Hern Award
The O'Hern Award is presented to an attorney who exhibits integrity, competence, high ethical standards, career achievement and service to the bar and/or community. The award is named for Daniel J. O'Hern, a retired associate judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court, who was an advisor to the commission from its inception in 1996 until his passing in 2009.
“Richie is truly a New Jersey attorney at his roots, and one of the remaining statesmen of the profession,” Essex County Bar Association President Raj Gadhok wrote in a letter nominating Badolato for the award.
Badolato is a civil trial attorney who has served for more than five decades in New Jersey. He was president of the NJSBA from 2002 to 2003, president of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation from 2009 to 2011, and has held leadership roles on multiple committees of the NJSBA, the Essex County Bar Association, the American Bar Association and more.
In 2015, Governor Chris Christie appointed him the acting commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance.
In her letter nominating Badolato, Liza M. Walsh, of Walsh, Pizzi, O'Reilly, Falanga, wrote that he is deserving due to his “unimpeachable character, indefatigable commitment to professionalism, and storied legal career marked by service not only to his clients but also the legal profession and the executive and judicial branches of the government of the state of New Jersey.”
The Hollenbeck Award
The Hollenbeck Award is presented to an attorney who is employed by a governmental agency or nonprofit organization that serves the needs of the legal community and has served with diligence, competence and dedication to the profession.
The award's namesake, Charles J. Hollenbeck, dedicated a majority of his nearly four-decade career as an attorney to improving the quality of legal services throughout the state. He served as the commission's executive director from its inception to his retirement in 2014.
The Cape May County Bar Association is among those who nominated Sciarra for the award. “David is originally from Wildwood Crest and may well be the most influential attorney to have come from the county,” stated the letter, signed by Joseph C. Grassi and Frank L. Corrado, both of Barry, Corrado, Grassi and Gillin-Schwartz.
Sciarra began his career with Cape Atlantic Legal Services New Jersey in Atlantic City, and went on to the New Jersey Public Advocate's Office. In 1996, he became executive director of the Education Law Center. He was the lead counsel to the plaintiff students in the landmark education funding equity case Abbott v. Burke.
“He has been a champion to the low-income residents of the state,” wrote Elizabeth A. Cunningham, managing attorney of South Jersey Legal Services, in her nomination letter.
Celebrate the honorees
The annual luncheon will take place Oct. 11, from noon to 4 p.m., at Pines Manor in Edison. In addition to the presentation of the Hollenbeck and O'Hern awards, the commission will present Professional Lawyer of the Year Awards, in cooperation with bar associations across the state, to lawyers who are respected by their colleagues for their character, competence and exemplary professional behavior.
The New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law is a cooperative effort of the New Jersey State Bar Association, the state and federal Judiciary, and New Jersey's three law schools. The initiative's goal is to highlight the values that have historically made the practice of law a distinguished profession, and instill public respect for judges and the justice system.
To register for the lunch and see the full list of Professional Lawyer of the Year honorees, visit http://bit.ly/ProfNJ18.
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