The organization will also bestow an accolade on retired Utah District Judge David Connors
The American Bar Association’s judicial division is set to give the Justice and Rule of Law Award to the National Association of Women Judges at the organization’s annual meeting on August 7.
The Justice and Rule of Law Award honours individuals or organizations that have positive impacted the justice system nationwide and maintained the rule of law. NAWJ’s civic education program, which received an Emmy Award, clinched the award for the group.
The program sought to bolster public understanding of the judicial system, promote an independent and impartial judiciary, and reignite trust and confidence in the courts, according to the ABA. NAWJ provided interactive presentations, training, informational handouts, research, videos and animations. It also directly assisted women judges who relocated to the US from Afghanistan through peer mentor teams deployed across the country; these teams provided English language coaching, access to essential services, and general support to the judges and their families.
The ABA will also bestow the Honorable William D. Missouri Civility Award on retired Utah district judge David Connors.
Connors has tackled numerous mediations, arbitrations and trials, including judicial settlement conferences. He spent over three decades as a Utah State Bar arbitrator.
He joined the district court bench in January 2008 and went on to join Utah’s judicial council, which governs the Utah judiciary. He was presiding judge at Utah’s Second District Court and was president of the American Inns of Court’s Northern Utah Chapter for two years, until 2015.
Connors was on Utah’s board of district court judges and was its designated representative to the ABA judicial division for over a decade. At present, he is on the executive committee of the division’s National Conference of State Trial Judges – a group he led as nationwide chair.
He also chaired the Working Interdisciplinary Network of Guardianship Stakeholders; moreover, he was part of the Long-Range Curriculum Planning Committee for Utah judges and the Utah State Bar’s CLE oversight committee and the fee arbitration committee.
Connors retired from the bench in March 2023. He is currently working with Utah firm Bennett Tueller Johnson & Deere.
As a lawyer, he focused on business law and commercial litigation, handling complex civil litigation. He practised for over 25 years and championed mediation and arbitration as resolution methods for high-conflict disputes.
The Honorable William D. Missouri Civility Award recognizes its namesake’s efforts to advocate for civility and professionalism through the bar, the bench and the community, across all racial, ethnic and gender groups, advocating for fairness and respect for all individuals, according to the ABA. Like NAWJ, Connors will receive the award at the ABA’s annual meeting at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto.