The Arizona Region of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) will pay tribute to four outstanding legal professionals at its annual Judge Learned Hand (JLH) Awards luncheon on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 11:30 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix.

AJC's Judge Learned Hand luncheon recognizes distinguished individuals within the legal profession. Established in 1964, this program honors those who have contributed meaningfully to the legal community and whose work reflects the integrity and broad humanitarian ideals exemplified by Judge Hand. The honorees are selected by an independent selection committee of prominent judges, law professors, and practitioners.

AJC thanks Tim Eckstein, Joe Roth, Spencer Scharff, and Josh Bendor for serving as the Award Luncheon Co-Chairs.

Honorees:

Ron Reinstein, retired judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court

Geoffrey Sturr, of Osborn Maledon

the late Steven A. Hirsch, of Quarles & Brady

Kathy Brody, legal director of the ACLU of Arizona

Hon. Ron Reinstein (ret.) will accept AJC’s Public Service Award for his sustained contributions to the advancement of equality and democratic principles through work in the non-profit and public sectors.

Reinstein has dedicated his career to improving Arizona’s justice system, serving as a prosecutor, judge, and a court consultant on criminal justice issues. Appointed to the Maricopa County Superior Court in 1985, Reinstein was a highly respected judge who held leadership positions through much of his tenure. Following his retirement from the bench, he became a judicial consultant for the Arizona Supreme Court, where his work focuses on sentencing, forensic science, victims’ rights, capital cases, and judicial education. Reinstein’s work in those areas has spanned many organizations, including the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence, the National Institute of Justice, the Organization of Scientific Area Committees, the Interagency Working Group of the White House Subcommittee on Forensic Science, and the Justice Department Office for Victims of Crime. Reinstein previously served as a member of the Maricopa County Commission on Trial Court Appointments and is a Fellow of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at ASU. He received his B.A. and J.D. from Indiana University.

Geoffrey Sturr and Steven A. Hirsch (posthumous) will be presented with AJC’s Community Service Award for demonstrating sustained contributions to the advancement of equality and democratic principles.

For years, Geoffrey Sturr has quietly served the legal community. In addition to maintaining a robust ethics and professional liability practice at Osborn Maledon, Sturr has taught legal ethics, volunteered as a disciplinary hearing officer, chaired the client protection fund, served on a number of State Bar committees, and worked on a Supreme Court committee tasked with revising rules regulating the practice of law. Sturr has also served on the boards of numerous organizations dedicated to providing legal services to those in need, including Community Legal Services, the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, and the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education. Outside of the legal community, Sturr is an active member of his local Quaker meeting and other Quaker organizations. He received his B.A. from Haverford College and his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Steven A. Hirsch was a legend of the State Bar of Arizona and a partner at Quarles & Brady at the time of his untimely passing in December 2016. During his distinguished career, Hirsch also practiced at Bryan Cave and Evans, Kitchel & Jenckes. Over the years, Hirsch served the Arizona State Bar, including as an officer on the Board of Governors, the Maricopa County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He was also a proud Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Hirsch was a founder, President, and Director of the Morris Institute for Justice and served on the Arizona Commission for Access to Justice. Hirsch was a consummate outdoorsman, and his love for the outdoors was most visible through his leadership of Wildlife for Tomorrow, the charitable organization of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Hirsch also positively impacted a generation of young men through the Boy Scouts, where he occupied nearly every leadership position in Cub Scout Pack 107 and Boy Scout Troup 401 over his 25-year career. Hirsch received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Arizona and served for 20 years as a member of the University of Arizona Law College Association. As Dean Emerita Toni Massaro wrote, “Steve embodied professionalism in its highest dimensions,” “brought energy, humor, wisdom, and warmth to everything he did,” and inspired admiration and love in “everyone who ever has met him.”

Kathy Brody will be honored with AJC’s Emerging Leadership Award, which is a tribute to an attorney practicing twelve years or less who has demonstrated a commitment to the values of public or community service.

Kathy Brody has been the Legal Director of the ACLU of Arizona since 2016, where she has overseen a robust litigation docket, including lawsuits seeking to vindicate First Amendment rights and voting rights and challenges to the conditions of detention in U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities in Southern Arizona, racial profiling by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and the treatment of prisoners by the Arizona Department of Corrections. Brody was previously a member at Osborn Maledon, where she devoted significant time to pro bono efforts, including a number of matters for the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, which she served as board president in 2015. She also served as a board member and consultant to the Arizona Justice Project, addressing wrongful convictions and manifest injustice in the criminal justice system. Brody has also been instrumental in the legislative efforts of the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, including its successful work, in collaboration with a broad array of allies, to reform Arizona’s civil asset forfeiture laws. Brody received her B.A. from Yale University and her J.D. from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.

For additional information or to become a corporate sponsor, please contact:

Karolyn Kiburz, President

Meetings & Concierges Source, LLC

P: (480) 990-1887

karolyn@mcsource.net

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AJC Arizona Judge Learned Hand Awards Luncheon