Miami Lawyer Neal R. Sonnett to Receive 2008 John H. Pickering Award Of Achievement From ABA Senior Lawyers Division

CHICAGO, Aug. 7, 2008 – Nationally-acclaimed Miami trial lawyer Neal R. Sonnett will be presented with the 2008 John H. Pickering Award of Achievement from the American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division on Aug. 8 during the ABA Annual Meeting in New York City.

Sonnett, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief of the Criminal Division of the Southern District of Florida, will receive the award at a 7 p.m. reception and dinner in his honor at the New York Athletic Club in New York City.

The award honors the life and accomplishments of John H. Pickering, an outstanding lawyer who was involved in a wide variety of pro bono activities and law-related societal issues.  Award recipients have demonstrated outstanding legal ability; and have compiled a distinguished record of service to the profession and their communities, resulting in significant contributions to improving access to justice for all.  In addition to the Senior Lawyers Division, the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, and the standing committees on Pro Bono and Public Service and Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants take part in the recipient selection process.

Sonnett is the managing partner of his Miami-based law firm.  His practice concentrates on corporate, white-collar and complex criminal cases.  Within the ABA he has been deeply involved in rule-of-law issues as chair of three association task forces—on enemy combatants, domestic surveillance and presidential signing statements.  He also serves as the ABA’s observer for the Guantanamo military commission trials, is the chair-elect of the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, and is past chair of the Criminal Justice Section.  He has also served as chair of the Standing Committee on Governmental Affairs and as member of the House of Delegates and the Board of Governors Task Force on Gatekeeper Regulation in the Profession.

In 1989 Sonnett received the Florida Bar Foundation Medal of Honor, the highest award bestowed on a lawyer by the legal profession in the state of Florida.  In addition Sonnett has received numerous other honors including the 2007 Outstanding Service Award from the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, and the 2007 Alumnus of Distinction Award from the University of Miami School of Law. He is a former president of the American Judicature Society, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Florida Bar Foundation.

During the Annual Meeting, a press room for accredited journalists will be set up at the Hilton New York, Murray Hill Suite, 2nd floor, and will open for on-site media registration at 8 a.m. on Aug. 7.  Thereafter the press room will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will close one hour after the adjournment of the House of Delegates on Aug. 12.

Online registration for news reporters is easier than ever. Credential guidelines are at www.abanews.org/credentials.html.

For more about the ABA Senior Lawyers Division, go to http://www.abanet.org/srlawyers/home.html

With more than 413,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.