Law adjunct given national award

04/16/2008

Adjunct law professor given national award

 Larry Hammond
 Larry Hammond
     Larry Hammond, a member of the Osborn Maledon law firm in Phoenix and an adjunct professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, has been chosen as the 2008 recipient of the American Judicature Society's Justice Award, the highest honor given by the Society.
     The award ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, at the Scottsdale Stadium. For tickets, visit http://www.ajs.org/ or call (800) 626-4089.
     Hammond, who served as president of the Society from 2003-2005, said he was shocked to receive the award.
     "I've actually been the person presenting this three times, and it never occurred to me that, at least anytime before I died, I would be on the receiving end," Hammond said.
     Society President John R. Tunheim praised Hammond's work.
     "One of the foremost criminal defense lawyers of his or any other generation, Larry has devoted his unmatched energy and legal acumen to ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our criminal justice system and improving the administration of justice for all," Tunheim said.
     Hammond led efforts to create the AJS Institute and the Commission on Forensic Science and Public Policy and was instrumental in planning the National Conference on Preventing the Conviction of Innocent Persons, convened by the Society in January 2003. He is also one of the founders of Arizona's Innocence Project, called the Justice Project, which addresses wrongful convictions and other manifest injustices. It recently moved from Osborn Maledon to the College of Law.
     The Society, which was founded in 1913 to work for a fair, impartial, independent judiciary, gives the Justice Award annually to an individual or group that has made significant contributions to improving the administration of justice in the United States.
     Past winners include U.S. Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti, William H. Webster, former director of the FBI and the CIA, the Maricopa County Superior Court and Dwight D. Opperman, former chairman and CEO of West Publishing.
     "It's more meaningful to me personally than it may be to most people because I feel so strongly about what the AJS and the Justice Project have been doing over the last decade," Hammond said. "It's a great opportunity to talk about what the organization is doing."
     Hammond said the AJS has a long history in Arizona.
     "It has been a staunch advocate for merit selection of judges," Hammond said. "In 1986, the AJS gave this award to the entire Maricopa County bench for reforms it instituted."
     Seth S. Andersen, executive vice president for AJS, praised Hammond's leadership in promoting criminal justice reform, more effective utilization of scientific and forensic evidence, and greater public understanding of the courts.
     "As a lawyer, scholar, and leader of the bar, Larry represents the essence of the mission of AJS: to secure and promote an independent and qualified judiciary and a fair system of justice," Andersen said.
    Hammond earned his law degree from the University of Texas, clerked for Judge Carl McGowan of the U.S. Court of Appeals and for Justices Hugo L. Black and Lewis F. Powell Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court.
     He served as an Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor in 1973-1974, and as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Justice Department, and has received the Judge Learned Hand Award for Community Service from the Arizona Chapter of the American Jewish Committee and the Arizona State Bar Foundation Walter E. Craig Award for Career Service.
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