Lawyers Hall of Fame Inductees Include a Governor, a Mayor, a Legislator, a Philanthropist, and a Trial Lawyer, Oh My!
Two prominent Mobile attorneys, one of whom was the first African-American to be elected to the state legislature, a former governor who helped found Spring Hill College and one of the earliest lawyers known to represent injured persons will be inducted into the Alabama Lawyers Hall of Fame.
A special ceremony will be held at the Alabama Supreme Court May 7 at 11:30 a.m. when the state bar will unveil the plaques to be placed in the Hall of Fame, located on the lower level of the Heflin-Torbert Judicial Building.
Spotlighting significant contributions of lawyers
Samuel A. Rumore, Jr., who chairs the bar's Hall of Fame selection committee, explained, "The Hall of Fame was established seven years ago to spotlight significant contributions lawyers have made to the state throughout its history. These individuals have demonstrated a lifetime of achievement that exemplifies the bar's motto, 'Lawyers Render Service'."
The 2009 honorees are:
James G. Birney (1792–1857)
Member of the first Alabama legislature, progressive on racial and Indian matters, helped revise territorial laws and organize Alabama's judiciary, early promoter of primary and secondary education, early mayor of Huntsville
Clement C. Clay (1789–1866)
Chaired the drafting committee for the 1819 Constitution; circuit judge (1819), Alabama Supreme Court Justice (1820-1823), legislator and speaker of the house (1828-1829), member of U. S. Congress (1829-1835), elected eighth governor of Alabama (1835-1837), appointed to U. S. Senate (1837-1841), a founder of Spring Hill College, and preparer of Clay's Digest of State Laws
Michael A. Figures (1947–1996)
Accomplished lawyer, community leader, first African-American elected to the legislature from Mobile County (1986-1996), served as president pro tem of the Alabama senate (1996), making him the highest ranking African-American in history of Alabama at the time
Francis Hutcheson Hare Sr. (1904–1983)
Among the earliest lawyers in U. S. to solely represent injured individuals, highly regarded as an innovative trial tactician, respected leader and founder of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association and president of the Alabama State Bar (1949-1950)
Samuel W. Pipes, III (1916–1982)
Noted and respected lawyer, president of the Alabama State Bar (1968-1969), president of the Mobile Bar Association (1959), played a vital role in raising funds to build the first state bar building and new University of Alabama law building, service award at the University of Alabama named in his honor and given annually for outstanding service by an alumnus
Honorees in select company
Rumore noted that honorees must be Alabama lawyers who have made extraordinary contributions through the law at the state, national or international level.
Nominees must meet the award criteria which includes having a breadth of achievement in their lifetime, demonstrating a profound respect for professional ethics, being recognized as a leader in their community, and leading, inspiring or mentoring others in the pursuit of justice. Only lawyers who have been deceased for a minimum of two years are considered.
This year's group of inductees will join such notable legal figures as Judge Frank M. Johnson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin, and attorneys Arthur Davis Shores and Vernon C. Crawford, among others.
