Judicial Honors: Vol. 109 No. 1

Photo: David Levi and Judge Rosenthal.

Judge LEE H. ROSENTHAL, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Law Institute (ALI). The award is given to an ALI member who has made significant contributions to the Institute. David F. Levi, ALI president and director emeritus of the Bolch Judicial Institute, presented the award. Levi and Rosenthal are emeritus members of the Bolch Judicial Institute Advisory Board.

The North Carolina Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism recently presented its 2024 Awards to five recipients, including Judge ANGELICA CHAVIS MCINTYRE and Judge REGINA PARKER. Judge McIntyre was the first Native American female chief judge in North Carolina’s history. With the North Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Council, she spearheaded the establishment of a trauma-informed juvenile delinquency court. Judge Parker was the first woman and African American on the district court bench in the Second Judicial District, where she established a Teen Court, a restorative justice program for juvenile offenders.

Photo L-R: Judge Angelica Chavis McIntyre, Elizabeth Star (recipient of Friend of the Court Award and Bolch Institute advisory board member), Ben David, Chief Justice Paul Newby, and Judge Regina Parker.

The Philippine Women Judges Association awarded its 2025 HerStory: Gender Award of Distinction to Executive Judge CYNTHIA MARTINEZ FLORENDO of the Regional Trial Court, San Jose City, Nueva Ecija. According to a Supreme Court press release about the award, Judge Florendo worked from a young age to support her family, and, despite challenges and prejudice against female judges in her province, distinguished herself through the quality of her judicial decisions over two decades on the bench.

Photo L–R: Philippines Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, president of the Philippine Women Judges Association, with Executive Judge Cynthia Martinez Florendo.

The Judicial Council of California honored Justice WILLIAM BEDSWORTH and retired Judge TERRY FRIEDMAN with its 2024 Distinguished Service Award. Justice Bedsworth served on California’s Civility Task Force and worked to improve civility in the profession. Judge Friedman was honored for efforts to improve safety, permanency, well-being, and fairness outcomes for children and families, as well as increasing access to justice for underrepresented litigants.

Judge España

Judge ANA ESPAÑA of San Diego County has received the 2025 Wilmont Sweeney Juvenile Court Judge of the Year award from the Juvenile Court Judges of California. The award honors judicial officers who exemplify leadership and innovative dedication to California’s youth. Judge España champions a “Kin-First” culture, prioritizing child placement with relatives, which has achieved a 10 percent increase in safe family placements.

Judge Lindsay

The University of Texas School of Law honored Judge SAM LINDSAY with its Virgil C. Lott Medal, honoring the school’s first African American graduate and subsequent graduates who have made significant contributions to the legal profession. Appointed in 1998, Judge Lindsay was the first African American U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Texas. While serving as Dallas city attorney from 1991 to 1998, he successfully defended a juvenile curfew ordinance to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge KEN STARR will posthumously receive the 2025 Defender of Religious Freedom Award from the Religious Freedom Institute in November. The award honors those who defend religious freedom from within their faith tradition. Judge Starr argued 36 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, served as U.S. solicitor general and a U.S. circuit judge, and held leadership roles at Baylor University and Pepperdine School of Law while championing religious liberty throughout his career.

The M&A Advisor has honored Judge LAUREL MYERSON ISICOFF with its 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award for her leadership in bankruptcy and corporate restructuring. Judge Isicoff served as chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida from 2016 to 2023. She was the first woman to serve as chief judge in the district and the first woman on the bankruptcy bench in the Southern District.

Justice Frost

Justice KEM THOMPSON FROST, retired chief justice of Texas’s 14th Court of Appeals and a graduate of Duke Law’s Master of Judicial Studies program, has received the Houston Bar Association’s 2025 Justice Ruby Kless Sondock Award, honoring a woman lawyer or judge who has “demonstrated, by conduct and character, a record of exceptional service as a role model, mentor, and advocate in the legal profession, and a lifelong commitment to professionalism.”

Justice JOHN MICHAEL GUIDRY of the Louisiana Supreme Court received the 2025 David A. Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award from the Louisiana State Bar Association, the organization’s most prestigious pro bono award. Justice Guidry has served the Louisiana judiciary for 27 years. Earlier this year, he was elected associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, becoming only the fourth African American to serve on the court and the first elected from outside Orleans Parish.

The Board of the Federal Judicial Center selected Judge ROBIN L. ROSENBERG as the 12th director of the Federal Judicial Center. “Judge Rosenberg is an experienced judge with a deep interest in education and research and a demonstrated commitment to the Center’s mission,” said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who chairs the nine-member board. “The board is confident that Judge Rosenberg will be a worthy successor to John Cooke, whom I thank for his seven years of dedicated service as the Center’s director.” Judge Rosenberg has served as a U.S. district judge in the Southern District of Florida since 2014. Prior to her federal judicial service, she was a judge in Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit. Since 2018 she has been a member, and since 2022 the chair, of the Judicial Conference of the United States’ Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. In 2023, the Chief Justice appointed her to the editorial board of the fifth edition of the Federal Judicial Center’s Manual for Complex Litigation. Judge Rosenberg received a BA from Princeton University and her MA and JD from Duke University, and she is chair of the editorial board for Judicature.

Michelle Kaminsky is senior editor and writer at the Bolch Judicial Institute and managing editor of Judicature.