Members are encouraged to submit nominations for the David W. Dyer Professionalism Award, the highest honor bestowed annually by the Dade County Bar Association during its installation meeting.

 

The David W. Dyer Award recognizes a lawyer or member of the judiciary who endeavors to the high level of humility, civility, compassion and morality characteristic of Judge Dyer. Past recipients include Judges William M. Hoeveler (1998), Edward B. Davis (2000), Gerald Kogan (2002), Philip Bloom (2003), Joseph P. Farina (2005), and Peter R. Palermo (2006) and attorneys Leland E. Stansell, Jr. (1999), Robert C. Josefsberg (2001), Herman J. Russomanno (2004) and Richard C. Milstein (2007).

 

Judge David W. Dyer was nominated to the federal bench by President John F. Kennedy and was appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 1961. He became the chief judge in 1962, and was elevated to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 1966. He presided over important civil and voting rights cases, including a historic 1967 ruling reapportioning Florida on the "One-man, One-vote" principle. Judge Dyer also ordered the desegregation of Florida's Turnpike restaurants. In January, 1998, the same year the community lost Judge Dyer to cancer, the historic downtown post office was renamed the David W. Dyer Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

 

 

* The criteria for the nominations is The Florida Bar's Code of Professionalism and Civility.
* Nominations must emphasize the lawyer's personal commitment to honor and integrity.
* The deadline for nominations will not be extended.
* Nominations are limited to lawyers and judges
* Nominations must be submitted in writing.