Salt Lake attorney Donald B. Holbrook was presented the Lawyer of the Year Award by the Utah State Bar here during the 59th annual meeting of the bar.
Four other lawyers, four judges and one law firm were also honored. Randon W. Wilson was cited as Distinguished Lawyer for Service to the Bar; Judge Regnal W. Garff Jr. was named Appellate Court Judge of the Year; and Judge Scott Daniels was named District Court Judge of the Year.Judge W. Brent West was named Circuit Court Judge of the Year; Judge L. Kent Bachman was named Juvenile Court Judge of the Year; and Walker Kennedy III was presented the Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award.
Salt Lake law firm Fabian & Clendenin was named Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year; J. Stephen Mikita was named Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year; and Wayne L. Black was named Trial Lawyer of the Year.
The 10 were honored during the annual meeting which featured a keynote address by Harold G. Christensen, former deputy attorney general of the United Statesand past president of the Utah State Bar.
Holbrook is president of Salt Lake law firm Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough, with offices in St. George and Washington, D.C. He has served as president of the Salt Lake County Bar Association and of the Alumni Association of the University of Utah College of Law.
Holbrook served his first term on the bar's board of commissioners in 1954 as a Young Lawyers representative. He has been a bar commissioner since 1982, has been a member of the Utah State Board of Regents since 1965 and has served as its chairman. He has also been chairman of Ballet West and a board member of the Utah Opera Company.
Wilson is also a member of Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough, where he practices corporate and cooperative law in the Salt Lake office. He is on the firm's executive committee. During the past year he was chairman of the bar's Lawyer Benefits Committee. He is a director of the Sunnyside East Neighborhood Assoc. and is a member of the U.'s Research Park Advisory Committee.
Garff was the first presiding judge of the Utah Court of Appeals when it was formed in 1987, serving a two-year term. He was formerly a member of the Utah Juvenile Court and served three terms as presiding judge. He has been president of the Utah Council of Juvenile Court Judges. In addition to teaching and writing, he chaired a Utah committee to establish a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed adolescents.
Daniels was appointed to the bench in 1982 and is serving his second term as presiding judge of the 3rd Judicial District. He is president of the American Inns of Court, co-chairman of the Governor's Commission of Victims and a member of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. Formerly, he was a trial lawyer with the Salt Lake law firm Snow, Christensen and Martineau. He teaches constitutional law at the U.
West is presiding judge for the 2nd Circuit Court in Ogden. He was an assistant Ogden City prosecutor for three years and chief prosecutor for Ogden before being appointed to the Circuit Court bench in 1984. He has served on the Common Court Boundaries Committee and the Warrant's Task Force. He is presently a member of the Utah Task Force on Gender and Justice, chairman of the Uniform Bail Schedule Committee and a member of the Circuit Court Board of Judges.
Bachman was appointed to the 2nd District Juvenile Court in 1977. He is currently presiding judge in the 2nd District serving Weber, Davis and Morgan Counties. He was formerly deputy Weber County Attorney and Chief Deputy Ogden City Attorney. He was also a commissioner for the First District Juvenile Court and is currently a member of the Utah Judicial Council and the Board of Juvenile Court Judges.
Kennedy was cited for providing an exceptionally high level of pro bono (free of charge) service in the community. He is a member of the law firm Woodbury, Jensen, Kesler & Swinton. His practice concentrates on creditors' rights in bankruptcy litigation and he volunteers his time and legal expertise as a judge pro tem in the small claims court of the 5th Circuit Court. He is pro bono legal counsel for the Salt Lake Association of Community Councils and is an active participant in the Utah Legal Services Volunteer Lawyer Pro Bono Practice Program.
Law firm Fabian & Clendenin was cited for the high percentage of firm members who participated in the pro bono law program throughout the year. Firm members are currently serving in a variety of pro bono legal capacities, including service to Utah Legal Services. Civic and non-profit organizations that benefit from the firm's pro bono counsel include the Utah Endowment for the Humanities, the Utah Heritage Foundation, Nature Conservancy, Salt Lake Acting Company and Tracy Aviary.
Mikita, cited as Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year, is assistant attorney general in the Utah attorney general's office where he is counsel for the Utah Department of Health. He is past editor of the Barrister and is chairman of the bar's Committee on Lawyers Helping Lawyers. He is chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Lawyer Trust Accounts for the bar and serves on the Salt Lake Winter Games Organizing Committee.
Black was cited by the American Board of Trial Advocates which annually honors a trial lawyer. Black is counsel with the Salt Lake law firm Callister, Duncan & Nebeker. He has tried some 2,500 jury cases and has argued or presented more than 300 cases to the Utah Supreme Court, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1987, he was cited in the book "The Best Lawyers in America" in the field of personal injury litigation.