Washington Bar Association Hall of Fame History

"We pause to salute the efforts of all persons who participated in constructing a bridge from slavery to freedom, as well as those still constructing a bridge from freedom to equality.... The demand for equal justice under law is simply a demand for equality under law for all citizens.... Frederick Douglass posed the equal justice question, which is still relevant in 21st Century America, when he asked: 'whether American justice, American liberty, American civilization, American law, and American Christianity could be made to include and protect alike and forever all American citizens in the rights which have been guaranteed to them by the organic and fundamental laws of the land.' We salute the answer provided to this question by the lives and careers of ... the cadre of lawyers, judges and others who have embraced a living Constitution."

- Robert L. Bell, Chairman of the Board
  Call to Commemoration: Law Day 2006

The WBA Hall of Fame was inaugurated by the Board of Directors of the Washington Bar Association in 1998, under the leadership of then President Michael S. Rosier, to honor those lawyers who have been licensed to practice for twenty-five years or more and who have made significant contributions to the cause and quest for equal justice under law and to the legal profession. As strides are made and roads ore forged, it is appropriate to pause and salute those who on the journey to equality under "We the people" have pursued and demanded equality of opportunity in all aspects of the American experience. The men and women inducted into the WBA Hall of Fame - past and present - embody the courage, intellectual accomplishments, professional achievements and contributions worthy of the highest recognition by the legal profession.