The Law Day Committee, chaired by Lori Kilpeck and John Thomas of the Lake County Bar Association, held its annual Law Day celebration at LaMalfa in Mentor on May 6.
Law Day was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 and is celebrated every year on May 1 to mark the nation’s commitment to respecting the rule of law. The Law Day theme for 2022 was “Toward a More Perfect Union: The Constitution in Times of Change,” and the Law Day Committee was honored to have retired Justice Terrence O’Donnell from the Ohio Supreme Court as the keynote speaker.
The President’s Award is presented to an attorney who is deemed by the Lake County Bar Association to provide “outstanding service to the community and service to the profession.” This year the award was renamed in honor of Jodi Littman Tomaszewski, who was a well-respected attorney and long-standing member of the Law Day Committee. Tomaszewski, who died in 2021, embodied the meaning and qualifications required of the President’s Award. Pamela Kurt, president of the Lake County Bar Association, had the honor of presenting this year’s award to John M. Rogers.
The Law Day Committee also presented Heather Clair, the chief bailiff in the Painesville Municipal Court, with the 2022 Liberty Bell Award. The award is presented to a non-lawyer for outstanding service in one of these areas: 1. Promoting a better understanding of the Constitution and Bill of Rights; 2. Encouraging greater respect for law and the courts; 3. Stimulating a deeper sense of individual responsibility so that citizens recognize their duties as well as their rights; 4. Contributing to the effective functioning of institutions of government; and 5. Fostering a better understanding and appreciation of the rule of law.
The group also recognized Sarah Steigerwald as the Outstanding Paralegal Student at Lakeland Community College, and Abby Shazivari, a sophomore at Willoughby South High School, who was the school essay winner.
The Law Day Committee is grateful to its many sponsors and would like to thank all those responsible for making the 2022 Law Day celebration a huge success.
