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Contact: Andrew Rush
Director, Media Services & Public Affairs
arush@nysba.org
518/487-5530
January 29, 2008
STATE BAR HONORS TWO ETHICS EXPERTS FOR EXCELLENCE IN
PUBLIC SERVICE
Two noted members of the legal profession
have been selected to receive the 2008 Attorneys in Public Service Award
from the New York State Bar Association. Mark L. Davies, Executive
Director and Counsel to the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board
and Barbara F. Smith, Executive Director of the New York Lawyer
Assistance Trust, are winners of the award, which is given
annually.
The awards, sponsored by the
Association’s Committee on Attorneys in Public Service, will be
given at the Association’s annual meeting at the Marriott Marquis
in Manhattanon
Tuesday, January 29, 2008. The award recognizes individuals who
demonstrate a commitment to service, honor and integrity. To be
considered for the recognition, individuals must epitomize a dedication
to a “higher calling” by not only working in the public
sector, but in demonstrating a commitment to service, honor and
integrity.
Chair of the Committee on Attorneys
in Public Service, Patricia Salkin, Associate Dean and
Director, Government Law Center , Albany Law School,
said, “This year the Committee was faced with an embarrassment of
riches – so many nominations for outstanding public sector
lawyers, all of whom deserve recognition. However, the 2008 honorees, Mark Davies and Barbara Smith,
exemplify the true meaning of public service. It is no surprise that
both of these individuals have a background in the field of government
ethics – they have both personal and professional integrity and
are quite simply, the government lawyer’s
lawyer.”
Mark Davies has served as the
Executive Director and Counsel of the New York City Conflicts of
Interest Board since January 1994. He previously served as Executive
Director of the New York State Temporary State Commission on Local
Government Ethics, where he drafted the Commission's bill to completely
revamp New
York State's
ethics law for local government officials, and as a Deputy Counsel to
the New York State Commission on Government Integrity.
A graduate
of Columbia College and Columbia Law School , he is
currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School,
where he teaches New York Practice. Davies has lectured extensively on civil practice and on
government ethics throughout the United
Statesand abroad,
and has authored two dozen publications, including several articles on
governmental ethics laws.
Barbara F. Smith has served as the
Executive Director of the New York State Lawyer Assistance Trust since
its inception in 2001. The Trust arose
out of a 1999 initiative spearheaded by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye and
now brings statewide awareness and resources to the prevention and
treatment of alcohol and substance abuse and mental health problems
among members of the legal profession. Prior to her service in her current position, she served as
counsel to the New York State Ethics Commission for 13 years, twice
having served as its Acting Director. She has been a frequent author and lecturer on ethics
topics.
A graduate
of Marywood College and Albany Law School,
Smith has authored numerous publications on ethics, attorney
professionalism, and hope, health and healing, her efforts at the Lawyer
Assistance Trust have been recognized nationally.
The 74,000-member New York State
Bar Association is the official statewide organization of lawyers
in New Yorkand
the largest voluntary state bar association in the
nation.
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