The Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan have two awards that are bestowed upon worthwhile individuals and/or organizations at CDAM's Annual Awards Dinner, held during the Spring Conference: the Justice for All Award and the Right to Counsel Award. Read more about these prestigious awards and those who have been honored recipients. In rare circumstances, CDAM's President bestows the Extraordinary Service Award to a CDAM member who gives of their time and resources to further CDAM's mission.

Justice for All

The  Justice for All award is given to recognize a particular extraordinary contribution of a group of individuals. This contribution can be in the form of legal representation or other extraordinary service. Although most of our recipients have been attorneys, that is not a requirement.  Nor does one have to be a member of CDAM, but membership is a factor that may be considered in selecting an awardee. 

Recipients

♦ Cooley's Innocence Project

♦ University of Michigan's Innocence Clinic

♦ Criminal defense team in the first post-9/11 terrorism prosecution

♦ Attorneys battling the monolithic Sex Offender Registry (2012)

♦ Creation of program to assist and/or represent juveniles in response to Miller v. Alabama (2013)

♦ SADO Crime Lab Unit (2014)

Right to Counsel Award

This award is given to an individual for a significant body of work, and is often triggered by an extraordinary case that is typical of that attorney's career. This is typically a reflection of a lifetime of service to defendants and the criminal justice community. Past award recipients are attorneys who not only made a career of providing the highest quality legal representation, but who are also members who generously support CDAM's mission to provide high quality continuing legal education.

Recipients

♦ Norris Thomas

♦ Robyn B. Frankel

♦ Mitchell Ribitwer

♦ Jerome Sabbota

♦ Steven Fishman

♦ James L. Feinberg (2015)

♦ M. Jon Posner (2015)

♦ Michael A. Komorn (2016)

♦ William W. Swor (2017)

♦ Margaret Sind Raben (2018)

♦ Gerald Evelyn (2019)

♦ Lisa Kirsch Satawa (2020)

♦ James R. Samuels (2020)

Extraordinary Service Award 

This award, given in rare circumstances, recognizes a CDAM member for the extraordinary service on behalf of CDAM.

Recipients

♦ F. Randall  Karfonta 

♦ Jill Leslie Price (2018)