Each year, at the Breakfast of Champions held during the annual AAJ (formerly ATLA) convention, the Civil Justice Foundation honors one or more Community Champions, outstanding consumer advocates who demonstrate a compassionate commitment to injury prevention and who have performed extraordinary work to preserve the right to justice for injured consumers. 

Past recipients include southern California legal assistant Erin Brockovich, who successfully fought against industrial water contamination in a California community, and Tom Mauser, a tireless advocate for public safety and violence prevention who lost his son Daniel in the Columbine tragedy and then went on to fight for stronger gun laws.

Proceeds from the Breakfast of Champions enable the Civil Justice Foundation to channel important grants to grassroots consumer advocacy organizations.  If you know of someone who mirrors the ideals of passion and perseverance that the Foundation embodies, make sure to nominate them for this important distinction today.

How to Nominate Individuals for the Community Champion Award:

Anyone (AAJ (formerly ATLA) members, state trial lawyer associations, members of Congress, the general public, etc;) may nominate an individual for this prestigious award. Nominations for the annual Community Champion Award must be received by the Foundation office on or before March 20.

Each nominee must qualify under the following criteria:

The candidate shall be a person who was injured and/or acted on behalf of injured consumers, and who through his/her work demonstrates a compassion and commitment to advocacy on behalf of injured consumers.

The following rules apply:

• The candidate may not be an AAJ (formerly ATLA) member, elected official, or employee of a state trial lawyer association.
• The candidate must be present to accept the award at the Breakfast of Champions in 2008. The Foundation will pay travel expenses.

The following material should be submitted in support of the nomination, in the sequence outlined, on single-sided 8½ by 11 inch paper. Please do not allow a nomination to exceed 25 pages. The submission of additional material is not encouraged:

• Name, address, telephone number and current occupation of nominee.
• Nominee's current resume.
• Nominee's relationship to state trial lawyer association, if any.
• Nominee statement of achievement.
• Three independent letters of reference from non-Trial Lawyer Association related sources.
• Relevant press clips, list of published works, or other materials.

Send nomination materials to: Edward L. Chester, Civil Justice Foundation, 1050 31st St., NW, Washington, DC 20007.