Stephen Berzon, a Founding Partner of Altshuler Berzon LLP who currently serves as Special Counsel to the firm, was recently named as the 2024 recipient of the “lawyer’s lawyer” award established by the Ninth Circuit Advisory Board in 2003. The John P. Frank Award, established in 2003 and awarded by the Advisory Board, recognizes a lawyer who has “demonstrated outstanding character and integrity; dedication to the rule of law; proficiency as a trial and appellate lawyer; success in promoting collegiality among members of the bench and bar; and a lifetime of service to the federal courts of the Ninth Circuit.”
Stephen was recognized for a career in which he has excelled as an attorney, mentored countless students and lawyers, exemplified the qualities of character, integrity, collegiality, and service. Over the years, Stephen has litigated groundbreaking and precedent-setting cases benefiting workers, their unions, and the environment in the areas of voting rights, labor and employment, immigration, civil rights, environmental justice, and access to courts. Known for his creative and proactive approach to litigation, Stephen has been a member of the Ninth Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Rules and Internal Operating Procedures, the national Board of Directors of the American Constitutional Society, the Board of Directors of the national AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, the Executive Committee of the Northern District of California Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and the Advisory Group of the Clean Slate Project of the Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Stephen’s prior recognition include the Voting Rights Award from the ACLU of Southern California in 2002 for his work on voting rights litigation, a California Lawyer Magazine 2009 California Lawyer of the Year in the area of Civil Rights, the 2012 Social Justice Service Award from Santa Clara Law School, and a Peggy Browning Award in 2020. He was also invited to give the 2014-2015 Preiskel-Silverman Lecture at Yale Law School, entitled “Fixing Wealth Inequality: How Lawyers Can Be Part of the Solution.” And he is currently co-teaching a seminar at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law entitled Impact Litigation: Strategic Considerations.
As one of the nominating letters wrote, “Steve is an extraordinary lawyer. He has been a tireless advocate for working families and for poor and marginalized people for decades. That he has managed to achieve so much in a sometimes difficult legal climate is a testament to his creativity and tenaciousness. Steve is also exceedingly generous with his time, knowledge and immense experience. Each of us can remember a long, free-ranging conversation with Steve that gave us new insights – whether it was with respect to our career development, framing of a difficult legal argument, or how to have a difficult conversation…. Steve has given freely of his time to train an entire generation of ethical, resilient public interest lawyers who are now serving our country in government, private practice and the judiciary.”
The late Mr. Frank was a renowned Phoenix attorney, who over the course of a 62-year career, argued more than 500 appeals before the Arizona Court of Appeals, the Arizona Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, other federal circuit courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. The award was established in 2003 by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit at the recommendation of the Ninth Circuit Advisory Board, a group of experienced attorneys who advise on circuit governance issues.
The Ninth Circuit’s announcement of Stephen’s award may be found here.