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Informed Citizens

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The New Jersey State Bar Foundation is pleased to announce that Justice Barry T. Albin (ret.) and Lawrence S. Lustberg, Esq., have been named the recipients of the Foundation’s 2023 Medal of Honor Award.  The Foundation’s Medal of Honor Award is given annually to lawyers, law-related professionals, and lay people to recognize professional excellence, service to the legal community and commitment to the citizens of New Jersey.

“The Foundation’s Board of Trustees and Medal of Honor Committee are thrilled to recognize this year’s recipients,” said Charles Stoia, Esq., chair of the Foundation’s Medal of Honor Committee. “Both have demonstrated a commitment to improving the justice system and to the legal profession. Their contributions have served the legal profession well and made a difference for the citizens of New Jersey.”

Justice Barry T. Albin (ret.) served as a judge of the New jersey Supreme Court for 20 years. He is currently a partner at Lowenstien Sandler in the Litigation group and is the Chair of the firm’s Appellate practice.  During his time as a justice, he authored more than 400 opinions, including more than 230 majority opinions, more than 130 dissents, and dozens of concurrences on issues spanning the wide spectrum of the law.  He has written on such topics as civil rights, criminal law, insurance, employment discrimination, contracts, taxes, municipal government, elections, product liability, and mass toxic torts. Justice Albin is the author of landmark opinions on the rights of same-sex couples, the rights of the accused and workers, and civil rights, among others. He also authored a number of dissents, which later became law.

“I am deeply honored to receive the 2023 Medal of Honor conferred by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation.  I have had a fulfilling and rewarding journey through the law — and have endeavored to make some positive contribution to our profession and legal system, while in public service and private practice. I am gratified by this recognition, but my journey continues.  I accept this award as a challenge to renew my commitment to the goal to which we all aspire — a more perfect system of justice,” said Justice Albin.

Lawrence S. Lustberg, Esq., is the longtime Chair of Gibbons’ Criminal Defense practice and Director of the firm’s John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest & Constitutional Law, which litigates historic, cutting-edge civil rights and civil liberties cases in a broad range of areas. As Director of the award-winning Gibbons Fellowship, Mr. Lustberg is responsible for the scope of the Fellowship’s work and its legendary accomplishments. Under his leadership for over 30 years, the Fellowship has become widely known in New Jersey and across the country as a voice for the poor and underrepresented and has litigated some of the most significant legal issues of our time, receiving national recognition.   He is a renowned white collar criminal defense attorney and civil rights lawyer and a recognized authority in constitutional and criminal law, responsible for hundreds of seminal federal and state court decisions and engaged in many of the most significant cases under investigation or in the courts today.

“I am honored to be a recipient of the Bar Foundation Medal of Honor this year. I could not be more grateful, not only for the award but also for the opportunity that the profession has provided me to work on some of the great issues of our time from racial equality to criminal justice reform, to diversity and access to justice.  I am proud to have made those issues the focus of my career and so appreciate that I have had the opportunity to do so; I accept this award as an affirmation not only that it has been the right thing for me to do, but that it is the privilege that all lawyers have – to make a difference,” said Lawrence Lustberg.

Medal of Honor Award Celebration – September 26, 2023 – An award celebration will be held on Tuesday, September 26 at the Park Chateau Garden Estate in East Brunswick. Tickets for the event are on sale now. Sponsorships are available. Proceeds from the event help fund the Foundation’s scholarship program for 2nd and 3rd year law students. Ticket, sponsorship and event journal ad information can be found HERE.

About New Jersey State Bar Foundation – Celebrating 65 Years – The New Jersey State Bar Foundation is celebrating its 65th anniversary, marking more than six decades of serving as a law-related education resource for the people of New Jersey. Established in May 1958 as the charitable and philanthropic arm of the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Foundation strives to help people better understand the laws that affect them every day.  Learn more about how the NJSBF informs citizens, educates the public, and supports the community with civics and law-related publications, programs, and funding by visiting www.njsbf.org