Mark White Receives Top Award from National Court Organization
July 1, 2007Williamsburg, VA (July 19, 2007) — J. Mark White, founding partner in the law firm White Arnold & Dowd P.C. in Birmingham, Ala., is the recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Service Award, one of the highest awards presented by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). The Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to a person who has made longstanding contributions to the improvement of the justice system and who has supported the mission of the National Center.
The award was presented to Mr. White at the Alabama State Bar’s Bench and Bar Luncheon in Point Clear, Alabama. “As a member of the legal profession, he cares deeply about the importance of the work of our country’s justice system and the mission of the National Center for State Courts as the preeminent national court reform organization,“ Mary McQueen, NCSC president said.
Mr. White has a proven record of dedication to the justice system and has worked diligently both in Alabama and across the country to improve the public’s confidence in the judiciary, McQueen said. He began this work in 1999, creating Alabama’s first Judicial Campaign Oversight Committee. Since 2001, Mr. White has served as co-chair of the NCSC-sponsored Ad Hoc National Advisory Committee on Judicial Campaign Conduct, making major presentations to the Conference of Chief Judges, providing advice to state supreme courts, and serving as lead faculty for NCSC-sponsored workshops on establishing state judicial campaign conduct committees. Nine new statewide judicial campaign oversight committees were established in the last two years, more than doubling the number of existing committees.
Mr. White currently serves as a member of the Judicial Inquiry Commission for the State of Alabama. He earned his law degree from Samford University Cumberland School of Law and his B.A. from Auburn University.
The National Center for State Courts, founded in 1971 by Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice and provides leadership, research, technology, education and training to the state courts. The National Center is also taking the lead on several key issues facing the justice system. For example, The National Center is working to improve public trust and confidence in the courts, reform the judicial selection process, develop a model policy on public access to court records, and to improve pro se litigation. The National Center is headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., and has offices in Washington, D.C. and Denver, Co.