Judy Perry Martinez, Benefactor Fellow, was selected to receive the prestigious 2026 American Inns of Court Lewis F. Powell Jr. Award for Professionalism and Ethics, which recognizes attorneys, judges, or others who have rendered exemplary service in the areas of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence.
She will receive the award at the American Inns of Court 2026 Celebration of Excellence at the Supreme Court of the United States in October. The American Inns of Court seeks to inspire the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring. The organization’s membership includes more than 30,000 federal, state, and local judges; lawyers; law professors; and law students.
Martinez is currently of counsel at Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn and was the first woman elected to the firm management committee but also spent a dozen years at Northrop Grumman as assistant general counsel and then vice president and the company’s first chief compliance officer. She served as president of the American Bar Association from 2019 to 2020 and has served on the board of Innocence Project-New Orleans, the New Orleans Pro Bono Project and the American Bar Foundation and held leadership positions in the Louisiana State Bar Association and the New Orleans Bar Association.
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