William C. Hubbard has been honored with the 2026 Outstanding Service Award from the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). Hubbard will be recognized during the 70th Annual Fellows Awards Reception and Banquet, which will be held in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday, February 6.
The Outstanding Service Award is given to an individual who has, in their professional career, adhered to the highest principles and traditions of the legal profession and to the service of the public. This year, the ABF recognizes Hubbard for his longstanding commitment to strengthening the rule of law and promoting access to justice for those who need it most.
“William C. Hubbard’s record of service to the public and the legal profession is exceptional,” said Chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation Jennifer L. Parent. “It is an honor and privilege to recognize and celebrate his distinguished career of dedicated work with this award.”
Hubbard is the Dean of the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law where he is also the University of South Carolina Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor of Law. Before his academic career, Hubbard was a partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Columbia, South Carolina, following his service as a law clerk to US District Judge Robert F. Chapman.
Hubbard served as the President of the American Bar Association from 2014 to 2015. As president, he led efforts to increase access to justice, reform the criminal justice system, provide legal assistance to unaccompanied immigrant children, and improve support for victims of domestic violence.
Before his service as the President of the ABA, Hubbard served a two-year term as the Chair of the ABA’s House of Delegates. Hubbard is also a past President of the American Bar Foundation and a past President of the American Bar Endowment. From 2019 to 2020, he served as the Chair of the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which reports to the DOJ and the US Senate on the qualifications of federal judicial nominees.
Hubbard is a Cofounder and the Chair of the Board of the World Justice Project, a multigenerational, multinational, multidisciplinary initiative to strengthen the rule of law worldwide. In 2016, Hubbard was awarded the inaugural Leadership in Law Award at the Burton Awards, hosted at the Library of Congress.
In 2023, Hubbard was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and of the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation. He is also a Member of the Council (emeritus) of the American Law Institute. He is an Honorary Master of the Bench of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in London.
Hubbard was presented the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian award that can be presented by the governor of South Carolina, in 2002. In 2007, he received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Hubbard earned his BA and JD from the University of South Carolina and was the recipient of its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009. In 2010, he received the Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of South Carolina. Hubbard served on the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina from 1986 to 2020, and as Chairman of the Board from 1996 to 2000.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the Outstanding Service Award from the American Bar Foundation,” said Hubbard. “Since the beginning of my journey as a lawyer and member of the American Bar Association, I have admired the extraordinary work of the ABF and have been inspired by the unselfish leadership of many past recipients of this award. To be counted among them is one of the great honors of my professional life.”
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About the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is the world’s leading research institute for the empirical and interdisciplinary study of law. The ABF seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. To further this mission the ABF will produce timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.