Community Service Awards
Hon. Sonna M. Anderson
The Hon. Sonna M. Anderson has been an active volunteer her entire life. Following law school, she returned to Bismarck and became active in the Bismarck Jaycees. She has also been an active member of the Kiwanis club for 28 years and served on the Bismarck School Board for 10 years. She is a member of the Big Muddy Bar Association and has been a member of the North Dakota Women’ s Lawyer Section and National Association of Women Judges. She has served as volunteer legal counsel for various nonprofit organizations and served on the boards of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. Since becoming a South Central Judicial District Judge in 2004, she has served on the Judicial Education Committee,
Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, Judicial Conduct Commission, and as a member of the Commission to Study Racial and Ethic Bias in the Courts. She is currently vice president and president-elect of the North Dakota Judge’ s Association.
Lori Conroy
Lori Conroy was nominated for her volunteer efforts in bettering the law profession, students, and women in law. She currently serves as president of the SBAND’ s Women’ s Lawyer Section and planned and served as moderator for a new program,“ Judicial Service: A Guide to Judicial Application, Selection, and Appointment,” which attracted more than 80 people. Conroy also organized small group luncheons, bringing women lawyers together
from across the state. She co-directed the UND School of Law and SBAND’ s hosting of the regional rounds of the National Trial Competition at the Cass County Courthouse and is also a coach for Concordia College’ s new Mock Trial Team.
Alex Reichert
Alex Reichert has demonstrated a long-term commitment to volunteer service in the Grand Forks community and throughout North Dakota. He currently serves as vice chair of the Grand Forks Planning and Zoning Commission and serves on the Grand Forks Downtown Development Board and Grand Forks Foundation for Education. In addition, he serves on the North Dakota Attorney Standards Board and the Reappointment Committee for Federal Magistrates. Reichert has served on the North Dakota Museum of Art board and the North Valley Arts Council and was a founder of the Passport to Culture and Grand Fork’ s Friends of Downtown. Reichert has been an active member of the Greater Grand Forks Bar Association and has served on the SBAND Board of Governors.
Distinguished Service Award
The Distinguished Service Award, the most prestigious award the association bestows, honors a member of the profession who has provided outstanding service to the state and legal community over an extended career. The Distinguished Service Award plaque, which hangs outside the North Dakota Supreme Court, permanently honors recipients and reminds lawyers and the public of their dedication and work.
This year’ s award was presented to retired District Court Judge M. Richard Geiger for his dedication to the North Dakota Trial Court Bench Book. Prior to his retirement, Judge Geiger served the Judiciary by making significant contributions to the Bench Book, the authoritative“ how to” manual for conducting hearing and trials presented to every District Court Judge in North Dakota.
In the early 1990s, Geiger was on the Education Commission and was assigned chair of the task force to rework the Bench Book. Following the task force’ s rewrite of the book, Geiger took it upon himself to edit and update the Bench Book every two years until his retirement in 2017. A Trial Court Bench Book Oversight group is now charged with the editorial management of the Bench Book, dividing the work of Judge Geiger among three District Judges and an administrative staff attorney. Judge Geiger’ s dedication to keeping the Bench Book a timely and useful tool for District Judges was truly remarkable.
Retired Judge M. Richard Geiger recieves his award from Darcie Einarson.
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