As we flip the calendar from 2024 to 2025, the Chattanooga Bar Association (CBA) is seeking nominations for the next recipient of its Ralph H. Kelley Humanitarian Award.
The CBA presents its humanitarian award to a member of the legal profession who, in the opinion of its board of governors, has excelled in community service.
The bar has bestowed the award every year since 1993, when it named the Hon. Clarence Shattuck as the inaugural recipient. Arnold A. Stulce Jr. received the award in 2024.
Now the CBA is calling on its entire membership to nominate potential recipients for the 2025 presentation.
The resolution that established the award provides three criteria to assist in spotting potential honorees: One, nominees must be members “in good standing” of the CBA or a judicial officer; two, they must have a minimum of 15 tenure in the Chattanooga legal community; and three, they need to have a history of performing community service that placed an emphasis on social service.
To illustrate by example, when presenting the award to retired attorney Rosemarie Hill in 2023, attorney Cindy Hall noted Hill’s extensive record of service to her professional and community, including serving two terms on now ex-Gov. Bill Haslam’s Council for Judicial Appointments and three terms as a hearing panel member for the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility.
Hill also served as president of Girls Inc., Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy and Ballet Tennessee. She was a new member of the advisory board of Hart Gallery and poised to begin a term as president of the board of Signal Centers when the bar honored her.
“Rosemarie is, by every measure, a well-deserved recipient of this award,” Hall concluded.
Names for those who are equally qualified can be solicited from the bar membership as well as the community at large.
CBA Executive Director Lynda Hood is requesting bar members send their selections to lhood@chattanoogabar.org.
The CBA will present the award at its annual meeting at The Westin Chattanooga Feb 12.