ROSELAND, N.J./April 22, 2008 -- The Honorable John W. Bissell, a former federal district court judge and presently Of Counsel to Connell Foley LLP, has been selected to receive the American Inns of Court’s 2008 Professionalism Award for the Third Circuit. The award will be presented by the Honorable Deanell Reece Tacha, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and President of the American Inns of Court, at the Third Circuit Judicial Conference in Cambridge Maryland on April 29, 2008.
The Third Circuit Professionalism Award is presented bi-annually to honor a senior practicing judge or lawyer whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession. Candidates are nominated through circuit-wide open nominations and selected by a panel of representatives from both the circuit and the American Inns of Court Foundation.
Judge Bissell was the Chief Judge of the District of New Jersey, a position he held while guiding the court through enhanced security measures in the wake of the September 11 horrors and until his retirement in 2005. He was actively involved in community affairs and the Commission on Professionalism, established by the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Judge Bissell joined the firm in 2005 as Of Counsel and serves as Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution practice. He is also a member of the firm's Commercial Litigation practice group. As head of the firm's ADR department, Judge Bissell helps clients resolve commercial and other disputes more quickly and efficiently than can be accomplished through traditional litigation in the Courts. In addition to counseling clients in this area, Judge Bissell is available as an appointed arbitrator, mediator, and fact-finder in ADR matters.
Judge Bissell’s outstanding reputation is also demonstrated by the professional recognition he has been accorded. Previous honors include being a recipient of the 2005 John F. Gerry Memorial Award from the Camden County Bar Association; the 2005 Association of the Federal Bar of the District of New Jersey William J. Brennan, Jr. Award; the 1988 Princeton University Class of 1962 award for Distinguished Public Service; and the 1971 U.S. Attorney General's Meritorious Service Award. His work was recently recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Seton Hall University School of Law Public Interest Network. The American Inns of Court Foundation is America’s oldest, largest and fastest-growing mentoring organization.
The American Inns of Court includes over 25,000 federal, state and local judges, lawyers, law professors, and law students in some 350 chapters across the United States.