Awards
2024 Awards Series
Award Process
Through our award series, the Federation of Ontario Law Associations (FOLA) recognizes exceptional contributions and leadership by members and staff of Ontario’s county and district law associations.
Award recipients are typically announced at FOLA’s November plenary and presented at a future event held by the local law association.
Nominations are accepted until September 30, 2024. The nomination form is available here and, when completed, it is to be submitted to kelly.lovell@fola.ca.
Award Eligibility Criteria
The Emerging Leader Award
The Emerging Leader Award recognizes a recently-called licensee of the Law Society of Ontario who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and made exemplary contributions to their county or district law association.
To be eligible for this award, nominees must have been called to the bar or licensed as a paralegal in Ontario for at least 5 years as of December 31, 2024.
To be selected for this award, the nomination must demonstrate or explain how the nominee has:
- Made exceptional volunteer contributions of time, effort, leadership, advocacy, and/or skill to their county and district law association; and/or
- Made notable contributions to programming or initiatives of the local law association, the local law library, or the local legal community or justice system.
The Luminary Award
The Luminary Award recognizes the exceptional contributions of law association staff to the functioning of their local law library, their law association, and local justice system.
To be eligible for this award, nominees must be an employee of a county or district law association in Ontario (full-time employees, part-time employees, and contract staff are all eligible).
To be selected for this award, the nomination must demonstrate or explain how the nominee has:
- Shown leadership, creativity, competence, and commitment to the professional growth of the local law association’s members;
- Demonstrated vision and driven initiatives to improve the operations or services of the library or the local law association;
- Spearheaded a large communications or programming initiative that achieved law association goals; and/or
- Provided significant assistance on a major local fundraising or advocacy campaign that supported the law association or local legal community.
The Presidents’ Award
The Presidents’ Award recognizes a long-serving member of a county or district law association who has made outstanding contributions to their association and/or to the community or profession.
To be eligible for this award, nominees must be a long-serving member or a past executive member (such as a president, committee chair, director, or trustee) of a county or district law association in Ontario. Current law association executive members are not eligible. To be selected for this award, the nomination must demonstrate or explain how the nominee has:
- Demonstrated leadership, creativity, competence, and commitment to professional growth through their work for their county or district law association;
- Shown outstanding leadership and innovation in improving membership recruitment, renewals, and/or engagement;
- Demonstrated leadership in the creation or improvement of programming, advocacy, or initiatives of their local law association or law library;
- Shown leadership in the creation or improvement of community engagement, justice sector outreach, and/or charitable initiatives on behalf of their local law association or their profession more broadly;
- Significantly raised the profile or awareness of their local law library (which may be evidenced through media, public investments, or membership growth); and/or
- Demonstrated leadership through a successful fundraising campaign for the benefit of the law association, the law library, or a charitable or non-profit cause related to their local justice sector.