ACJF Honors Legal Pioneer

ACJF is proud to announce its 2009 Pioneer of Justice Honoree: Sen. Howell Heflin, a man who made a lasting effect on his community, his profession, this state and this nation.

The Pioneers of Justice Society honors the legacy of Alabama attorneys who revolutionized the justice system.  Through this special tribute, ACJF recognizes those who helped create a just and caring society to protect the rights of all people regardless of gender, socioeconomic status, religion or race.

As an attorney, Sen. Heflin had many accomplishments such as being President of the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association as well as President of the Alabama Bar Association.  In his many years of public service as a World War II Veteran, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and his esteemed service in the U.S. Senate, he was a man of great principle who believed in bipartisanship and cared deeply about the condition of all people.

His varied successes include his work in judicial reform on the state level.  His judicial reform package, the Judicial Article, restructured Alabama’s court system, and his work has served as a model for court reform in other states.  While in the Senate, he served on the Senate Judiciary Committee and helped to bring about significant reform to the federal judiciary.

The Pioneers of Justice Fund, a perpetual fund, helps ACJF continue as a philanthropic leader in the state to assist Alabama nonprofit organizations—especially during periods of waning income from the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts Program.  Additionally, it enables the Foundation to protect the poor whose circumstances dictate the need for legal assistance as well as invest in strategies that have a real impact on communities, seniors, families and children.

Charter Members of the Pioneers of Justice Society are J. Greg Allen, Leon Ashford, Jere Beasley, Toby D. Brown, Andrew T. Citrin, Ralph D. Cook, Michael J. Crow, Edgar C. Gentle, Randy S. Haynes, Stephen D. Heninger, R. Ben Hogan, III, John Higginbotham, James R. Knight, Tom Methvin, W. Daniel Miles, George Allen Moore, Robert Leslie Palmer, Bob Prince, Robert Roden, Herman Watson, Jr. and Leila H. Watson.

For more information about the Pioneers of Justice Society, contact ACJF at info@acjf.org.