Awards & Recognition

Ambassador Excellence Award

If you’re a mentee who has grown under your ambassador’s leadership, we want to hear from you!  

Mentees can nominate their ambassador for the Ambassador Excellence Award. This award recognizes members who have provided an exceptional mentorship experience to an ALA member through the ALA Ambassador Program. 

What qualities do these ambassadors embody?

They’re enthusiastic and welcoming members of ALA who help new members feel comfortable. They enjoy both sharing and gaining knowledge and understand, embrace and articulate the value of belonging to ALA. The ambassador is well-versed in the Association’s products, services and opportunities available to members, which enables them to provide guidance and direction to address new members’ needs.    

If this sounds like your ambassador, nominate them today! You’ll provide an essay of up to 500 words that details how your ambassador has demonstrated positive influence over your career trajectory and involvement with ALA and its resources.  

Eligibility

To be considered for the Ambassador Excellence Award, a candidate must:

• Be nominated by a mentee.
• Have participated as an ambassador in the Membership Ambassador program.

Evaluation Criteria

The task force tasked with reviewing entries will use the Ambassador Excellence Award Criteria to evaluate each submission.

Chapter Award Criteria and Guidelines

Eligibility
All ALA chapters are eligible to be nominated.

Evaluation Criteria
The task force tasked with reviewing entries will use Chapter Awards Criteria (2024) to evaluate each submission.

Elevate ALA Award Criteria and Guidelines

The Elevate ALA Award recognizes up to three recipients whose efforts in professional development, networking, visibility and inclusion are exemplary. These efforts should demonstrate advancement in the following areas:

• Professional development content
• Relationships between legal management professionals and their peers, as well as legal management professionals and business partners
• ALA’s prominence in the legal community
• Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA)

A written submission (essay), no more than 1,000 words in length, is required. The submission must address all four areas outlined below (professional development, networking, visibility and DEIA).

Support materials that directly relate to the written narrative may be included. Support materials or samples not referenced in the essay will not be considered. Please limit support materials to 10 pages.

Section One: Professional Development
This section must describe how the applicant has elevated educational and career development content as it relates to legal management professionals. Details of any resources committed to elevating the professional development content should be provided. Consider addressing the following:

• The percentage of annual revenues used for overall education
• A complete listing of all education offered, including:
  • The date offered
  • Title/topic
  • Speaker
  • Length of program
  • Resources used
    • I.e.: Speaker fees and costs, member time spent planning and organizing the session, specifics about how the educational offering was promoted
• Details on all scholarships/stipends awarded to ALA members to further their professional development, including:
  • A description of the criteria used for awarding the scholarship/stipend.
  • The impact on the recipients’ engagement with ALA.
  • Whether any assistance is offered to those taking the Certified Legal Manager (CLM)^® exam.

Section Two: Networking
This section must describe how the applicant has elevated relationships among legal management professionals and their peers, as well as legal management professionals and business partners. Consider addressing the following:

• Details on any events held specifically to strengthen the relationships between legal management professionals.
• Details of all initiatives/events with business partners that strengthened relationships between ALA, the applicant and the business partners.
• Describe any impact it has had on the legal management professionals’ and business partners’ perceived value of ALA.

Section Three: Visibility
This section must describe any initiatives the organization or individual has undertaken to elevate the visibility of ALA in the legal community. Consider addressing the following:

• Details on specific programs/events along with audiences reached and potential return on investment (ROI). (This may include participating/attendance at state bar events, strategic alliances, speaking engagements outside ALA, marketing campaigns in publications, social media, etc.)
  
• Details on how the applicant has elevated the recognition of ALA members, volunteers, CLMs and business partners within the legal community.

Section Four: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA)
This section must describe any initiatives the organization or individual has undertaken to elevate DEIA within the organization and in the legal community. Consider addressing the following:

• Details on how initiatives undertaken by the applicant foster collaborative experiences and opportunities that remove barriers for underrepresented members of the legal community.
• Details on how initiatives undertaken by the applicant increase awareness of and sensitivity to the differences within the legal community and advance the concept of inclusivity and acceptance.

Eligibility
Any ALA chapter, individual, law firm, legal department, business partner or other organization in the legal community is welcome to apply. All applicants must be in good standing with ALA to be eligible for this recognition. Only one entry will be accepted per applicant. The activities in the submission must have occurred during the 2025 calendar year.

Evaluation Criteria
The ALA Awards Project Team will use Elevate ALA Award Score Sheet to evaluate each submission.

The Foundation Heart of ALA Award

The Foundation Heart of ALA Award recognizes up to two ALA members whose volunteer contributions (outside of volunteer work for ALA) promote and/or embody the Foundation’s mission to educate, mentor and inspire people in inclusive ways. Eligible members nominated for the Foundation Heart of ALA Award are making meaningful contributions in their community through time, actions and dedication, and are consistently creating opportunities that touch lives.  

An essay of support with no more than 1,000 words is required. The submission must identify the degree to which the members’ volunteer service and leadership qualities have made a meaningful contribution to strengthen the organization. Special leadership qualities may include the ability to achieve outcomes related to the number of people impacted, measurable change and challenges that were overcome. 

Evidence of the applicant’s/nominee’s involvement as a volunteer in the organization is required. (Examples of these include name and contact information of an officer or other volunteer of the organization, reports, articles, social media posts, photos and/or documentation showing their involvement.) 

Eligibility

No further criteria are required for this award, although the selection will be made based on the following considerations:

1. Length and degree of volunteer service.
2. Number of people impacted.
3. Extent to which the nominee’s actions are considered above and beyond.
4. Extent to which the nominee’s actions are valued and recognized by their peers/community leaders.
5. Documented measurable outcomes, such as articles and reports. 

NextGen Leader Award Criteria and Guidelines

The NextGen Leader Award recognizes up to five members per year that embody the essence of the ALA Code of Ethics through their accomplishments, their leadership qualities and the impact they are making on their legal organization, the legal industry and the Association.

Recipients of the NextGen Leader Award demonstrate conviction, dedication and relentless pursuit of personal and professional excellence through their engagement, advancement and influence in early interactions with the Association of Legal Administrators. Examples of this impact may include volunteering to support an initiative, activity, or event-related program or project at the ALA chapter or international level; joining a committee or task force; serving as a chapter officer; recruiting new members; or introducing innovative new ideas to elevate the visibility and relevancy of the Association at the chapter and/or international level.

Eligibility
To be considered for the NextGen Leader Award, a candidate must:

• Be an ALA member in good standing.
• Be a first-time member of ALA (not someone who has rejoined).
• Have been a member for more than one but less than five years.
• New to legal management, new to the legal industry or under the age of 40 at the time of nomination.

Evaluation Criteria
The task force tasked with reviewing entries will use established criteria to evaluate each submission.

Outstanding Association Volunteer Award

The recipient of the Outstanding Association Volunteer Award is one who has been recognized for either service on particular projects or on continuous/ongoing volunteer efforts. Generally, the recipient’s service or efforts are at the international level.

Eligibility
Any ALA member in good standing is eligible for the Outstanding Association Volunteer Award.

Evaluation Criteria
No further criteria are required.  

Spirit of ALA Award

Often considered ALA’s “lifetime achievement” award, the Spirit of ALA Award is presented to those whose commitment to professionalism, dedication to the advancement of the legal management profession and record of long-term service to ALA sets the standard for all who aspire to achieve excellence and success.  

While many ALA members contribute tremendous amounts of time and effort to the growth of the legal management profession and the success of ALA, recipients of the Spirit of ALA Award are individuals who have demonstrated all of the following in extraordinary, consistent and significant measure:

1. An unswerving commitment to professionalism. This is defined through a career exemplifying the highest standards of personal conduct; a record of fairness, equality and courage in dealing with employees, lawyers and other legal management professionals; and a clear recognition by one’s peers as being a model for others and a standard-setter in the profession. 
2. Exceptional dedication to the advancement of law firm administration as demonstrated by teaching and writing activities; mentoring and counseling of others; participation in activities promoting the credibility of the profession; community and civic service; development of new approaches and techniques; or other activities contributing to the knowledge, skills and abilities of individual legal management professionals and/or to the profession as a whole.
3. A record of service to the Association of Legal Administrators that far exceeds normal expectations and also provides a model and inspiration for participation and involvement by others. Such a record will be demonstrated by successful leadership and service (a) over an extended period of time in (b) a number of different positions or capacities at (c) various local, national or international levels. 

An essay up to 1,000 words is required, as well as a list of references who can speak to the work and character of the nominee.  

Eligibility
Any ALA member in good standing is eligible for the Spirit of ALA Award.

Evaluation Criteria
No further criteria are required.