The Honorable Anselm Sodaro Judicial Civility Award
THE MARYLAND STATE BAR Association (MSBA) presents the Honorable Anselm Sodaro Judicial Civility Award annually to a sitting member of the Maryland bench who consistently models an exceptional judicial temperament, professional courtesy, profound civility to all litigants, attorneys, and staff who enter the courtroom. Judge Sodaro firmly believed that while a jurist must fiercely protect courtroom control and procedural order, it must always be executed in a manner that honors human dignity and avoids demeaning practitioners or public participants.
MSBA presented the 2025-2026 Sodaro Judicial Civility Award to The Honorable Dennis P. Robinson, Administrative Judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.
Since his appointment to the bench in 2016, and his elevation to administrative judge in 2023, Judge Robinson has been a transformative leader, implementing critical courthouse policies that streamline protective order dockets, and securing funding for an advanced jury assembly area that prioritizes the comfort and privacy of the public.
He is widely celebrated as one of the most intelligent, compassionate, and patient jurists in the State of Maryland. He approaches every matter with unwavering diligence and maintains an identical respectful demeanor toward everyone who enters his courtroom.
Whether engaging with a pro se litigant or a senior partner from a prestigious firm, Judge Robinson treats every regular citizen and seasoned lawyer with equal dignity, ensuring that everyone receives his full attention, careful consideration, and utmost respect.
MSBA Honors Commitments to Judicial Civility and Community Service
The Honorable Anselm Sodaro Judicial Civility Award
THE MARYLAND STATE BAR Association (MSBA) presents the Honorable Anselm Sodaro Judicial Civility Award annually to a sitting member of the Maryland bench who consistently models an exceptional judicial temperament, professional courtesy, profound civility to all litigants, attorneys, and staff who enter the courtroom. Judge Sodaro firmly believed that while a jurist must fiercely protect courtroom control and procedural order, it must always be executed in a manner that honors human dignity and avoids demeaning practitioners or public participants.
MSBA presented the 2025-2026 Sodaro Judicial Civility Award to The Honorable Dennis P. Robinson, Administrative Judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.
Since his appointment to the bench in 2016, and his elevation to administrative judge in 2023, Judge Robinson has been a transformative leader, implementing critical courthouse policies that streamline protective order dockets, and securing funding for an advanced jury assembly area that prioritizes the comfort and privacy of the public.
He is widely celebrated as one of the most intelligent, compassionate, and patient jurists in the State of Maryland. He approaches every matter with unwavering diligence and maintains an identical respectful demeanor toward everyone who enters his courtroom.
Whether engaging with a pro se litigant or a senior partner from a prestigious firm, Judge Robinson treats every regular citizen and seasoned lawyer with equal dignity, ensuring that everyone receives his full attention, careful consideration, and utmost respect.
Edward J. Gilliss Community Service Award
THE EDWARD J. GILLISS COMMUNITY SERVICE Award honors Gilliss’s extraordinary commitment to civic engagement. The Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) was a grateful beneficiary of much of Gilliss’s volunteer time and expertise over the years, including his leadership as a past president, and proudly created this award as an enduring remembrance. MSBA presents this award annually to an MSBA member who embodies the same spirit of dedication to community service that Gillis exemplified.
MSBA granted the 2025-2026 Edward J. Gilliss Community Service Award to Danielle Moore. Moore, an assistant public defender in Montgomery County, demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to bettering her community and serving others.
She has organized multi-county expungement clinics, coordinated coat drives for recently released offenders, and volunteered her expertise in areas like family law, foreclosure prevention, and estate planning for first responders. Moore, as the leader of the legal ministry at Clifton Park Baptist Church, spearheaded Know Your Rights and immigration panels. She has also coached high school debate and mock trial teams, helped fundraise for international STEAM camps, and created a mentorship pipeline for women law students of color.
Additionally, she has led workplace wellness sessions, founded an initiative to deliver care packages to the homeless, organized a lupus walk, coordinated an adopt-a-family holiday donation for survivors of domestic violence, and spearheaded a breast cancer awareness project that earned her the Franklyn Bourne Association Community Service Award.
Access to Justice Commission Awards
THE MARYLAND ACCESS TO JUSTICE COMMISSION (A2JC) proudly honored former chair Ward B. Coe III with the Access to Justice Legend Award, celebrating his unparalleled, lifelong dedication to civil justice. Driven by the conviction that legal representation is a fundamental right, Coe stands as the ultimate exemplar of an elite private practitioner who relentlessly pursues the public good. As the longtime leader of both A2JC and the Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Service, his visionary advocacy transcended individual cases to champion landmark statewide reforms, including expanded civil legal aid funding and Maryland's historic access to counsel in evictions program. Maryland Access to Justice Commission Grants Access to Justice
Maryland Access to Justice Commission Names Its Leadership Award After Its Retiring Chair
IN 2025, THE MARYLAND ACCESS TO JUSTICE Commission gave its inaugural Access to Justice Leadership Award to Senator Shellie Hettleman for her tremendous advocacy in securing additional funding for the access to counsel in evictions law. In 2026, to mark the exceptional service of its long-time chair, A2JC renamed its Leadership Award to the Ward B. Coe, III Access to Justice Leadership Award. In the future, this prestigious honor will be awarded to an extraordinary individual who makes a significant contribution to advancing civil justice for all in Maryland. Awardees will demonstrate a history of fearless advocacy for marginalized populations, a track record of driving systemic and structural legal reforms, visionary leadership in ensuring access to justice for all, and hold the highest levels of professional excellence and integrity.
In 2026, the Access to Justice Commission was proud to present the inaugural Ward B. Coe, III Access to Justice Leadership Award to Ama S. Frimpong, Legal Director at We Are CASA. Frimpong is a nationally recognized champion for immigrant justice who powerfully bridges high-stakes litigation and grassroots activism. Since joining the organization in 2022, she has spearheaded landmark constitutional challenges to defend temporary protected status and birthright citizenship, while leading successful efforts to dismantle local law enforcement collaboration with ICE. From her previous leadership protecting detained individuals at the CAIR Coalition to her
current role on the powerhouse legal team for Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s nationally significant worker-justice case, Frimpong has dedicated her career to turning courtroom battles into enduring systemic victories for Black, Brown, and immigrant communities. During the 2026 legislative session, she was a driving force in leading a coalition to abolish 287(g) Agreements and pass the Community Trust Act.
The Maryland Bar Foundation Honors Ward B. Coe, III with the H. Vernon Eney Endowment Fund Award
IN A COMPELLING INTRODUCTION, REENA SHAH, Executive Director of the Maryland Access to Justice Commission, presented the prestigious H. Vernon Eney Endowment Fund Award to Ward B. Coe, III, reflecting on their decade-long partnership and his transformational impact on the state's legal system. Shah highlighted Coe's extraordinary career milestones, including his pivotal investigation into the historic savings and loan crisis, his overhaul of Maryland's child welfare system through the landmark L.J. v. Massinga lawsuit, and his creation of the administrative framework that normalized the state’s 50-hour annual pro bono attorney target. She also praised his visionary leadership as A2JC chair, where he co-convened the COVID-19 Access to Justice Task Force to secure vital civil legal aid funding and champion statewide tenant rightto-counsel programs. Beyond these monumental systemic victories, Shah emphasized that what truly makes Coe deserving of the honor is his rare ability to be a "complete person in the law,” proving that an attorney can maintain an elite private practice while remaining a deeply compassionate, accessible mentor who treats legal representation as a fundamental right and lives a vibrant, purpose-driven life.