Professor Bennett Gershman Receives the Sanford D. Levy Professional Ethics Award from the New York State Bar Association

Professor Bennett Gershman has received the Sanford D. Levy Professional Ethics Award from the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics. The Award was presented at a virtual ceremony on February 17.

“We honor Professor Gershman for his lifetime of work in the area of legal ethics, including a long list of books and law review articles, with a special emphasis on prosecutorial ethics in New York,” said Richard Hamburger, chair of NYSBA’s Committee on Professional Ethics.

At the ceremony, Professor Gershman discussed how lawyers allowed former President Donald Trump to undercut the rule of law and constitutional rights, and engage in conduct destructive of democracy.

“A leader cannot subvert the rule of law without lawyers,” Prof. Gershman said. “Our democracy is especially fragile and needs to be protected.”

The Levy Award was established in 1981 by a bequest of a former chair of the Committee on Professional Ethics. The committee presents the award annually to an individual or institution that has significantly contributed to the understanding of professional ethics by the publication of an article, commentary or series of articles or commentaries on the subject.

View the video of the presentation here, https://nysba.zoom.us/rec/play/2c4LJ6896iHl4c05irt73Wlju0ZRfOJJjIHdKM0N0RFlX-GY2ZSpN8y3IQV9XBrTmlzh71XjWtRV5BYN.7sXcyo2xsGdx6V-x?continueMode=true