Fred Bartmon receives Marshall Award

The Thurgood Marshall Award was established by the Committee for Public Counsel Services in 1994 to honor a person who champions the cause of zealous representation for the poor and the right to effective assistance of counsel for all.

Attorney Fred Bartmon of Allison, Angier & Bartmon, LLP, was named as the 2010 recipient.

Following is the transcription of the presentation of the award at the Committee for Public Counsel Services' annual conference in Worcester:

It is unusual for a lawyer to be nominated in the same year for not just one CPCS award but for three; it is even more unusual when that lawyer is nominated by such a broad spectrum of the CPCS community.  Fred Bartmon has been nominated by the Administrator of the Hampshire County Bar Advocate Program, by several private assigned counsel in Western Massachusetts, by a local public defender, by a representative of the Private Counsel Division in Boston, and by one wise judge.

Fred Bartmon well deserves this widespread acclaim, for he has earned it.  He has been the Staff Attorney for the Hampshire Bar Advocate Program since January of 2004.  He has revitalized the program by offering trainings which are numerous in quantity and impressive in quality; so impressive that they attract attorneys, both private counsel and public defenders, from the four Western Massachusetts  counties.  Fred has also made himself available for supervision of attorneys.  It is notable that among those who have attested to the quality of his supervision are an attorney who has 25 years' experience and one with less than a year's experience.  Most importantly, perhaps, Fred inspires lawyers.  Here is how his impact has been described by Attorney Malcolm Smith:

"Fred is inspiring.  He has a passion for what we do... He reminds us of our ideals.   I always leave his trainings feeling cheered.  And I always learn, or re-learn, something valuable. "

For his transformative work in improving the quality of indigent defense representation in Hampshire County and Western Massachusetts, Fred Bartmon is the highly deserving winner of the 2010 CPCS Thurgood Marshall Award.