Susan M. Holden - Press

Holden accepts award on behalf of MSBA

August 4, 2006 - Minnesota Lawyer

Minneapolis attorney Susan Holden, past president of the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), was in Hawaii last week to accept a prestigious award the bar group earned for its efforts to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The Harrison Tweed Award — given by the American Bar Association (ABA) to the MSBA’s Katrina relief campaign — was presented at the ABA’s annual meeting in Hawaii Aug. 4. The Baton Rouge Bar Association was also selected for the 2006 Tweed award.

The MSBA was nominated for the award by Gulf Coast bar and legal services groups that benefited from the three-pronged effort that raised more than $420,000 and three truckloads of furniture to provide relief to legal services communities and clients in areas of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. The MSBA efforts focused on fundraising, delivery of legal services and rebuilding the legal infrastructure.

The Harrison Tweed Award recognizes the extraordinary achievements of state and local bar associations that develop or significantly expand projects or programs to increase access to civil legal services for poor persons or criminal defense services for indigents. The award, given annually by the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, is presented during the ABA Annual Meeting at a joint luncheon of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, National Association of Bar Executives, and National Conference of Bar Foundations.