Help Us Endow
The American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the 
Fifth Circuit

In Honor of
James E. Coleman Jr.

The first American Inns of Court Circuit Professionalism Award, for any circuit, was presented to James E. Coleman Jr. by Chief Judge Henry A. Politz at the 1996 Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference, before an audience  including three United States Supreme Court Justices  and hundreds of lawyers and judges.

The American Inns of Court Circuit Professionalism Awards recognize lawyers and judges whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession and the rule of law.  As Judge Patrick Higginbotham has noted, the American Inns of Court Professionalism Awards were created to communicate the importance of the ideals of civility and professionalism by honoring lawyers and judges who walked the walk and talked the talk in each federal circuit across the nation.

Jim Coleman set the bar for the American Inns of Court Professionalism Awards.  Universally respected across the bench and bar, Jim was widely known as a lawyer’s lawyer, a masterful advocate, and a man of larger-than-life reputation—who strove for fairness, civility, and principled advocacy in every case and in his personal life.

In the years since Jim received the first American Inns of Court Professionalism Award, more than 165 lawyers and judges have been recognized across twelve federal circuits with a public presentation of the award at the Circuit Judicial Conference or separate Court sponsored event.  

Sadly, Jim Coleman passed away on February 22, 2020. Mr. Coleman set the standard, and we want to recognize him by fully endowing the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award in the Fifth Circuit in his honor, to be renamed the American Inns of Court James E. Coleman Jr. Professionalism Award in the Fifth Circuit.