Steven M. Edwards, Esquire

2020 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Second Circuit

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA–The late Steven M. Edwards has been selected to receive the prestigious 2020 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Second Circuit. Edwards was counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.

“Mr. Edwards was an active practitioner, combining his full-time law practice with his vigorous pursuit of justice and fairness in numerous pro bono and charitable endeavors,” says Frank H. Wohl, Esquire, of Lankler Siffert & Wohl LLP, who nominated Edwards for the award. “I hope that his untimely falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic will not deprive his family, members of the New York legal community, and the American Inn of Court of this very fitting and inspiring recognition.”

Edwards began his career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP before starting Davis Weber & Edwards in 1980. The firm later merged with Hogan & Hartson, which then became Hogan Lovells. He was a partner and head of the litigation group there until joining Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in 2016. Edwards served as president of the Federal Bar Council from 1998 to 2000. He was a founding member of the Federal Bar Council American Inn of Court and served as president from 2006 to 2007. He was also founder and editor emeritus of the Federal Bar Council News.

Edwards was deeply committed to public service. For 20 years, he served as president and board member of Nazareth Housing, which provides housing and other services to New York’s most vulnerable residents. In 2014, he served as lead pro bono counsel representing residents of the New York City Housing Authority in their quest for safer living conditions, service that earned him the Champion of Justice Award from the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. In 2008, Edwards received the Federal Bar Council’s Whitney North Seymour Award for outstanding public service by a private practitioner. 

Edwards was also an avid musician who was inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also served on the boards of the Jazz Foundation of America and Music on the Inside, which brings music inside prisons. Edwards also raised money for charitable causes by performing with Law Rocks.

Edwards earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an editor of the Law Review and elected to the Order of the Coif.