BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

The National Bar Association (NBA) will host its Annual Mid-Year Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Tampa April 19th through April 22nd. Several local attorneys and judges will be among the award recipients.

Attorney Carolyn House Stewart (pictured) is an award designee of the Gertrude E. Rush Award. She is a shareholder MacFarlane Ferguson & McMullen and is the newly appointed Cooley Law School Professor. She is also the International President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Attorney House Stewart lives and practices in Tampa.

The Honorable Mary S. Scriven was the first African American woman to serve in any capacity on the federal court in the State of Florida. She is the second African American woman to serve on the federal court in the Eleventh Circuit.  She was appointed as a U. S. District Judge for the Middle District of Florida in 2008.

Judge Scriven will receive the Gertrude E. Rush award.

The Honorable Karla Foreman Wright joined the Florida Bar in 1984. Judge Wright was appointed to the Polk County Court Bench, Tenth Judicial Circuit in 2000. She was elevated to the Circuit Court, where she became the first African American judge. She resides in Bartow.

Judge Wright will receive the Gertrude E. Rush award.

The Honorable Alice Bonner has the distinction of never missing a National Bar Association Convention since 1971. In 2008, she was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame during its 83rd Annual Convention and Exhibits in Houston, Texas. Judge Bonner was the first Black female judge appointed in Houston, Texas.

Judge Bonner will receive the Gertrude E. Rush award.

Attorney Marilyn Holifield moved to Tampa and accepted a position with a local law firm in 1981. Five years later, she was named a partner in the Chesterfield Smith law firm in Miami. She has received several honors and forms of recognition and is consistently listed as a top lawyer in Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, and Super Lawyers.

Attorney Holifield will receive the Gertrude E. Rush award.

Attorney Bishop C. Holifield is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Tallahassee, and served as the General Counsel of Florida A & M University for 26 of his 30 years in practice. He was also the founding General Counsel, of Florida A & M University, School of Law.

Attorney Holifield is retired and manages a farm in Gadsden County. However, he handles select legal cases. Attorney Holifield will receive the Gertrude E. Rush award.

Tony Dungy is a former head football coach in the National Football League and a New York Times Best Selling author.

Dungy, who served as the head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, retired coach for the Indianapolis Colts. During his seven years leading the Colts, he became the first African American coach to win a Super Bowl. He was also one of the most respected and popular NFL coaches in the league. Dungy will receive the Gertrude E. Rush award.

Attorney Lansing Scriven is a partner in the Commercial Litigation Group of the national law firm, Quarles & Brady LLP. He concentrates on business litigation, and has been selected by his peers as a member of Florida Trend magazine’s Legal Elite.

Attorney Scriven is a native of Jacksonville. He lives and practices in Tampa. Attorney Scriven will receive the Herman Marion Sweatt Award.

Attorney Grady C. Irvin, Jr., is the founding member of the Irvin Law Firm, based in Tampa. In 1992, Attorney Irvin was the only African American in a class of 104 students to graduate from Stetson University, College of Law.

He was also one of the ceremony’s most decorated members including his selection by the law school’s faculty to receive its honor as that member of the graduating class expected to make a legal contribution of national significance. He has also worked with several notable firms in the bay area. Attorney Irvin will receive the Herman Marion Sweatt Award.

Attorney Larry D. Hardaway is a native of Winter Haven. His “firsts” include becoming the first African American to be President of the Senior Class at Winter Haven High School, and to be nominated Governor for Boy’s State in 1971.

Attorney Hardaway currently practices Personal Injury Law and Criminal Law in the firm of Larry D. Hardaway & Associates in Lakeland. Attorney Hardaway will receive the Herman Marion Sweatt Award.

Attorney Daryl D. Parks is the national president. Tampa lawyers, Warren H. Dawson and Arthenia Joyner have both served as NBA Presidents.