ABOUT Harry LeRoy Jones Award

Throughout his distinguished legal career, Harry LeRoy Jones (1895 – 1986) worked to promote understanding of international law. He was a founder of the Washington Foreign Law Society (WFLS) in 1952 and served as its President from 1977 through 1978. 

Mr. Jones had a profound and lasting impact on a number of institutions dedicated to international law and scholarship, including the American Society of International Law, as a member of the Executive Council; the Inter-American Bar Association, as Chair of the International Judicial Procedure section; the American Bar Association, as Chair of the International and Comparative Law section; the International Lawyer, as a member of the Board of Editors; the Commission on International Rules of Judicial Procedure, as director; and the World Association of Judges, as executive director. He was also a dedicated teacher, serving as a lecturer at Northwestern University's School of Law, as an adviser to Harvard on international legal research issues, as a consultant on international procedure at Columbia Law School, and as a visiting lecturer overseas. Mr. Jones participated in private practice and in government service, most notably as Chief Attorney and later Chief Hearing Examiner in the Justice Department's Office of Alien Property.

Each year at its Gala Dinner, the WFLS recognizes a distinguished individual associated with the Washington professional community whose efforts and involvement in the development of international law exemplify the spirit with which Mr. Jones approached his practice.