Each year at its Gala Dinner, the Washington Foreign Law Society (WFLS) recognizes a distinguished individual associated with the Washington professional community whose efforts and involvement in the development of international law exemplify the spirit of Harry LeRoy Jones (1895-1986).
About Harry LeRoy Jones
Throughout his distinguished legal career, Mr. Jones worked to promote understanding of international law. He was a founder of the 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.
Mr. Jones 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.
Harry LeRoy Jones Award Nomination Process
Nominations may be submitted by WFLS members-in-good-standing, either via mail or email. Please include the following materials to make a nomination:
- Cover letter
- Nominee’s Resume
- Supporting Material (optional)
Supporting material may include news or magazine articles written by or about the candidate, letters of support from individuals or organizations, or additional biographic information.
Past Recipients of WFLS Harry LeRoy Jones Award
- Ambassador Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative
- Meg Kinnear, Vice President of The World Bank Group and Secretary-General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
- Benjamin B. Ferencz, former chief prosecutor for the U.S. in the Einsatzgruppen Case of the Nuremberg Trials
- Homer E. Moyer, Jr., Miller & Chevalier and co-founder and chair for 12 years of the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI)
- Professor John G. Ruggie, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
- Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF
- Senator George J. Mitchell
- William H. Neukom, Founder, President and CEO of the World Justice Project
- Senator Richard G. Lugar
- William Howard Taft, IV and the Memory of Julia V. Taft
- Secretary James A. Baker, III
- Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke
- Justice Stephen G. Breyer
- Dr. Peter Eigen, Transparency International
- Ambassador Jeanne J. Kirkpatrick
- Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
- Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering
- Stuart E. Eizenstat, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury
- Dr. Claudio Grossman, Dean, Washington College of Law, American University
- Dr. Ibrahim F. I. Shihata (1937 – 2001), Former General Counsel, World Bank
- Carla A. Hills, Former U.S. Trade Representative
- Roberts B. Owen, Former Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State
- Bruno A. Ristau, Former Director of the Office of Foreign Litigation, U.S. Department of Justice
- Prof. Don Wallace, Jr., Chairman, International Law Institute
- Prof. Thomas Buergenthal, George Washington College of Law, Member of the International Court of Justice
