Justice Marla Luckert receives Warren W. Shaw Distinguished Service Award

TOPEKA—Justice Marla Luckert became the third Kansas Supreme Court justice to receive the Warren W. Shaw Distinguished Service Award when it was presented to her by the Topeka Bar Association at the group’s annual meeting April 9.

The first time the award was presented, it was to retired Chief Justice David Prager in 1996. Chief Justice Kay McFarland received the award in 2008.

“I am grateful to the Topeka Bar Association membership for this honor and flattered to join rank with the distinguished group who received this award before me,” said Luckert.

The Topeka Bar Association presents the Warren W. Shaw Distinguished Service Award to recognize a lawyer or judge for exemplary service to the legal profession and to the association. A recipient must devote time to a law-related project with accomplishments above and beyond what is expected, or have made a significant contribution to the goals of the legal profession, the Topeka Bar Association, or the public.

This is the second award presented to Luckert by the Topeka Bar Association. She received the Honorable E. Newton Vickers Professionalism Award in 2004 for exemplifying high standards in the legal professionalism.

Luckert is a 1980 graduate of the Washburn University School of Law. She was appointed to the Third Judicial District Court by Gov. Joan Finney in 1992 and to the Kansas Supreme Court by Gov. Bill Graves in 2003.

Luckert served as president of the Kansas Bar Association, the Topeka Bar Association, the Kansas District Judges Association, the Kansas Women Attorneys Association, the Sam A. Crow Inn of Court, and the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka.

Her involvement with the Topeka Bar Association includes serving as chair of their publications and Law Day committees. She also served on several other committees, including alternative dispute resolution, continuing legal education, medical-legal, bench-bar, young lawyer, family law, and naturalization.