Judge Carl E. Stewart to Receive the 2021 American Inns of Court A. Sherman Christensen Award

Judge Carl E. Stewart has been selected to receive the prestigious 2021 American Inns of Court A. Sherman Christensen Award, which recognizes those who have provided exceptional leadership to the American Inns of Court movement. Stewart will receive the award at the annual Celebration of Excellence held at the Supreme Court of the United States on April 2, 2022, which has been postponed due to the pandemic.

A judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit since 1994 and chief judge between 2012 and 2019, Stewart has found time to be an ambassador for the American Inns of Court movement at the local, national, and international levels. “Judge Stewart is the whole package,” says Chief Judge Barbara Lynn of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, who nominated Stewart for the award. “He is firmly dedicated to the work of the American Inns of Court and has served it in various capacities, culminating in his service as our president.”

Stewart began his work with the American Inns of Court Foundation Board of Trustees in 2003, rising to become vice president in 2010 and then president from 2014 to 2018. During his term as president, Stewart oversaw the challenging process of developing a strategic plan to help chart the organization’s future. He now chairs the Awards Committee.

At the local level, Stewart has promoted the American Inns of Court by speaking to more than 50 inns around the country while president. He also encouraged and supported the formation of the George A. McAlmon American Inn of Court in El Paso, Texas, and presented the Inn with its charter in 2015. In gratitude, the Inn awards the Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart Outstanding Jurist Award each year. Stewart himself is a charter member of the Harry V. Booth-Henry A. Politz American Inn of Court in Shreveport, Louisiana, and has been an active member for three decades.

Stewart has also promoted the American Inns of Court internationally, encouraging close collaboration with the English legal community. He has led several “amity” visits to English Inns of Court, accompanied Temple Bar Scholars to London, and represented the American Inns of Court at the Magna Carta 800^th Anniversary ceremony in England. The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple gave him the high honor of making him an honorary master of the bench.

The American Inns of Court, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, inspires the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring. The organization’s membership includes nearly 30,000 federal, state, and local judges; lawyers; law professors; and law students in nearly 370 chapters nationwide. More information is available at www.innsofcourt.org.

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