NCSC Selects Four Legal Professionals

Induction Recognizes Commitment to National Nonprofit Court Reform Organization

Williamsburg, Va. (Nov. 16, 2009) — The National Center for State Courts will induct four members into the Warren E. Burger Society during its Annual Recognition Luncheon on Friday, Nov. 20. The luncheon, which will be held at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C., will be hosted by Utah Chief Justice Christine M. Durham, chair of NCSC’s Board of Directors.

The Warren E. Burger Society honors individuals who have volunteered their time, talent, and support to the National Center in exceptional ways. It is named for the former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court who helped found the NCSC in 1971.

This year’s Burger Society inductees include two attorneys in private practice, a circuit court judge, and a state court administrator, all of whom have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to improving the administration of justice through their service and support to the National Center.

 The 2009 inductees are:

•  Michael A. Cooper, of counsel with the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
•  Robert L. Haig, a partner with the New York office of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
•  Judge Gayle A. Nachtigal of the Circuit Court of Washington County, Ore.
•  William C. Vickrey, administrative director of the California courts

Burger Society inductees are selected by a committee chaired by Texas attorney Charles M. Noteboom, who commissioned a portrait of Chief Justice Burger that hangs in the National Center’s headquarters in Williamsburg, Va. Each inductee receives a limited edition of that portrait, which is signed and numbered by the artist, Fran Di Giacomo.

There are 1,986 prints of the portrait, the first two of which are owned by the Chief Justice’s children and the last of which was owned by the late U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who took his oath from the retiring Chief Justice Burger in 1986.

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. Founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, NCSC provides education, training, technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts.