Washington, D.C., June 29, 2012 – The American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence has selected attorney Loretta Frederick as the recipient of the 2012 Sharon L. Corbitt Award.  The ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence created this award in 2008 to recognize service by lawyers from all areas of practice, including non-profits, large firms, solo practitioners, corporate counsel and judges who demonstrate exemplary service to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and/or stalking, in the spirit of Sharon L. Corbitt.

Corbitt was an active member of the ABA for 25 years, serving as a member of the Commission on Domestic Violence (the previous name of the Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence) from 2002-2005 after completing her term as chair of the association’s Family Law Section.  In honor of her exemplary professional and personal contributions to victims of domestic violence throughout her career, this award will recognize a lawyer each year that embodies her spirit and dedication.

Frederick serves as senior legal and policy advisor for the Battered Women’s Justice Project, a national resource center on domestic violence legal issues. She is past chair of the Family Law Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association and of its Domestic Abuse Committee.

Since 1978 when Frederick began her work as an attorney representing battered women for Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services and co-founded the Women’s Resource Center of Winona, she has worked to improve the legal system’s response to domestic violence.  Her efforts have involved legal consultation, training and assistance with litigation and policy development on domestic violence issues in the U.S. and internationally.  Frederick founded and directed the Battered Women’s Legal Advocacy Project, which provides such help to Minnesota advocates and legal system professionals.

She served for years on the Minnesota Supreme Court’s Gender Fairness Implementation Committee and on the faculties of the Minnesota Judicial College and the Family Law for the Judiciary educational programs. In addition, Frederick serves on the steering committee and as a faculty member for the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence.

Frederick assisted in drafting the Model State Code on Domestic and Family Violence in conjunction with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and serves on the steering committee to NCJFCJ’s Family Violence Department.  She served for three years as a consultant for the U.S. Marine Corps on the development of its coordinated community response to domestic violence.

Frederick’s work has included assisting non-governmental organizations and governments in improving their legal system’s handling of domestic violence cases in many regions around the world, including with the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative in China.

The award ceremony and reception is co-hosted by the ABA Section on Family Law and Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP.  The reception will take place Friday, Aug. 3, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., during the ABA’s Annual Meeting, at the offices of Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck, LLP, 200 N. LaSalle St., 30th Fl., Chicago.

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