NEWS RELEASE

The National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue · Williamsburg, Virginia  23185

Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525 or lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us 

Sylvia Walbolt Joins Lawyers Committee
 of National Court Reform Organization

Williamsburg, VA (Feb. 24, 2004) – Sylvia Walbolt of Carlton Fields has joined the National Center for State Courts’ Lawyers Committee, which involves prominent practicing attorneys in the National Center’s work and programs. Committee members serve in a leadership role with a commitment to support the National Center’s mission to actively participate in outreach to the bar and the legal community, and to encourage support for the National Center’s programs and initiatives. Inaugural meetings were held recently in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco in conjunction with the midyear meeting of the Conference of Chief Justices.

Walbolt, chair of Carlton Fields’ Board of Directors and its Appellate Practice Group, specializes in federal and state appeals in all areas including tort, products liability, commercial, constitutional, and employment litigation. A charter member of the Florida Bar, Walbolt was named one the top 10 women litigators by the National Law Journal in 2001. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a past president of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. She received the Herbert G. Goldburg Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 1998, recognizing professionalism, ethics and devotion to the practice of law, and she was the first woman recipient of the 2003 George C. Carr Memorial Award. Named after the late Judge Carr, it is the highest award presented by the Federal Bar Association’s Tampa Bay Chapter. The award recognizes excellence in federal practice and distinguished service to the federal bar.

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a non-profit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. The National Center, founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, provides education, training, and technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts. The National Center also is taking the lead on several key issues facing the justice system. For example, it has established a major civil justice initiative, a multi-year project that is examining best practices in civil case management and how complex litigation procedures can be improved. Other national initiatives being driven by the National Center include judicial selection reform and increasing citizen participation in jury service.

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