Minneapolis (5-25-01): -- To a standing ovation at the Hennepin County Bar Association’s annual meeting on May 24, Clinton Schroeder, partner with Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett, P.A., received the 2001 Professionalism Award. The association gives the award annually to a member of the bench or bar who best exemplifies the pursuit of the practice of law as a profession, including a spirit of public service and promotion of the highest possible level of competence, integrity and ethical conduct. The Professionalism Award is granted in the belief that professionalism serves the best interests of clients, fosters respect and trust between lawyers and the public, promotes the efficient resolution of disputes, and improves the administration of justice.

A 1955 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, Schroeder is an experienced tax lawyer, bar association leader, and educator. He is a past president of both the Minnesota State and Hennepin County bar associations, a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a former member of the ABA House of Delegates, former chairperson of Tax Section of Minnesota State Bar Association and current vice-chair of the American Council on Gift Annuities. He chairs his firm’s tax department and has been a frequent seminar chair and speaker at tax institutes both locally and nationally.

Schroeder is also very active in community organizations and is a past chair of the board of the Minneapolis Foundation and Fairview Hospital and HealthCare. Since 1982 he has served as vice-chair of Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company. He was recently honored for his support of legal services for the poor in Minnesota by the Fund for the Legal Aid Society. Schroeder has spent more than 30 years directly representing the poor and providing leadership in the legal community to fund legal services. While MSBA president, he helped create and then successfully promoted the mandatory Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) and the first legislative funding for civil legal services. Together, these two programs now provide over one-third of legal services funding annually in Minnesota.

Attorneys supporting Schroeder’s nomination stressed his mentoring of young attorneys and commitment to public service, as well as his competence and integrity. University of Minnesota Law School Dean Thomas Sullivan wrote in a letter nominating Schroeder: "I do not believe it is an exaggeration to suggest that he probably gives away more free time for public service and professional counseling each year than what he bills his own clients. I know from both professional and personal experience that he is an outstanding lawyer. He is the model of professional competence, ethics, and service to the community for all of us to follow."

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Photos are available on request. 
Contact Duane Stanley, 612-752-6611 or duane@hcba.org