SOLE PRACTITIONER OF THE YEAR" AND LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED AT SOLO & SMALL FIRM DAY 2000

CHICAGO, June 28, 2000 - Several awards honoring solo and small firm practitioners will be presented during the Solo & Small Firm Day 2000 Awards Luncheon on July 6 in New York in conjunction with the 2000 American Bar Association Annual Meeting. The annual awards, sponsored by the ABA Sole Practitioners and Small Firm Committee of the General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section, recognize sole practitioners for their leadership and service to the legal community.
Darrell W. "Dan" Ringer, a solo practitioner from Morgantown, W.Va., will be awarded the 2000 Solo Practitioner of the Year Award. Immediate past president of the West Virginia State Bar, Ringer has been active in public television in West Virginia for over a decade as both a volunteer for fundraising efforts and as a host/moderator of programs serving the public broadcasting network. In 1996 he was named "West Virginia Lawyer of the Year" by the West Virginia Bar Foundation, and in 1998 was named Volunteer of the Year by West Virginia Public Television.
James E. Brill, a sole practitioner in Houston, will be presented with the Donald C. Rikli Solo Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to concerns of solo and small firm practitioners and the area of law practice management. Active in the ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section for more than 25 years, Brill has also served the Texas State Bar Association, initiating its Solo Mentoring Program and serving as chair of its Continuing Legal Education Committee and Professional Efficiency and Economic Research Committees. A leader in the field of systems analysis, he was one of the initial members of the ABA Law Practice Management Section and is an accomplished author and speaker.
The ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section provides information and assistance to lawyers in general practice, solo and small firm settings. It is the only ABA section created specifically to help these lawyers succeed and prosper.
The American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership association in the world. With more than 400,000 members, the ABA provides law school accreditation, continuing legal education, information about the law, programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public.</div>