Earlier this year then KBA President J. Stephen Smith, along with other leaders of our organization, made the di icult decision to cancel the 2020 KBA Annual Convention scheduled for late June in Covington, Ky. It was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the middle of the state’s lockdown. Now we have slowly emerged, and life is returning to the “new” normal. Part of that for the KBA is finding a way to honor our members who were scheduled to receive special awards during our 2020 annual convention. We are still planning to make the formal presentations but wanted an opportunity to announce to our membership these prestigious recipients. Over the next several pages you will learn about the recipients and understand why they were chosen to receive these honors. The sta of the KBA is gearing up to begin work on the 2021 annual convention. The event is scheduled for May 12-14, 2021, at the Central Bank Center (formerly Lexington Convention Center) in downtown Lexington, Ky. We are excited about this event and look forward to returning to the time-honored traditions of conventions past. CELEBRATING THE 2020 KBA AWARD RECIPIENTS WHILE PLANNING BEGINS ON THE 2021 ANNUAL CONVENTION SCHEDULED FOR MAY 1214 IN LEXINGTON MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW TO ATTEND! DISTINGUISHED LAWYER: Northern Kentucky attorney Rob Bilott was selected to receive the 2020 Distin-guished Lawyer Award. The Distinguished Lawyer Award is presented to any lawyer who has dis-tinguished himself or herself through a contribution of outstanding service to the legal profession. The selection process places special emphasis upon communi-ty, civic and/or charitable service, which brings honor to the profession. KBA President J. Stephen Smith remarked, “Everyone loves the underdog, and we typically cheer heros in sports and action movies because things happen fast and with a bang. The law unfolds slowly, and it takes the absolute best of lawyers to stay with a matter for 20 or more years, with the worst odds and versus a colossal foe. ROB BILOTT Rob Bilott is a lawyer's hero, who took huge risks and sacrificed, stood for what he believed, fought, and ultimately won a victory for literally All-Of-Us. Rob should receive this award from all 50 states.” A seasoned and internationally-recog-nized litigator, advocate, and author, Bilott represents a diverse range of clients on a wide variety of matters involving federal, state, and local environmental laws. For more than 29 years, he has han-dled environmental issues of regulatory compliance, permitting and corporate/ real estate transactions, as well as all aspects of litigation arising from such issues, from administrative hearings to multi-party, complex multidistrict litigation, mass torts, and class actions. 10 | JULY/AUGUST 2020