Awards & Grants

Zena has been a crucial member of SLA and the Legal Community for a long time.  She has held leadership positions in the Competitive Intelligence and Toronto communities.  In addition, Zena has served on the SLA Board of Directors and headed up a branding committee for the board. 

Zena is a key person when it comes to expertise in the competitive intelligence space.  Her professional acumen is sought out frequently as she is often asked to speak at conferences and podcasts.  In 2014, Zena was presented with the Innovations in Law Librarianship Award from the then SLA Legal Division and was made a fellow of the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) association.  

Currently, Zena is employed by Thomson Reuters as a Senior Director Product Marketing.  In this role, she is leading project teams to translate customer needs into successful products.  One example of this is the Reuters Legal News product which she led and successfully launched. 

Zena continues to find ways to share her expertise with members of the community and has enhanced the careers of many with her knowledge and mentorship. 

The Legal Community looks forward to future collaborations with Zena and is honored to present Amy with the 2022 Award for Outstanding Legal Information Professional.

Zena Applebaum | LinkedIn


The past two years have been difficult for many associations and the Special Libraries Association (SLA) is no different.  Even though, the Legal Community has been able to provide useful content during the last two years.  The community’s ability to provide that content has been greatly enhanced by Blythe McCoy of Thomson Reuters.  Blythe has advocated for the community with Thomson Reuters and through that advocacy, has helped the community secure conference and webinar speakers as well as cash support for the community’s other activities.  It has also been through Blythe’s efforts that the community has secured sponsorship for the annual Outstanding Librarian/Legal Information Professional award and this year’s Legal Community breakfast meeting.

Blythe has not only given the support to the community it so crucially needs, but has done it cheerfully and has always encouraged the community in its work.

Blythe is not only a great representative of Thomson Reuters but a tremendous advocate for legal information professionals across the country. 

The Legal Community is honored to present Blythe with the 2022 Vendor Champion Award.

Blythe McCoy | LinkedIn

Thomson Reuters Outstanding Achievement Award

The Thomson Reuters Award for Outstanding Achievement is designed to recognize a member who has demonstrated active participation in Legal Community activities and programming as well as contributed to the continued success of the SLA Legal Community and the profession within the past year.


Selection Criteria

  • The nominee must:
    • be a member in good standing of the SLA Legal Community for at least two (2) years.
    • not have received an award presented by the SLA Legal Community for at least five (5) years.
    • not be presently serving on the Legal Community Board and must have been off the Board for at least one (1) year.
    • have made significant contributions to the SLA Legal Community and/or the profession within the past year.
      • Significant contributions include, but are not limited to:
        • A special service to the Community.
        • A record of sustained service to the Community.
        • Innovation and/or creative solutions to improved resources, programs, services, or operations for law library professionals and the clients they serve.
    • must show outstanding potential for continued service and leadership within the SLA Legal Community and the profession.


The SLA Legal Community Board reserves the right to to select an award recipient if no nominations are received from the Community at large.

SLA Europe Early Career Conference Award

The Legal Community co-sponsors an Early Career Conference Award (ECCA) with the Europe Community.

The Award will allow winners to attend the 2022 SLA Annual Conference and INFO-EXPO in North Carolina, 31 July – 2 August 2022.

Each Award is worth about $4000. It covers the full cost of Conference registration, hotel lodging, economy return airfare to Philadelphia, and meals and appropriate incidental expenses.

Award winners will also be paired with a mentor from the sponsoring Community, as well as a mentor from SLA Europe. We will notify winner(s) of the relevant contact details for their mentors prior to attending the conference.


Further information on how to apply, please see our application guidelines. We have also put together advice to applicants, which may be useful to anyone applying or considering applying for next year.

All applications must be received no later than Sunday 17 April 2022, 23:59 GMT. Award winners will be notified no later than Friday 22 April 2022.

 


Past Award Recipients

2021

  • Legal Community Award for Outstanding Achievement: Amy Affelt, Compas Lexicon

2020

  • Legal Community Award for Outstanding Achievement: Nathan Rosen, Manager of Research and Knowledge Services at Herrick Feinstein, LLP

2019

  • Thomson Reuters Westlaw Award for Outstanding Achievement: Jessica King, Reference Services Manager at Perkins Coie LLP

2018

  • Thomson Reuters Westlaw Award for Outstanding Achievement: Marie Cannon, Knowledge and Information Officer at Clifford Chance LLP


2017

  • Thomson Reuters Westlaw Award for Outstanding Achievement: Clara Cabrera, Research and Reference Supervisor at WilmerHale


2016

  • Thomson Reuters Westlaw Award for Career Achievement : Jill Strand, Senior Manager, Library & Knowledge Information Systems at Fish & Richardson P.C.
  • Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Innovations in Law Librarianship Award : Tracy Z. Maleeff,  Principal of Sherpa Intelligence LLC
  • Bloomberg Law Outstanding Member Contribution Award : Sarah Maudlin, Director of Library Services at Smith, Gambrell, & Russell LLP

 

2015

  • Thomson Reuters Award for Career Achievement: John DiGilio, Reed Smith LLP, Chicago, IL
  • Wolters Kluwer Innovations  in Law Librarianship Award: Bobbi Weaver, California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA
  • Bloomberg BNA Outstanding New Member Contribution  Award: Virginia Mattingly, University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, Louisville, KY


2014

  • Career Achievement: Tracy Z. Maleeff, Duane Morris LLP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Innovations in Law Librarianship Award: Zena Applebaum, Bennett Jones Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Outstanding New Member Contribution Award: Christine DeLuca, Bennett Jones Toronto, Ontario, Canada


2013

  • Career Achievement: Marilyn Bromley, Bloomberg BNA Arlington, Virginia
  • Innovations in Law Librarianship Award: Joan Thomas, Bryan Cave LLP Kansas City, Missouri
  • Outstanding New Member Contribution Award: Sam Wiggins, Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP London, England, United Kingdom


2012

  • Career Achievement: Martha Foote, Library Co Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Innovations in Law Librarianship Award: Rosalie Piscitelli, Weil Gotshal & Manges, New York, New York
  • Outstanding New Member Contribution Award: Elizabeth “Liz” Polly, Stites & Harbison, Lexington, Kentucky

 

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Past Travel Grant Recipients

2019

  • Karen Whitney, Library Operations Supervisor at Perkins Coie in Seattle, Washington
  • Ciara O'Shea, Business Intelligence Analyst at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Montreal, Quebec. 


2018

  • Erin Rance, Research Analyst at Lane Powell in Seattle, Washington


2017

  • Chrystelle Browman, Legal Research Analyst at Fenwick & West in San Francisco, California


2016

  • Bronwyn Guiton, Senior Librarian with the Government of British Columbia
  • Deanne Fix, Manager of Library and Information Services at Sanberg Phoenix and von Gontard, P.C. in St. Louis


2015

  • Legal Division Conference Travel Grant recipient: Christine DeLuca, Law Librarian at Bennett Jones, LLP in Toronto, Ontario
  • Legal Division Conference Travel Grant (sponsored by LexisNexis) recipient: Amy Noll, Assistant Law Librarian at McNees Wallace & Nurick, LLC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

2014

  • The U.S. Law Librarian Veteran Member Grant Recipient: Bobbi A. Weaver, Foreign & International Law Reference Librarian at California Western School of Law in
    San Diego, California
  • The Non-U.S. Law Librarian Grant Recipient: Marie G. Cannon, Information Officer at Trowers & Hamlins LLP in London, England

2013

  • Thomson Reuters Westlaw U.S. Law Librarian New Member Grant — Sonya M. Durney, Business and Government Team Leader at the Portland Public Library in
    Portland, Maine.

    Sonya is a member of the New England Chapter. Sonya Durney is the Business and Government Team Leader at the Portland Public Library in Portland, Maine. She moved to Maine from Boston after completing her MLS at Simmons College in 2010. She currently serves as the Employment Chair for SLA New England. With SLA San Diego being her first conference, she looks forward to networking and learning as much as possible. She also hopes to sneak in a surf session in the warm California water!

  • LexisNexis U.S. Law Librarian Veteran Member Grant — Jeffrey M. Nelson, Research Services Manager at Squire Sanders (US) LLP in Miami, Florida.

    Jeff is a member of the Florida & Caribbean Chapter. Jeffrey Nelson is the Research Services Manager at the Miami office of Squire Sanders LLP. After accepting his current position less than a year ago, Jeffrey relocated to South Florida from Washington, DC where he had worked in law firms for five years. He currently serves as the South Florida Regional Contact for the SLA Florida & Caribbean Chapter. As a conference first-timer, Jeffrey is looking forward to meeting other SLA members and hopes to gain innovative ideas to share with colleagues at his place of work and in his local library community.

  • Non-U.S. Law Librarian Grant — Samuel H. Wiggins, Information Officer at Norton Rose LLP in London, England.

    Sam is a member of the Europe Chapter. Sam Wiggins is an Information Officer at Norton Rose LLP in London. Prior to taking up his current role, Sam completed his MA in Librarianship at the University of Sheffield. He currently serves as the SLA Europe Chapter's Events Chair, sits on the Chapter's board, and is the Legal Division's Ethics Ambassador. Sam also helps to run #uklibchat, a monthly twitter discussion tackling current issues affecting the library and information community. Sam hopes to both bring a UK perspective to the conference, as well as learn about solutions to problems affecting the information industry from North American and international delegates. Sam regularly blogs and tweets in a personal capacity on his thoughts about the issues facing information professionals.

2012

  • Thomson Reuters Westlaw U.S. Law Librarian New Member Travel Grant Award ($1,500): Joseph Keslar, Electronic Services Technician at Blank Rome LLP in Philadelphia, PA
  • LexisNexis U.S. Law Librarian Veteran Member Travel Grant Award ($1,500): Elizabeth M.C. Scheibel, Librarian at Lindquist & Vennum PLLP in Minneapolis, MN
  • Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Non-U.S. Law Librarian Travel Grant Award ($3,000): Amanda Adams, Librarian at Nipissing Law Library in North Bay, Ontario, Canada

2011

  • Veteran Member Grant: Joanne C. Kiley

    Joanne is Manager of Information Services at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP in Chicago IL. She has been working part-time at MB&F for a few years while her children

    were young, and is now able to get more involved in SLA, to give back to the profession and to focus on professional growth. She is on the local arrangements committee

    for the SLA 2012 conference in Chicago and looks forward to attending the Philadelphia conference with an eye to making the Chicago conference a success. Joanne

    dedicates some of her volunteer time to MLS students and new graduates, and always mentions the benefits of membership in SLA.

  • New Member Grant: Amy Levine

    Amy Levine is Head of Research and Reference for the Circuit Library at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver CO. She recently moved from Arizona to

    Colorado for a career change, from academic law library to court library. Amy is eager to get involved in SLA and specifically the Legal Division — to further her career, gain

    knowledge she can use on the job, and share what she has learned with her co-workers. Among sessions she is interested in attending are programs on moving from

    research to analysis, and on creating an institutional repository. This will be her first SLA conference.

  • Non-US Member Grant: Laura Woods

    Laura is Information Services Advisor at Addleshaw Goddard LLP in West Yorkshire, UK. She has recently moved into a more senior role at her firm. At Addleshaw, she

    has been tasked with analyzing the information needs of two business development and practice groups, and hopes to gain advice and insight from fellow DLEG members

    who have undertaken this type of strategic service review. After attending SLA in 2009, she knows what a stimulating, inspiring experience it is. In addition to valuable

    Legal Division sessions and networking, she "came away completely overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, drive and commitment" of all attendees.



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