The Gerald Z. Marer Award for Panel Excellence
SDAP conducts an annual seminar that offers four hours of continuing legal education relevant to the practice of criminal appellate law. At the conclusion of each seminar, SDAP announces the winner of that year’s Gerald Z. Marer Award.
The late Gerald Z. Marer was an inspirational figure. Mr. Marer was the founding chairperson of the SDAP Board of Directors and served in that role for the first ten years of SDAP’s existence. Mr. Marer was an outstanding advocate in both criminal and civil appeals. He was a president of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and was well known for his extensive pro bono work, unquestioned integrity and wisdom that he was willing to generously share. The prodigious energy that Mr. Marer devoted to his practice and community service was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he suffered from muscular sclerosis for much of his adult life and was confined to a wheelchair.
The Gerald Z. Marer Award is designed to honor a panel attorney who has performed in an extraordinary manner. Such performance can be demonstrated in either a specific case or by a lifetime of achievement. In either case, the winner is entitled to be honored for the excellent work that has been performed. The prior winners are listed below.
2007 – Courtney Shevelson
2008 – Carla Castillo
2009 – Jean Matulis
2010 – David Martin
2011 – Sheri Cohen
2012 – Candace Hale
2013 – Mark Greenberg
2014 – Paul Carroll
2015 – Heather Mackay and Danalynn Pritz
2016 – Solomon Wollack
2017 – Leslie Barry
2018 – Jeffrey Glick
2019 – Julie Schumer
2020 – Gordon Brownell and Meredith Fahn
2021 – Eric Weaver
2022 – Julie Braden and Michelle Peterson
.2024 – Maureen Fox, Patricia Lai, J. Wilder Lee, Jennifer Mannix, Jennifer Peabody, Sara Ruddy, and Victoria Stafford
