Kristen A. Lee, Esquire, to Receive the 2026 American Inns of Court Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kristen Lee has been selected to receive the prestigious 2026 American Inns of Court Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service, which honors an American Inn of Court member in practice 10 years or fewer for their excellence in public interest or pro bono activities. Lee is liaison counsel in the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Office of the Judicial Administrator. She will receive the award at the American Inns of Court 2026 Celebration of Excellence at the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Her outstanding career has been my privilege to witness for over 10 years, including times spent together in the St. Thomas More/Loyola College of Law American Inn of Court and related events,” writes Senior District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who nominated Lee for the award. “She is truly a ‘master’ of the Inn movement.”

Lee began her involvement with the American Inns of Court as a pupil member of the St. Thomas More Inn during law school. She currently serves on the Inn’s executive committee. In 2020, she participated in the American Inns of Court’s Pegasus Scholarship program, spending six weeks in London studying the English legal system. In 2019, she participated in the American Inns of Court National Advocacy Training Program and serves on its Tim Coleman Scholarship Review Panel.

Lee has been liaison counsel since 2023, serving as a liaison between the Louisiana District Judges Association and the Louisiana Supreme Court. From 2021 to 2023, she was an assistant city attorney for the city of New Orleans, representing the city and its departments as primary counsel in state and federal litigation. She was a judicial law clerk for Judge Regina Bartholomew-Woods (Ret.) of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Lee earned a summa cum laude degree in political science from Loyola University New Orleans. She earned her law degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. While in law school, she served as a volunteer member on the Loyola Law School Honor Board and participated in several study abroad programs, including the school’s European Union Field Study program and programs in Greece and Austria. She serves on the board of directors of St. Mary’s Dominican High School and on the Young Alumni Board of Loyola University New Orleans.

The American Inns of Court, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, inspires the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring. The organization’s membership includes nearly 30,000 federal, state, and local judges; lawyers; law professors; and law students in more than 360 chapters nationwide. More information is available at www.innsofcourt.org.