The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Lee H. Rosenthal of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, on Monday, May 19 by ALI President David F. Levi The Award is given from time to time to a member who over many years has played a major role in the Institute, accepting significant burdens as an officer, Council member, committee chair, or project participant and helping keep the Institute on a steady course as the greatest private law-reform organization in the world.
Rosenthal currently serves as the 1st Vice President of ALI, where she also serves as an Adviser on the Conflict of Laws Restatement and the Constitutional Torts Restatement. She was an Adviser for the project to revise the Model Penal Code sections on sexual assault as well as the Employment Law project, the Aggregate Litigation project, and for the Transnational Rules of Civil Procedure project. In 2007, she was elected to the ALI Council and, from 2011 to 2016, served as Chair of the Program Committee.
“Lee has been an invaluable and long-term leader of The American Law Institute,” said ALI President David F. Levi. “As Chair during some of the most challenging debates concerning revisions to the Model Penal Code: Sexual Assault and Related Offenses discussions, she exhibited unparalleled skill, poise, and insight in managing the debates and guiding them toward resolution. Like the superb judge that she is, her leadership of our discussions helped to keep the debates focused and moving forward toward resolution often by consensus. Beyond her remarkable contributions to ALI, Lee’s legal career is exemplary—she is a highly respected jurist with a distinguished record of service to the judiciary and the legal community. It is our great honor to present her with the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her immense contributions to the ALI.”
Rosenthal was appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division in 1992. Before then, she was a partner at Baker & Botts in Houston, Texas, where she tried civil cases and handled appeals in the state and federal courts. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Chicago and served as law clerk to Chief Judge John R. Brown, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In addition to serving as a district court judge for more than 22 years, she has been invited to sit by designation with courts of appeals around the country, including the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits. Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Rosenthal to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules in 1996. She served as chair of the Class Actions subcommittee during the development of the 2003 amendments to Rule 23. Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Rosenthal chair of the Civil Rules Committee in 2003. In 2007, Chief Justice Roberts appointed Rosenthal to chair the Judicial Conference Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, which coordinates and oversees the work of the Advisory Committees for the Civil, Criminal, Evidence, Appellate, and Bankruptcy Rules.
Rosenthal has taught, written, and lectured extensively, concentrating on topics in complex litigation and civil procedure, including class actions and electronic discovery. She has taught Federal Courts at the University of Houston Law Center and lectured or taught recently at Yale, Duke, Cornell, Syracuse, Louisiana State University, and University of Texas law schools. She also teaches a summer class for state, federal, and international judges at Duke University School of Law.
Rosenthal is the 2012 recipient of the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Award for Professionalism and Ethics given by the American Inns of Court and is a 3-time recipient of the Trial Judge of the Year Award from the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists. In 2014, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Rosenthal and her husband have four daughters.