Having received this award last year was the greatest honor of my professional life—being able to present the award to this year’s recipient comes close to that and I so wish I could be there in person to do so. On the other hand, I can’t imagine a better substitute for doing the honors and reading these words from the bottom of my heart.
First I would like to thank the committee which had representatives from around the state. We had an outstanding pool of nominees and I am happy to report that this year’s recipient was a unanimous choice. The list of professional recognitions of this year’s recipient, inside and out of the collaborative community, is long and exceptionally distinguished. The award winner’s contributions to the field of collaborative law is, quite frankly, endless, both as a worker bee and in many, many leadership and training roles. This year’s award recipient is truly an amazing collaborative professional—their skill, their compassion, their profound and deep commitment to helping their clients is among the best in the field. This professional walks the walk and talks the talk—to anyone and everyone. This is a way of life for them. I have been lucky enough to work with this professional and seen first hand their ability to translate the principles of collaborative divorce into a day in and day out reality for those families we try to help and to do so with a heart that is as big as their brain is smart. Above and beyond all of this, this year’s winner is one of the best human beings I have ever been lucky enough to know and to call friend. Gay Cox was my hero, this year’s recipient is my hero.
I could go on and on but I really only have a few minutes. I would, however, like to share with you just a few of the observations from those who nominated this year’s recipient:
“When I review the criteria fort this award, it has this lawyer written all over same. This attorney’s professionalism & understanding of the process and value of Collaborative Law is innate.
The greatest impact on our collaborative community is from their limitless dedication and tireless efforts to make Collaborative Divorce a reality for those we serve. That lasting impact is made possible because of her heart and well-developed soul.
This professional deserves the Award for making each of us better ambassadors of peaceable, dignified and generational conflict resolution.
I can think of no one who could be more deserving as this individual to be the next Recipient”.
I couldn’t agree more. This award is designed to honor the memory of Gay G. Cox, the most dedicated collaborative professional of us all and I know she will be smiling as I announce that the 2022 Gay G. Cox Award Recipient is JULIE QUAID.
