INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (March 19, 2018): Chief Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson is pleased to announce that the Honorable William T. Lawrence has received the 2018 Silver Gavel Award from the Indianapolis Bar Association.

Judge Lawrence was sworn in as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in June 2008. Judge Lawrence is the first district judge in the Southern District to have previously served as a magistrate judge, a position he held from November 2002 until his elevation. He recently announced his intention to assume senior status, effective July 1, 2018.

Prior to his service on the federal bench, Judge Lawrence was an elected judge of the Marion Circuit Court, after serving as a part-time Master Commissioner there for over 13 years. In 1980, Judge Lawrence was appointed Executive Director of Indiana’s first Merit Selection Commission on Federal Judicial Appointments by Senator Richard Lugar. Judge Lawrence is an Indianapolis Bar Foundation Fellow and currently serves as Master in the Sagamore American Inn. Judge Lawrence graduated from Indiana University and Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
 

His nomination for the Silver Gavel Award referred to Judge Lawrence’s long and exemplary service in the law and on the bench: "Judge Lawrence has had stellar careers as a lawyer, state court judge and on the federal bench. He's respected in the legal community and is recognized as a judge who treats lawyers, and their clients, well. He never forgot what it is like to be on the other side of the bench."

The Court congratulates Judge Lawrence on this award and thanks him for his continued service to the citizens of the Southern District of Indiana.