NEWS RELEASE
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Contact:
Lorri Montgomery, Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue
757.259.1525
lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us 

Michael V. Ciresi, Esq. 
Inducted into Warren E. Burger Society

Williamsburg, VA (Nov. 22, 2004) – The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) recently inducted Michael V. Ciresi, Esq. of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. into the Warren E. Burger Society. The Burger Society honors individuals who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to improving the administration of justice through extraordinary contributions of service and support to the NCSC.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and Wisconsin Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson, chair of NCSC’s Board of Directors and president of the Conference of Chief Justices, November 19 inducted Mr. Ciresi and other new members into the Burger Society at the NCSC Annual Recognition Luncheon in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Ciresi played an instrumental role in helping to establish The National Program to Increase Citizen Participation in Jury Service Through Jury Innovations (“National Jury Program).  The $100,000 legacy contribution from Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. is the single highest contribution made by a law firm in NCSC history.  The contribution, along with Mr. Ciresi’s efforts on behalf of the National Jury Program, has generated another $100,000 in contributions from over 15 law firms. 

Inductees to the Burger Society are selected by a committee that is chaired by Texas attorney Charles M. Noteboom, Esq., who commissioned the original portrait of Chief Justice Burger that hangs in NCSC headquarters. Each new Burger Society member receives a limited edition print of the portrait, which is signed and numbered by the artist Fran Di Giacomo. Chief Justice Burger’s children own the first two prints and Chief Justice Rehnquist owns the last print, numbered 1986, the year Chief Justice Burger retired and Chief Justice Rehnquist took office.

The NCSC, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a non-profit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. The NCSC, founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, provides education, training, and technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts. The NCSC also is taking the lead on several key issues facing the justice system. For example, it has established a major civil justice initiative, a multi-year project that is examining best practices in civil case management and how complex litigation procedures can be improved. Other national initiatives being driven by the NCSC include judicial selection reform and increasing citizen participation in jury service.  

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