NEWS RELEASE
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Lorri Montgomery, Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
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lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us 

American Express General Counsel 
Inducted into Warren E. Burger Society

Williamsburg, VA (Dec. 8, 2004) – The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) recently inducted Louise M. Parent, American Express, executive vice president and general counsel, 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 Ms. Parent and other new members into the Burger Society at the NCSC Annual Recognition Luncheon in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Parent volunteers her time, talent and support to the NCSC.  She served on the NCSC Board from 1999 to 2002. As Board liaison to the NCSC’s General Counsel Committee, she played an instrumental role in helping build interest and engagement with general counsel of several of America’s largest corporations. 

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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