Shining Stars
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Honolulu attorney Sherry P. Broder received the Cox Price Human Rights Award from the University of Denver Law School for contributing to the dignity and well-being of humanity.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The Cox Price Human Rights Award: Sherry P. Broder, Esq.
This award is given to recognize exceptional contributions by an individual to the dignity and wellbeing of humanity through the legal process.
The Ved Nanda Center for International Law
University of Denver, Sturm College of Law
The first recipient of this honor, Sherry P. Broder, Esq., of Honolulu, graduated in 1975 from U.C. Berkeley Law School with highest honors and established her solo practice in Honolulu, in 1978, specializing in serious personal injury litigation.
Having earned early acclaim in her litigation practice, she was asked to bring suit against the milk producers of Hawaii on behalf of consumers who had been exposed to a pesticide in the milk supply that was being transmitted also in mothers’ breast milk to their babies. She negotiated a $4 million settlement for the consumers, achieved the setting of new standards of purity for milk maintained by the industry, and with the settlement funds established a non-profit corporation to study the health effects of exposure to the pesticide.
Ms. Broder represents Native Hawaiians in their claims for entitlements and defends the constitutionality of their programs. She has been instrumental and efforts to reestablish the Hawaiian language and is currently representing the victims of exposure to nuclear testing in Micronesia.
In the 1990s Ms. Broder served as class counsel for the 9,500 victims of torture, summary execution, and disappearance in the Philippines during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos and won a $2 billion verdict, believed to be the largest personal injury verdict in U.S. history. This case continues today, as the Philippine government argues that it, as opposed to the Filipino victims of human rights abuse, is entitled to the funds.
She has been recognized both nationally and in her community for her achievements and received many honors and awards. She was elected the first woman President of the Hawaii State Bar Association and is listed in Best Lawyers in America. She was selected Finalist, Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, 1994, 1995, and 1997 and Solo Practitioner of the Year, 1992 by the American Bar Association. She earned the Justice Award from the Temple Emanuel in 2005.