2020 Robert M. Spire Award 

The Robert M. Spire award is presented annually to a Nebraska lawyer who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to pro bono service for the poor, as was the hallmark of Robert M. Spire. The recipient is a lawyer who has achieved the highest standards of competence, ethics, and professionalism, and who protects and promotes the administration of and access to justice. This year’s award was presented to the Honorable Teresa K. Luther, Doniphan.

​The Honorable Judge Luther began the practice of law in 1976, practicing in Lincoln, Hastings and Kearney. In 1994, she became a judge of the District Court, 9th Judicial District. Judge Luther has been a pillar of the central Nebraska legal community since 1980. Throughout her career, Judge Luther has been committed to ensuring equal access to the justice system. Early in her career, Judge Luther was a professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law. Judge Luther also served on numerous judicial committees for both the Supreme Court and Nebraska District Judges Association. She mentored new judges from across the state through Nebraska’s Judicial Branch Education program for several years, training many of the judges who are on the bench today.
Judge Luther was appointed Vice Chair of the Nebraska Supreme Court Pro Se Committee in 2001 known as the Self-Represented Litigation Committee. Judge Luther partnered with Creighton Law School’s Legal Clinic, UNL College of Law’s Legal Clinic, the Nebraska Domestic Violence Coalition, and Legal Aid of Nebraska to create Nebraska’s first Self-Help Divorce forms. Since the development of the first set of forms, Judge Luther has been instrumental in the development of many family-related forms which are provided as a public service to assist people who are handling their own legal matters and otherwise unable to access to the judicial system. Judge Luther was instrumental in supporting the Volunteer Lawyers Project by assisting and guiding the Hall County Bar Association’s Self-Help Desk, ensuring the provision of pro bono legal services to those who could not afford it. Her leadership with the self-help desk focused on the guiding principal of helping people access the courts and justice.

The Nebraska State Bar Association Visionary Awards

​Presented to recognize outstanding attorneys in their service to further the mission of the NSBA or dedication to programs sponsored by the Nebraska Lawyers Foundation. Up to three Visionary Awards are awarded annually.

Ann C. Mangiameli; Legal Aid of Nebraska, Omaha

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Ann has worked creatively and collaboratively to establish and run Nebraska’s only Medical Legal Partnership: the Health, Education, and Law Project (HELP) at Legal Aid of Nebraska. Mangiameli has practiced law in Nebraska for almost three decades. In that time, she has been a private practitioner and partner, a professor in Poverty Law at Creighton University School of Law, and worked at Legal Aid of Nebraska. Not only is her career remarkable because of her legal acumen, but also because she is a thoughtful leader and manager. In addition to dedicating her career to nonprofit legal services, Ann is an active VLP Volunteer by acting as a mentor to attorneys interested in doing pro bono work and by volunteering on Nebraska Free Legal Answers.

Karine E. Sokpoh; Sokpoh Law Group, Omaha

Karine E. Sokpoh graduated from Creighton University School of Law. Sokpoh, an NSBA Leadership Academy Graduate, has her own law firm, Sokpoh Law Group,
LLC, based out of Omaha and practices in the areas of immigration, family law and intellectual property. In addition to being a practicing attorney and owning her own business Sokpoh is a Board Member of the Women’s Fund of Omaha,the Vice President of the League for African Advancement, a Committee member of the Common Fund of the Heartland, on the Executive Committee for the NSBA Immigration and Juvenile Law Sections, a Program Chair of the Robert Spire Inns of Court, and past President of the Midlands Bar Association. She also served in the NSBA House of Delegates from 2013-2017.
 Furthermore, Sokpoh is active in pro bono legal service. For VLP alone Sokpoh volunteers on Nebraska Free Legal Answers, at various free legal clinics throughout the year, at the Douglas County Self Help Center, and as a mentor to new attorneys interested in doing pro bono and accepts pro bono cases.

Paul W. Snyder; Douglas, Kelly, Ostdiek, Snyder, Ossian, Vogl and Snyder, Scottsbluff

​A partner at Douglas, Kelly, Ostdiek, Snyder, Ossian, Vogl, & Lookabill,Paul has been practicing law in Nebraska since graduating from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1975. Mr. Snyder is receiving this award for his incredible contributions to his community and the legal profession. In addition to being a community leader in Scotts Bluff, Paul has served in the NSBA House of Delegates for twenty-five years and actively takes pro bono cases from the Volunteer Lawyers Project. Perhaps most notably, Paul serves as Co-Chair of the Rural Practice Initiative. His dedication and leadership in this position has led to dozens of law students and young attorneys deciding to practice in greater Nebraska.