Press Releases

August 5th, 2024

Frankfurt Kurnit Partner Ron Minkoff Receives APRL Kettlewell Award

(Chicago, IL) Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz litigation partner and chair of the firm’s Professional Responsibility Group, Ronald C. Minkoff, was honored by the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL) with the Charles W. Kettlewell Award.

Established in 2010, this lifetime achievement honor recognizes an APRL member for having a distinguished legal career, exemplifying professionalism and excellence in the practice of law, and in the field of legal ethics and professional responsibility.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to receive this Award. The Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers is rightly considered the main thought leader for ethics issues in our profession, and this wonderful recognition is a true honor,” said Mr. Minkoff. “May its great work continue!”

Mr. Minkoff received the award on August 2, 2024, at APRL’s annual meeting in Chicago. Mr. Minkoff is a past president of APRL and has held numerous roles in state and national bar associations including the American Bar Association (ABA), the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), and the New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA). He currently serves as Vice President of the NYCLA.

In one of his more recent matters making national headlines, Mr. Minkoff represented a group of former New York bar presidents in filing an ethics grievance against Rudolph Giuliani based on his efforts in multiple courts to undermine the 2020 presidential election. As detailed in the grievance, Mr. Giuliani was accused of repeatedly communicating demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large, including filing numerous misleading lawsuits without any evidence. In June 2021, the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, First Judicial Department ordered the temporary suspension of Mr. Giuliani’s law license and on July 2, 2024 the Court disbarred Mr. Giuliani.

In the Court’s order disbarring Mr. Giuliani, the Court underscored the gravity of his efforts described as “designed to create distrust of the elective system of our country in the minds of the citizens and to destroy their confidence in the legitimacy of our government.”

“Our complaint against Rudy Giuliani for his numerous false statements before courts and legislatures about the 2020 Presidential election was the product of hours of research by our Frankfurt Kurnit team,” said Mr. Minkoff. “We were gratified that the Attorney Grievance Committee agreed that these lies, coming from someone of Rudy’s prominence as a lawyer, were a threat to our democratic system.”

The Kettlewell Award was presented by Mr. Minkoff’s law partner and current APRL president, Tyler Maulsby. In his remarks, Mr. Maulsby noted that the decision to take on the representation of the group of State Bar presidents in the Giuliani matter was just one of the examples of Mr. Minkoff’s commitment to the legal profession and the rule of law. Maulsby also highlighted Mr. Minkoff’s consistent dedication to mentoring and training younger lawyers and his tireless work on behalf of numerous bar organizations over the years.

“I am thrilled to be able to present Ron with this year’s Kettlewell Award. Ron has been a mentor to me and many other lawyers throughout our careers and I can’t think of a more deserving recipient.”