William H. Neukom, former managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants baseball team ownership group and principal legal counsel for Microsoft for almost 25 years, received the ABA Medal, the American Bar Association’s highest honor, on July 29, 2020, during the ABA’s virtual annual meeting. Neukom has a distinguished record of service to the ABA, including as president 2007-2008. During his tenure, he established the Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI), organized an ABA member march in solidarity with embattled judges and lawyers in Pakistan, and launched the World Justice Project. He has also chaired the ABA Young Lawyers Division, served as secretary of the association and as Washington State delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. He currently serves as a special adviser to the ABA Center on Innovation.

The ABA Medal recognizes service by a lawyer or lawyers to the cause of American jurisprudence and is given only in years when the ABA board of governors determines a nominee has provided exceptional and distinguished service to the legal profession.