Charles A. Bird Ally Award

Established in 2022, the Charles A. Bird Ally Award recognizes an individual, who self-identifies as male, exemplifies a lifetime commitment to Lawyers Club’s mission, and shares the organization’s values of justice, inclusion, and progress.

This award was named after its first recipient Charles A. Bird (1947-2021) and posthumously awarded to honor his lifetime commitment to Lawyer Club’s mission and decades-long advocacy for gender equality.

Remembering Charles A. Bird and His Contributions to Lawyers Club

Bird joined Lawyers Club in the mid-1970s. His advocacy led to the creation of Lawyers Club’s Advisory Board. This group continues to serve at the pleasure of Lawyers Club’s President and advises on key issues facing the organization. Bird graciously served on every Advisory Board from its creation until his passing.

In 2021, Bird told the Advisory Board of a memorandum he wrote titled “Avoiding Artificial Retardation of Women’s Careers” that he found while cleaning out his office upon retirement. Written in late 1983 to the Managing Partner of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP (when Bird was a fourth-year Partner), he identified the following actionable items that the firm needed to do:

1. Include women in all its social and sports activities.
2. Have partners make a conscious effort to include women in business entertainment.
3. Encourage women to seek out continuing education and non-legal courses, seminars, and groups that will help them deal with the common problems of striving for success in the fast lane.
4. Ensure partners are careful in the presence of clients and adversaries to pass their authority and credibility on to the women who work with them.
5. For partners to be especially aggressive in helping women get exposure among community leaders.

“[The memorandum] reflected my view that if we gave our women the same privileges of men joining a topflight law firm, and we didn’t get in their way, they would succeed,” said Bird. The points in Bird’s memorandum still ring true today.

Upon his passing, Founding Mother Justice Judith McConnell noted, “Charles Bird was an extraordinary attorney who was known in the appellate bar as a star. But for those of us in Lawyers Club, he was known as a staunch feminist and longtime member of the Advisory Board known for his thoughtful and sage counsel. He will be deeply missed by all of us.”

Founding Mother and Former Congresswoman Lynn Schenk shared that Bird was a “steadfast LC supporter for almost 50 years! His advice over the decades was a guiding light. Today it is ‘easy’ for a man to support women’s equality, but when Charles did, he and other founding fathers were subject to ribbing and teasing at best and ridicule and ostracism at worst. I already miss his unique presence.”

2023 - George W. Brewster Jr. 

George W. Brewster Jr. looks for ways to support his passions and calls his support of Lawyers Club “a series of easy choices.” Lawyers Club has chosen Brewster to receive the Charles A. Bird Ally Award in recognition of his unwavering dedication to the organization. “It’s great to have an acknowledgment that I have been on the right path,” said Brewster.  

After practicing law for 35 years, the last 30 with the Office of County Counsel, County of San Diego, Brewster retired from the practice of law in 2019. Championing Lawyers Club even in his retirement, Brewster fondly recalls his years in practice, relishing the opportunities he had. “Simply having your heart in the right place isn’t enough,” said Brewster. “You have to show by your actions that you have the commitment.”  

Brewster met Charlie Bird over thirty years ago when he was running for the board of the San Diego County Bar Association. In seeking Lawyers Club’s endorsement, Bird was responsible for vetting Brewster and seeing if his values aligned with those of the organization. Brewster remembers Bird as “thoughtful and tenacious…Charlie would always sit back, listen, and provide counsel that was ethically driven. When he spoke, people would listen.” Bird’s style demanded respect and centered on all due consideration, driving him to initiate Lawyers Club’s advisory committee. 

Brewster served on Lawyers Club’s Board of Directors for seven years (longer than any other male member) and was on the Board during the organization’s 20th and 40th anniversaries. He also recently served as co-chair of the 50th Anniversary Committee. His deep historical and organizational knowledge played a pivotal role in architecting Lawyers Club’s 40th and 50th-anniversary celebrations. Brewster not only helped produce documentary-style films for both anniversaries, but he also served as an author and co-editor for Lawyers Club’s 40th and 50th-anniversary commemorative books. Brewster further helped create, and often still writes, Lawyers Club News’ now monthly article titled “30 Years Ago,” which reflects upon the organization’s past events, highlights, and milestones. His ongoing dedication to preserving Lawyers Club’s history led him to be named a Historian.  

In Lawyers Club’s 40th-anniversary book’s introduction, Brewster wrote a passage he repeats to this day, “It has always been my belief that you cannot know where you are going until you know where you have come from; that is the essence and comfort and reason for the capturing and study of history.” Serving as Lawyers Club’s historian, Brewster frequently writes for Lawyers Club’s newsletter highlighting events in the organization’s illustrious history.  

When asked about why he dedicated himself to Lawyers Club, Brewster candidly remarked that it's “frankly ridiculous” that women still struggle for equality to this day. Brewster comes from a family where both of his grandmothers were college educated. He also thinks about his daughters and wants a world where they do not have to face struggles because of their gender.  

Lawyers Club has always felt like family to Brewster. For example, at an Annual Dinner many years ago, where Helen Thomas was scheduled to speak but could not make it, Lawyers Club went forward without a main speaker. Despite the last-minute change to the event, Brewster recalled that “It felt like a family dinner, full of humor, and warm conversation.”  

Brewster remembers talking with Bird about their shared passion for Lawyers Club. Bird considered Lawyers Club to be first and foremost a feminist organization. Brewster fondly notes that Lawyers Club is neither a women’s club nor a general bar association, a sentiment Bird shared.  

After over 30 years of service to Lawyers Club’s mission and 30 years since he penned a response to a column on feminism by then Lawyers Club president, Kitty Juniper, Brewster reflected on the term “feminist.” He evaluated how the definition and perception of the term have evolved with the evolution of Lawyers Club and is proud to confirm that he is a feminist.  

Brewster recognizes that his actions in support of Lawyers Club’s mission define him and the legacy he has established. Today, he continues his service as a member of the Advisory Board, providing advice to the president, producing books and videos about Lawyers Club’s history, and ongoing advocacy for both men and women to join Lawyers Club. 

2022 Charles A. Bird