Fired U.S.  Attorney Gets  Prestigious Award

San Diego - Carol Lam, one of eight former U.S. attorneys across the country whose dismissals have ignited a political firestorm and calls for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, has been named outstanding attorney of the year by the San Diego County Bar Association, the organization announced Wednesday afternoon.

Andy Albert, the association's immediate past president, said the decision to give Lam what the association calls its "most prestigious" award was not a political one.

"We just felt she was a great example of courage and dignity under fire," Albert said. "She really took the high road in her entire tenure. ... It was merely a recognition of the high-class way she represented herself and, as an extension, the legal community."

Lam, a senior vice president and legal counsel for Qualcomm, Inc., since February, said Wednesday that the award is "a great honor."

"I'd like to be accepting the award on behalf of the United States attorney's office," Lam said. "The attorneys in that office surely deserve it more than I do."

In a news release announcing the award for Lam and 10 other awards, the bar association said Lam "has demonstrated the highest level of ethics and professionalism and fought government corruption and corporate misdeeds."

A longtime assistant U.S. attorney, Lam was appointed to and served as a Superior Court judge for less than two years before being named U.S. attorney in San Diego in 2002. Lam resigned as the top federal prosecutor Feb. 15.

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, whose district covers much of North County and Temecula, was a vocal critic of Lam, contending she was not prosecuting alien smuggling and other border cases enough.

Issa's spokesman, Frederick Hill, said Wednesday afternoon that the congressman's criticism of Lam was focused on a "policy difference," and that Issa believes Lam deserves the recognition the bar association is giving her.

"Congressman Issa thinks the bar association has made a good choice," Hill said Wednesday. "Carol Lam has made important contributions to San Diego."

U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. Critics of the firings of Lam and the other U.S. attorneys have argued that the actions were politically motivated. The White House has said the dismissals were for failing to follow policy objectives.

A former top official at the Justice Department testified to Congress in March that Lam was asked to resign because of a problem with her immigration prosecutions and not because her office pursued a political corruption case that resulted in a guilty plea and federal prison sentence for now-disgraced former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a Republican.

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