09 Sep IMLA Celebrates 2026 Awards Winners
On September 24th during our 91st Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, IMLA will announce and recognize our 2026 award winners. These award winners are IMLA members who have gone above and beyond the field of municipal law and were nominated by their colleagues to receive these awards.
The Charles S. Rhyne Lifetime Achievement In Municipal Law Award
The Lifetime Achievement in Municipal Law Award is the highest award given by IMLA. The award honors the recipient’s lifetime achievements in the field of municipal law and is a lasting commemorative to Charles S. Rhyne, the founder of IMLA and to his life’s work. The award is meant to recognize a truly uncommon individual. In the field of municipal law, the public service performed and the achievements of the recipient during his or her lifetime are truly outstanding, have benefitted municipal attorneys both locally and nationally, and are so significantly above and beyond the call of duty and expectations for performance in the positions held that no other award would be appropriate. Additionally, the services rendered by the recipient have helped move IMLA toward the goal and objectives established in its short and long-range plans.
Randall Van Vleck
Randall Van Vleck is a graduate of the Washburn University School of Law. He is the Managing Attorney of Van Vleck Law, LLC and of counsel to a small firm that limits its practice to local government law. Randall’s first local government law experience was the City Attorney for the City of Rio Rancho which at the time was the state’s third largest municipality. From there he spent 24 years as the General Counsel to the New Mexico Municipal League. He has served as President of the state Municipal Attorneys’ Association and Chairman of the State Bar Local Government Law Specialization Committee. Randall has served IMLA as an early member of the Strategic Planning Committee and currently serves as a member of the Program Planning Committee. He has been the Recorder, Vice Chair and Chair of the State League Council Section of IMLA. He has served twice as a member of the Board of Directors of IMLA. In 2001 Randall was named a Fellow in Local Government by IMLA, and re-certified in 2006, 2010 and 2012, and in 2021. He has served for many years as the Chair of the Local Government Fellows Committee. Randall was named IMLA’s Outstanding State League Counsel for 2014 and in 2017 he received the William I. Thornton, Jr. IMLA Faculty Award. He has spoken numerous times at IMLA seminars and conferences and was on the faculty of the Institute for Local Government Law for several years up until his retirement in May of 2026.
Wendy E. Walberg
Since 2017 Wendy Walberg has led the Legal Services Division for Canada’s largest city with a team of 192 lawyers providing a full range of services to Toronto City Council, its committees, agencies, municipal boards and the Toronto public service. She herself has practiced if a variety of practice areas during her career including municipal governance, intergovernmental relations, land use planning, employment law and general litigation and is frequently called upon for strategic problem solving to unstick files in a full range of areas. Wendy is a member of the City of Toronto Senior Leadership Team. She is certified by the law Society of Ontario as a specialist in Municipal Law (Local Government) and holds both an LLB and an LLM (Administrative Law) from Osgoode Hall Law School. Wendy has written articles for Bar Association publications, International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) and for the Municipal and Planning Law Report. She has spoken at many events including for the Law Society of Ontario, Woman General Counsel of Canada, IMLA, the Municipal Law Departments Association, and the Ontario Bar Association. She was a panelist on the Collingwood Judicial Inquiry and has been a guest lecturer at law schools. Wendy was a member of the Board of Governors of Lakehead University from 2018 to 2022 and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the International Municipal Lawyers Association.
IMLA James H. Epps, III Award for Longevity of Service To A Community
IMLA established this award to honor the memory of James H. Epps, III, who represented Johnson City, Tennessee as its attorney for over 40 years. This award recognizes the significant achievement of attorneys having the political and legal skills necessary to represent the same community for at least 30 years and who have been active in IMLA during all or a part of that career.
Lawrence K. Copeland
Senior Attorney – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Larry Copeland joined the City of Philadelphia Law Department for a one-year stint 34 years ago. He chiefly handles a variety of real estate and commercial transactions, including unique development leases, concession agreements, license agreements, purchase and sale agreements, and easements. Mr. Copeland provides legal services for the Mayor’s Office, Department of Parks and Recreation, Free Library, Public Property Department, Managing Director’s Office, Office of Arts and Culture, and other City departments.
Mr. Copeland was the City’s lead attorney in negotiating and writing agreements to implement several significant developments in the City, including construction of the Barnes Foundation Museum, Calder Gardens, Please Touch Museum, the Adventure Center in East Fairmount Park, parking garages for the Philadelphia Zoo and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the School of the Future, Franklin Square redevelopment, and the Legacy Youth Tennis Academy (formerly, Arthur Ashe Youth and Tennis Education). Most recently, he spearheaded negotiations and wrote the agreements for the leasing and redevelopment of the City’s culturally and historically famous Cobbs Creek Golf Course, and he completed a concession agreement under which the City’s vital records going back to the late 1600s will be digitized and made available online.
Mr. Copeland also advises City officials about legal issues arising with the City’s vast public art collection and its museum collections, including loans, conservation contracts, deaccessioning, and acquisitions. He guided the closure of the Philadelphia Civic Center and disposition of its museum collection, and he is currently helping to arrange new management of the City’s historical artifact collection. He’s drafted deeds of trusts to create art conservation endowments and litigated charitable trust issues affecting art collections, monuments, and memorials in the City.
Within the City of Philadelphia Law Department, Mr. Copeland has led courses and conducted several in-house trainings for new attorneys about contract drafting and concession agreement strategies and techniques.
Mr. Copeland has served as an Adjunct Professor teaching “Contract Drafting” at Rutgers University School of Law – Camden, the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, and University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is certified as a LEED Green Associate by the U.S. Green Building Council. He served as Vice President of Taney Youth Baseball Association when the youth baseball league fielded a team that reached the 2014 Little League World Series. He is an avid bicycle touring cyclist. He anchored third base – the hot corner – when the Law Department softball team played a perfect winning season culminating in the league championship. For several years he has advocated for having large dogs roam the Law Department for attorneys to pet and play with for mental health breaks.
Before joining the City, Mr. Copeland worked with the law firm Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was editor on the journal Law and Policy in International Business.
Daniel J. Curtin, Jr. Young Public Lawyer Award
This award is established to honor the memory of Daniel J. Curtin, Jr. by recognizing a new practitioner who exhibits those qualities that made Dan one of the truly remarkable lawyers working on behalf of public clients. In addition to the traditional qualities of excellence in the practice of law, the award seeks to recognize a public law practitioner who has provided outstanding service to the public and who possesses an exemplary reputation in the legal community, the highest of ethical standards and who revels in maintaining a life that balances a passion for professional excellence and the joy of family and friends. In addition, the award seeks to recognize a person who exhibits qualities of openness and humility coupled with a sincere concern for the interests of others, including the professional development of newer practitioners.
Delanté S. Thomas
Chief Ethics Officer – Cleveland, Ohio
Delanté Spencer Thomas serves as the first-ever Chief Ethics Officer for the City of Cleveland where he provides advice, counsel, and training to the Mayor and a city workforce of nearly 8,000 employees with regard to Ohio Ethics Law. In addition to building a citywide ethics program, Delanté assists in overseeing the City’s police accountability efforts and consent decree compliance. Prior to joining City leadership, Delanté spent five years as Deputy Inspector General and Ethics Counsel for Cuyahoga County. Additionally, since 2017, Delanté has managed his own private practice and consulting firm – LMP Solutions, LLC – focusing on ethics/code of conduct training and development, housing law, personal injury, small business, non-profit, and government consulting. Delanté is the immediate past president of the Norman S. Minor Bar Association – the premier bar association for Black legal professionals in Northeast Ohio. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Cleveland State University Law Alumni Association, where he most notably co-chaired its Annual Recognition Luncheon that drew nearly 1000 attendees and is the largest gathering of attorneys in the state of Ohio. Additionally, Delanté has worked as an adjunct law professor at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University (CSU) teaching various courses. Delanté is a native of East Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Syracuse University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Sport Management and a masters degree in public relations. Delanté then returned home and attended CSU. There, he earned a Juris doctor degree as well as a second masters in Labor Relations & Human Resources. Most recently, Delanté was recognized by the National Bar Association as one the Top 40 Lawyers Under 40 – Nation’s Best Advocates. In 2023, he was inducted into the CSU College of Law Hall of Fame as the Leader on the Rise. The Cleveland Branch of the NAACP also awarded Delanté with the Rising Leader Award in 2022 and in 2021, he was featured in Crain’s Cleveland Business’ 40 Under 40.
Brown, Mulligan, Rocha Distinguished Public Service Award
This award is established to honor a local government attorney for significant and surpassing achievements in the field of local government law occurring or culminating in the previous year. In the past, this award was known as the Joseph I. Mulligan Distinguished Service Award. The additions of Benjamin Brown and Susan Rocha, however, both reflect IMLA’s rich and diverse history as well as its continued recognition and celebration of local government attorneys who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to further the practice of municipal law.
Sharon L. Dickgrafe
Chief Deputy City Attorney – Wichita, Kansas
Sharon Dickgrafe started her career with the City of Wichita in 1992 as supervisor of the City Prosecutor’s Office. She has served as Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City of Wichita since 2011, overseeing the City’s civil litigation and criminal prosecution functions as well as providing legal counsel to the City Manager, City Council, and City departments. Her work includes developing City policy and drafting municipal ordinances that shape governance in Kansas’s largest city.
A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law, and Kansas State University, graduating with a degree in Family and Consumer Economics, Sharon has spent more than three decades dedicated to the practice of municipal law.
Her leadership in the profession runs deep. She served as President of the City Attorneys Association of Kansas in 2016 and has been a board member since 2011. She served as IMLA 10th Circuit -South Vice President from 2015 to 2024 and has held the IMLA Fellow designation since 2016. She is a longtime member of the Kansas Bar Association and the Wichita Bar Association, previously serving as Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer.
Beyond her formal roles, Sharon has given back to the next generation of legal professionals by chairing the Wichita Bar Association’s Summer Intern Program, mentoring high school students interested in the practice of law. She is a sought-after CLE presenter, regularly sharing her expertise on municipal law, code enforcement, ethics, and criminal law with colleagues across the state of Kansas.
Outside of her legal career, Sharon values time with her family, growing butterfly gardens and volunteers with animal rescue organizations in Wichita.
Outstanding State League Counsel Award
IMLA established this next award, the Outstanding State League Counsel Award, to honor those attorneys who serve as counsel to their state league of cities or association of counties, towns or other local government entities and who are recognized for their valued service to the members of their organizations and for their skills as attorneys. Like other IMLA awards, this award expects the recipient to exhibit the traditional qualities of excellence in the practice of law, but also seeks to recognize a practitioner who has provided outstanding service to local governments and who possesses an exemplary reputation in the legal community, the highest of ethical standards and who is devoted to improving local governments.
Rebecca A. O’Hara
Deputy General Counsel – Florida League of Cities
Rebecca O’Hara has 30 years’ experience representing private and public sector clients in local government, environmental, land use, and administrative law. As Deputy General Counsel for the Florida League of Cities, Rebecca provides legal counsel and legislative advocacy on a variety of municipal issues, including water quality and water supply, municipal utilities, ethics, elections, housing and land use, and legislative preemptions.
Rebecca advises the League’s Intergovernmental Relations, Mobility & Emergency Management Legislative Policy Committee and serves as Executive Secretary of the Florida Municipal Attorneys Association. In addition, she chairs the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Commission.
Rebecca is a Florida Bar Board Certified specialist in City, County, and Local Government Law and graduated with High Honors from the Florida State University College of Law.
Brad D. Bailey Assistant City/County Attorney Award
The Brad D. Bailey Award is established to honor the memory of Brad D. Bailey by recognizing a public law practitioner who has provided outstanding service to the public and who possesses an exemplary reputation in the legal community, the highest of ethical standards and who revels in maintaining a life that balances a passion for professional excellence and the joy of family and friends.
Morgan D. Davis
Senior Assistant City Attorney – Las Vegas, Nevada
Morgan Davis serves as the Senior Assistant City Attorney for the Las Vegas City Attorney’s Office. A seasoned attorney with 37 years of experience, including 31 with the City of Las Vegas, Morgan is recognized for his strong problem-solving abilities, professionalism, and extensive expertise in human resources, labor, and employment law. In his time with the City, Morgan has engaged in over 60 labor negotiations with the Las Vegas City Employees Association, the International Association of Firefighters Local #1285, the Las Vegas Peace Officers’ Association, and the Las Vegas Police Protective Association. He has participated in dozens of labor arbitrations, fact-findings, court hearings, and hearings before the Nevada Employee Management Labor Relations Board. Finally, he has assisted with every other topic from public records to personal injury litigation to workers’ compensation.
Outside of his legal career, Morgan is a devoted husband to his wife, Mary, and a proud father to their two children, Mara and Max. He is actively involved in his church, where he supports its philanthropic and community outreach efforts.
Megan K. DiSanto
Deputy City Solicitor – Providence, Rhode Island
Megan DiSanto joined the City Solicitor’s Office in 2011. Prior to that, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and worked in private practice as a litigation associate at Burns & Levinson LLP. She has also worked as a staff attorney for the Rhode Island Supreme Court in the Office of General Counsel.
As a Deputy City Solicitor, Megan represents the City in civil litigation in a wide range of matters, including but not limited to personal injury cases, discrimination claims, labor disputes, and matters claiming constitutional violations. She practices in both state and federal courts at both the trial court and appellate levels. Megan serves as counsel to various land use boards, including the zoning board and planning board, and handles related litigation and appeals. She previously oversaw the contracts unit and represented several departments regarding their transactions with third parties, currently handling contractual matters for the City on an as-needed basis. Megan manages the City’s affirmative litigation, which primarily involves antitrust and securities fraud cases seeking to recoup losses to the City resulting from market manipulation by pharmaceutical and public companies.
From 2016-2022 Megan served as a member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee. Starting in 2022 she was appointed to serve on the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s Character and Fitness Committee. She is a Rhode Island Bar Foundation fellow.
Megan received her B.A. with High Distinction from the University of Michigan and her J.D. magna cum laude from Roger Williams University School of Law, where she matriculated on a merit-based Honors Program and full-tuition scholarship. While in law school, she served as a Notes and Comments Editor for the Roger Williams University Law Review. She lives on the East Side of Providence with her husband and two children.
Burk E. (Buck) Delventhal Legal Advocacy Award
This award honors the life and legacy of Burk E. Delventhal, known to all as Buck. Buck served as a Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco for almost 50 years from 1970 to 2019. He carried a legal library in his head and the history of San Francisco and its community in his heart. Buck was not just the oracle of the City Charter, a highly accomplished courtroom attorney, and the go-to person for tough legal questions. Buck was a beacon. He was a beacon of inspiration, trust, and boundless optimism. He was a legal lion and an even better person. His distinguished legal career is summarized in the award description on our website.
The award recognizes the work of an attorney of an IMLA member in legal advocacy and education who has demonstrated superior professional skills in advancing the interests of the nominee’s clients and of local government generally, and who, through litigation, legislative work, and educational efforts, has advanced the health, safety, and welfare of the community or communities the attorney has served.
Lynette M. Perez
Chief Deputy City Attorney – Little Rock, Arkansas
Lynette M. Perez is Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City of Little Rock, Arkansas, where she leads a 12-attorney office across four divisions. Her 35-year public service career spans elected office, county government, prosecution, and private practice — including service as a Las Vegas City Councilwoman, Clark County Commissioner, and Assistant City Manager of Las Vegas, as well as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Arkansas’s 17th Judicial District. She has tried more than 100 cases to verdict, including civil rights and Title VII jury trials, and successfully defended the City and its Police Department in no-knock warrant litigation before the Eighth Circuit.
Among the public projects she is proudest of, Perez partnered with the U.S. General Services Administration after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to help develop the physical-security design guidelines for the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse in Las Vegas — the first federal courthouse built to those standards, later adopted nationwide.
Perez serves as IMLA Regional Vice President for the 8th Circuit South, teaches constitutional law at the Little Rock Police Department Academy, and wrote “The 14th Amendment from Homer Plessy to Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” published in the Spring 2026 volume of the Creighton Law Review. She holds a B.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an M.P.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, along with a J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law.
Lynette and her husband, Eli, are the proud parents of eight adult children — the youngest of whom just graduated college in May with a job already in hand.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award
IMLA is committed to supporting members who embrace diversity as part of their core values and we are excited to provide a way to recognize the people that are leading these efforts. Diversity covers the variety of cultures, experiences, expertise, and viewpoints that offer value in every community and are incorporated into the fabric of every community. Diversity encompasses age, education level, ethnicity and race, gender expression and identity, nationality, national origin, physical and mental ability, religious perspectives, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, veteran status and other human differences. By embracing diversity, municipalities and their law departments attract and retain skilled and talented employees dedicated to excellence in providing service to the community and to their clients. Nominations were accepted for an individual’s or a group’s efforts, initiatives or programs that promote diversity and inclusion values within their local government, office or community.
Aqueelah A. Jordan
Assistant City Attorney – Cleveland, Ohio
Aqueelah Jordan is the Chief Assistant Prosecutor for the City of Cleveland. Aqueelah previously served as an Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor where she worked in the Juvenile Division, General Felony Unit before being promoted to Major Trial Unit in 2016. Prior to that position, she worked for the City of Cleveland as a Prosecutor and Mediation Director.
Aqueelah earned her Juris Doctorate at Cleveland State University College of Law. Aqueelah also earned her master’s degree in public administration from Cleveland State University, and her Bachelor’s degree from Case Western Reserve University.
Aqueelah was sworn in as the City of Cleveland Chief Prosecutor in July of 2020. In this role, she oversees the City Prosecutor’s Office which prosecutes misdemeanor offenses, and reviews most felony offenses that occur in the City of Cleveland. Aqueelah is a proud member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and a licensed foster/adoptive mom in Cuyahoga County.
President’s Award
In 2001, the Board of Directors established two new awards. These recognize the achievements and contributions of first, an IMLA State Chair or Provincial chair, and second, an Associate Member over the course of the past year. The recipients are selected by the President with the advice and counsel of the IMLA Board and Executive Director.
Outstanding State/Provincial Chair
M. Kent Lesesne
Director of Governmental Affairs – South Carolina Association of Counties
M. Kent Lesesne joined the Association of Counties in February 2007. Prior to that time, he was a litigation attorney in the General Counsel’s Office of the South Carolina Department of Labor, License and Regulations. Kent is a 1989 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and English from the University of South Carolina in 1986. He served as the Director of Governmental Affairs at the Association for six years where he managed a team of attorneys that advocated on behalf of the counties at the South Carolina General Assembly. He currently serves as Of Counsel and continues to assist the legislative team at the General Assembly as well as conducting training for counties on various topics such as how to conduct meetings, legislative procedures, and public records laws.
Outstanding Associate Member
Stephen J. Smith
Partner – FBT Gibbons LLP
Stephen represents public entities in economic development, land use planning and general municipal issues. His practice encompasses all aspects of municipal law including zoning and land use, eminent domain, administrative appeals, public records issues, public contracts and law enforcement issues.
Stephen currently serves as the law director for the City of Grove City, Village of Obetz and as assistant law director for the City of Dublin. He teaches Local Government law at Capital University Law School.