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S. 894

STATUS INFORMATION

Senate Resolution
Sponsors: Senator Lourie
Document Path: l:\council\bills\pt\2696sj05.doc

Introduced in the Senate on May 25, 2005
Adopted by the Senate on May 25, 2005

Summary: Henry Hammer

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   5/25/2005  Senate  Introduced and adopted SJ-19

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

5/25/2005

TO HONOR AND RECOGNIZE ATTORNEY HENRY HAMMER OF COLUMBIA FOR HIS EXTRAORDINARY CAREER IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE AND FOR HIS TIRELESS COMMITMENT TO HIS FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND FAITH.

Whereas, at ninety-four years old, Mr. Hammer still has as much passion and dedication to the law and for life as he did when he began his career as an attorney over seventy years ago; and

Whereas, born on October 10, 1910, to European emigrants, Henry Hammer was destined to do great things, and remains today the oldest practicing lawyer in South Carolina; and

Whereas, graduating from high school at the age of sixteen, Mr. Hammer went on to earn his law degree at Fordham University in New York and began his career at twenty-three, becoming the youngest member of the New Jersey Bar Association; and

Whereas, Mr. Hammer has celebrated much success during his seventy-one year career, trying and winning four cases in the United States Supreme Court and arguing more than seventy cases before the South Carolina Supreme Court; and

Whereas, World War II brought Mr. Hammer to Columbia, where he served as a lawyer in the Judge Advocate General's office at Fort Jackson and met his wife, Eleanor Bernstein Hammer, during a social at Beth Shalom Synagogue; and

Whereas, a devoted husband and family man, Mr. Hammer and his wife, Eleanor, have shared a loving sixty-two year marriage and have three sons, all of whom entered the legal profession; and

Whereas, after the war, Mr. Hammer opened a private practice in Columbia with the late Henry Edens, and in the years to come assumed various partners, including his own son, Howard Hammer, in the early 1970s; and

Whereas, standing as a model for upright conduct and embodying an unquestioned wisdom, grace, and dignity, Mr. Hammer, as the oldest practicing lawyer in the State, was the first South Carolina attorney to take a new lawyer oath that emphasizes common courtesy in a special ceremony, where South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal called him a "South Carolina treasure"; and

Whereas, a leader in the Columbia Jewish community, Mr. Hammer was recognized as the recipient of The State of Israel's Star of David Award, given annually to an individual or couple who has been in the forefront of leadership in the local Jewish community and the community at large; and

Whereas, Mr. Hammer also has furthered his faith by serving as a member of the Columbia Jewish Federation and has served on the Board of Directors and as President of both Beth Shalom Synagogue and the Columbia Jewish Community Center, of which he was a founding trustee; and

Whereas, for a lifetime of work as a people's advocate, Mr. Hammer was recognized by the South Carolina Association of Trial Lawyers with its highest award, The Founder's Award, and by the Richland County Bar Association with its highest award; and

Whereas, Mr. Hammer has led a remarkable life, serving with distinction in every endeavor he undertakes, and is to be commended for his outstanding contributions to the field of law and to South Carolina as a whole. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, honor and recognize Attorney Henry Hammer of Columbia for his extraordinary career in pursuit of justice and for his tireless commitment to his family, faith, and community.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Mr. Henry Hammer of Columbia.

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