News Release

Mike Rubin Honored with Lane Award for Lifetime Achievement

October 6, 2020

McGlinchey Stafford proudly announces that Member Michael H. Rubin (Baton Rouge) has been named 2020 recipient of the Frederick S. Lane Award by the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) in recognition of exceptional service to the public, the legal profession, and the College. The award was bestowed during the College’s virtual Annual Business Meeting Tuesday, October 6.

The Lane Award is ACREL’s highest honor, bestowed by the Board of Governors on Fellows who are “highly respected, immediately recognized as selfless mentors and role models with significant contributions” to the College and its members. There have been only 12 Lane honorees since 1993. The award is not given every year and is reserved to honor the career contributions of a truly outstanding lawyer.

Mike Rubin said: “It is truly a privilege to be recognized by ACREL and join the other distinguished attorneys who have received the Lane Award. Many of them were my mentors in a remarkable organization filled with preeminent attorneys from across the country. My wife, Ayan, and I cherish the many close friends we have made through ACREL, and I look forward to continuing to participate in this great organization.”

Across his four decades practicing law in Baton Rouge, Mike served as President of ACREL, and is also a Past President of the Baton Rouge Bar Association, Baton Rouge Bar Foundation, Louisiana State Bar Association, Southern Conference of Bar Presidents, and the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit. He has been honored by peers for contributions to the legal community on a local, state, and national level, including recognition as the Distinguished Attorney of Louisiana by the Louisiana Bar Foundation, the Distinguished Alumnus of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU (where he served as adjunct professor for more than 40 years), and is a recipient of the Bernard Caillouet Award for life-time achievement in law-related education, a Gold Medal from the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice for work simplifying the law and making legal services available to the poor, the Stephen Victory Award presented by the Louisiana State Bar Association for outstanding legal writing, and the National Burton Award, presented at the Library of Congress by the Burton Foundation for outstanding legal writing. He has served in a leadership or volunteer capacity for numerous local, state, and national legal organizations. Rubin also is the author of two national award-winning legal thrillers, The Cottoncrest Curse and Cashed Out.

“It’s my honor on behalf of the firm to congratulate our colleague, Mike Rubin, on this well-deserved honor. Mike’s contributions in the area of Real Estate law, his passion for legal education and mentorship and his years of volunteer service put him in rare company. Our firm is proud to celebrate this great accolade,” said McGlinchey’s Managing Member Rudy Aguilar (Baton Rouge).

McGlinchey Member and ACREL Fellow Manuel Farach (Ft. Lauderdale) stated: “Extraordinary lawyers are great at balancing competing interests. No one does it better than Mike Rubin: he’s assertive without being aggressive, creative while remaining faithful to the client’s instructions, and compassionate without losing his objectivity. Mike is the consummate lawyer – the type of lawyer we all strive to be – and his contributions to ACREL make him very deserving of this award.”

McGlinchey Member and ACREL Fellow Marshall Grodner (Baton Rouge) shared this in support of this honor: “I began my legal career as Mike Rubin’s associate. He was a fantastic mentor to me, and I know, to many others as well. Mike not only taught me the ins and outs of transactional real estate practice, but also strongly encouraged me to give back to the legal community through teaching, presentations, and writing. I can only hope that I can give half of what Mike gave to me to those who follow me in the firm and in the wider real estate legal community.”

The American College of Real Estate Lawyers is the premier organization of U.S. real estate lawyers. Admission is by invitation only after a rigorous screening process. ACREL’s distinguished, nationally-known lawyers are elected to fellowship based on their outstanding legal ability, experience, and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice of real estate law. For more information about ACREL, visit www.acrel.org.