2020 STATE BAR AWARDS
Snodgrass lauded for sacrifices he makes to serve children as guardian ad litem By Joe Menden
When Fred Snodgrass reflects on his reasons for working as a guardian ad litem in numerous Montana courts, he is reminded of a parable about a boy trying to rescue starfish that have washed up all over a beach. When a man passing by sees the boy tossing a starfish back into the water amid the thousands of others, he tells the boy that he can’t possibly be making a difference. “I made a difference for that one,” the boy replies as he continues the never-ending job. “If we can make a difference for someone, especially for a child, it makes the work worthwhile,” Snodgrass said. Snodgrass’ work as a GAL is among the reasons that he was named the 2020 winner of the State Bar of Montana’s George L. Bousliman Professionalism Award. Snodgrass’ nomination received letters of support from numerous lawyers and other stakeholders in the justice system. One of those was the Thirteenth Judicial District Judge Gregory Todd – one of the judges in whose court Snodgrass serves as a GAL. Judge Todd said that when longtime Yellowstone County GAL Damon Gannett passed away last fall, Snodgrass was the only one person he Fred Snodgrass of Billings is the State Bar of Montana’s 2020 George L. Bousliman Professionalism Award. thought of who could fill his shoes. And even though Snodgrass already was serving as a GAL in two of his colleagues’ courts, he did not hesitate to say yes. These cases which he selflessly takes are emotionally “Fred sacrifices scores of hours of full billing per month to serve as draining and often very thankless. But it is critical that guardian ad litem in three courts and his clients receive the quality of representation that conflict counsel in many criminal and Fred gives. He has the ultimate respect of all my coldependent neglect cases,” Judge Todd said. “He gets paid a fraction of his leagues in the 13th Judicial District. Professionalism, page 19 WWW.MONTANABAR.ORG
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