Our position on seeking awards isn't because we don't think we'd win them, it's really two things.  The first is that we'd much rather invest the time and resources that go into pursuing awards (some firms have whole teams who do this) into our pro bono work.  Second, some of the work we are most proud of is incredibly sensitive, such as crisis (this is the ethical dilemma).  To win the award "crisis response of the year" means detailing to a committee, or an entire profession, what your client went through and how you helped them navigate it.  Why anyone thinks this is a good and decent endeavor is beyond us.  Most of the crisis work we do is never known -- that's what makes it worthy of an award.  It's simple: we will NEVER market or promote ourselves on the back of clients' misfortunes.  For the same reason we do not list clients on our website -- no firm should -- particularly those in crisis (they'd all be happy to speak to you privately).