Lawyers Alliance for New York Announces 2017 Cornerstone Awards for Lawyers Providing Superior Pro Bono Service to Nonprofit Organizations
Lawyers Alliance for New York proudly announces that two leading law firms – Latham & Watkins LLP and Mayer Brown LLP – are recipients of the 2017 Cornerstone Awards. These awards, the highest business law pro bono honor in New York, recognize outstanding pro bono legal services to nonprofit organizations that are improving quality of life for low-income New Yorkers. Lawyers Alliance will present this year’s awards at a ceremony on November 14 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Viacom, 1515 Broadway in New York City.
The 2017 Cornerstone Award winners also include 14 outstanding individuals selected from more than 1,800 business and transactional lawyers who volunteered through Lawyers Alliance during the past year.
“This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Cornerstone Awards, and Lawyers Alliance is thrilled to celebrate the generous and talented attorneys who have helped nonprofit clients thrive over the years. This year’s winners exemplify the legal sector’s commitment to helping New York City’s low-income communities,” said Larren M. Nashelsky, Chair of the Board of Directors of Lawyers Alliance.
This year’s Institutional Cornerstone awardees are:
Latham & Watkins LLP: Latham & Watkins LLP’s dedication to pro bono work is a source of pride and a fundamental part of the firm’s culture, and the firm provided free legal services valued at approximately $135 million last year. The firm has partnered with Lawyers Alliance for more than 20 years, including more than 30 legal matters for more than 25 nonprofit clients since 2012, with 22 new matters since 2015. Its collaborative approach to client service is reflected in the corporate, contract, transactional, regulatory, and other sophisticated pro bono legal services it has provided to nonprofit clients. As a result of this pro bono work, nonprofit organizations have stronger programs, operations, finances, and facilities and therefore can better serve more New Yorkers in need.
Mayer Brown LLP: Mayer Brown LLP’s dedication to fostering an equitable society is closely aligned with Lawyers Alliance’s aim to improve the quality of life in low-income New York City communities, and firm lawyers provided more than 58,000 hours of pro bono work last year to help the disadvantaged. Mayer Brown’s steadily increasing pro bono work with Lawyers Alliance includes 31 legal projects for more than 25 organizations since 2012, and 21 new matters since 2015. Thanks to the firm’s high quality legal services, its pro bono nonprofit clients have been able to navigate a complex array of corporate, information technology, and other business law challenges. This legal guidance has improved the ability of economic development, housing, health, and arts organizations to advance their missions and serve urban neighborhoods.
“Lawyers Alliance is pleased to present these two remarkable firms with Institutional Cornerstone Awards, our most significant honor, reflecting a substantial depth and breadth of business and transactional law pro bono. These firms have created a culture that encourages pro bono work, which in turn has helped nonprofit organizations across New York City,” noted Sean Delany, Lawyers Alliance’s Executive Director.
This year’s Individual Cornerstone awardees are:
Eric Allendorf and Matthew DeAtley, Paul Hastings LLP: For helping a disaster relief organization ensure that New Yorkers displaced by Hurricane Sandy have access to temporary housing while repairing their homes.
Joann B. Birle, Herrick, Feinstein LLP: For providing expert real estate legal advice to nonprofit organizations, allowing them to secure the space needed to serve their communities.
Cheryl L. Davis and Karen Kim, Menaker & Herrmann LLP: For ensuring that a women’s economic empowerment organization’s intellectual property assets were protected in preparation for the launch of an international campaign.
Oren Epstein, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP: For a long-term commitment to pro bono work, including intellectual property matters for environmental, economic opportunity, and educational organizations.
Scott Feira, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and Karen Peled, NBCUniversal Media, LLC: For collaborating to negotiate a telecommunications contract for a Queens multi-service agency and encouraging corporate pro bono.
Richard G. Kass, Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC: For providing sensitive, supportive employment legal advice to nonprofits over a span of 20 years.
William X. Lang, Winston & Strawn LLP: For high quality services in real estate and contract law, resulting in the space and structure needed by nonprofits to provide services to New Yorkers.
Benet O’Reilly, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP: For leading a team of colleagues providing a range of sophisticated legal assistance to a community-based foundation in Brooklyn.
Susan L. Ross, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP: For making pro bono service a priority throughout her career, including expert technology and privacy law support to benefit numerous nonprofit organizations.
Chris M. Smith, Shearman & Sterling LLP: For spearheading a long-term project that will enable a media arts center to sell its air rights and secure its financial future.
Daniel J. Venditti, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP: For providing crucial employment law advice to help nonprofits manage productive workplaces.
“Since the inaugural Cornerstone Awards in 1997, only 210 of our 7,500 volunteers have received an Individual Cornerstone Award. These are Lawyers Alliance’s strongest of our strong volunteers, and they demonstrate how lawyers can positively affect their communities,” said Elizabeth M. Guggenheimer, Lawyers Alliance’s Deputy Executive Director and Director of Institutional Advancement.
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About Lawyers Alliance for New York: By connecting lawyers, nonprofits, and communities, Lawyers Alliance for New York helps organizations to develop and provide housing, stimulate economic opportunity, improve urban health and education, promote community arts, and operate and advocate for vital programs for low-income New Yorkers of all ages. During the past year, the 13 staff attorneys at Lawyers Alliance worked with more than 1,800 volunteer attorneys from New York City’s finest law firms and corporate legal departments to represent more than 650 nonprofit clients on more than 1,200 matters. Lawyers Alliance also reaches nonprofit organizations and attorneys through its workshops, publications, and other educational programs.