Orrick Announces Recipients of Firm Awards for Leadership, Mentoring and Pro Bono
March.20.2015
Each year, Orrick presents awards to attorneys and staff who inspire us through their passion for leadership, innovation, mentoring, diversity and inclusion, pro bono, community service and the relentless pursuit of improvement. This year’s recipients are as follows:
The Baxter Leadership Award
Honors a partner who inspires us through distinguished innovation and leadership.
Tony Kim, Antitrust Partner, Washington, D.C
Tony leads our cybersecurity and data privacy practice, co-leads the cartels team, and serves as Washington, D.C., hiring partner. This year, he helped develop Orrick's inaugural In-House Counsel Academy, creating opportunities for diverse Orrick partners on both coasts to share their insights with clients. He is a past recipient of Orrick’s mentoring award.
The Talkington Mentoring Award
This year, we renamed our annual Mentoring Award in memory of Alan Talkington, a partner in our San Francisco office, who passed away in November at the age of 57. Over his 30 years at the firm, Alan mentored generations of Orrick corporate lawyers.
Eric Hairston, White Collar Partner, San Francisco
Well known for his open-door policy, Eric was nominated by seven associates for this year’s award. Those with whom he works describe him as someone who encourages "associates to have client contact and to challenge themselves … [He] is great at providing real time feedback and helping you succeed at projects that you might be afraid to take on."
Davin Stockwell, Patent Of Counsel, Orange County
Davin is known for his passion for training and mentoring associates in Orange County and beyond. Associates note that he “not only spends countless hours training new associates in patent prosecution, but provides career guidance and motivates his team to be attorneys second to none."
The Diversity Award
Cory Lankford, Energy & Infrastructure Managing Associate, Washington, D.C.
An active member of Orrick’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, D.C. Attorneys' Committee and LGBT Attorney Affinity Group, Cory helped develop and publish a monthly newsletter highlighting diversity in our Washington, D.C. office. He also helps lead the office's diversity recruiting efforts.
Warrington Parker, Trade Secrets Partner, San Francisco
Warrington spearheaded Orrick’s In-House Counsel Academy, which paired nearly 100 current in-house counsel and Orrick lawyers for a series of panel discussions of issues faced by every in-house counsel.
The Pro Bono Award
Richard Chirls, Tax Partner, New York
Through a pilot pro bono program focused on serving veterans, Richard argued for a discharge upgrade for homeless veteran before a three-panel Army Discharge Review Board. He developed a profound and unique bond with his client, which he has noted was one of the most rewarding representations of his career.
Al Sawyers, Structured Finance Partner, New York
Al advised the Calvert Social Investment Foundation in the creation of a groundbreaking five-year, $10-million credit facility that will accelerate nonprofits' access to donor funding and life-saving health supplies in the developing world.
Marc Shapiro, Supreme Court & Appellate Senior Associate, New York
Marc is a key team member for an impact litigation matter that is helping to preserve the rights of death-sentence inmates across the United States. He also serves as the lead lawyer in a complex federal criminal appeal for an 80-year-old nun and two codefendants who, as part of a Ploughshares protest, penetrated a secure nuclear facility.
The Community Responsibility Award
Mandy Perry, Employment Law Of Counsel, London
Mandy serves as Deputy Chair of the Board for a local state-run school and nursery that serves a diverse and disadvantaged community. In this role, she has provided comprehensive pro bono legal assistance, engaged in fund-raising and provided general support to the teaching staff, senior leadership body and parent association.
Ruben Pisal, Real Estate Managing Associate, Berlin
As part of their support of an orphanage in Berlin, Ruben and friends established Weihnachtsengel e.V., a nonprofit dedicated to providing Christmas presents to children living in hospices, refugee homes and shelters. Pisal has also helped to foster our German offices’ relationship with the organization.
Kristin Greene, Senior Manager of Diversity & Inclusion, San Francisco
Among the many community initiatives she is involved in, Kris serves on the San Francisco office's Orrick Cares Committee and helped arrange the signature event: a beach cleanup in partnership with the California Coastal Commission that involved 120 Orrick attorneys, staff, friends and family members. She is also actively involved in the San Francisco office's partnership with Rebuilding Together, which provides free repairs to low income seniors and free renovations to nonprofit facilities throughout the city.
Steve Johnston, Business Continuity Coordinator, Wheeling
Steve coordinated and volunteered for the Challenge Wheeling Youth Services System Scavenger Hunt; painted curbs in Center Wheeling during the "Clean Crawl" Earth Day activity; participated in the Relay for Life; organized two Red Cross Blood drives; and coordinated various safety trainings for the Wheeling office, among other activities benefiting both the firm and the Wheeling community.