NYCLA’s Annual Dinner Celebrates Legal Compliance And Honors Two Women Pioneers In The Legal Community

The New York County Lawyers’ Association’s (NYCLA) 97th Annual Dinner will take place on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The theme of this year’s dinner is “Legal Compliance and Enforcement.” At the dinner, NYCLA will honor chief compliance officers of major corporations and heads of major law enforcement and regulatory entities for their commitment and dedication to the improvement of their organizations and our legal system. The dinner will also honor two women pioneers in the legal profession – Mary Jo White, the only woman to serve as the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York in the more than 200-year history of that office and a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, will receive the 2011 William Nelson Cromwell Award for “unselfish service to the profession and the community,” and Rosalind S. Fink, the first woman president of NYCLA and of counsel at Brill & Meisel, will receive the Boris Kostelanetz Medal, which is conferred upon a member whose record of dedication and service to the association and legal profession comport with its highest standards.
The Annual Dinner co-chairs are Sheila L. Birnbaum, partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and special master of the 9/11 Health Fund; Don D. Buchwald, partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP and former deputy chief of the Criminal Division in the Southern District of New York; Zachary W. Carter, partner, Dorsey & Whitney LLP and former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Robert L. Haig, partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP and a former president of NYCLA; David N. Kelley, partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel and former U.S. attorney, Southern District of New York; Sara E. Moss, executive vice president and general counsel, Estee Lauder Companies; Bart M. Schwartz, Law Office of Bart M. Schwartz and former chief of the Criminal Division in the Southern District of New York; Richard H. Walker, general counsel, Deutsche Bank AG and former director of the Division of Enforcement, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and Stephen P. Younger, partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP and immediate past president of the New York State Bar Association.
Legal Compliance and Enforcement
At the Dinner, NYCLA will salute chief compliance officers of major corporations and heads of major law enforcement and regulatory entities. NYCLA’s honored dais guests at the dinner will include the chief compliance officers of the following companies: American International Group, Inc.; Angelo, Gordon & Co.; Apollo Global Management, LLC; Arrow Electronics, Inc.; Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.; Catholic Health East; CIT Group Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive Company; Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; IDB Bank; KPMG LLP; Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.; NCR Corporation; Pershing LLC; Prudential Financial, Inc.; RBS Securities, Inc.; Standard & Poor’s, LLC; TIAA-CREF; Transatlantic Reinsurance Company; and York Capital Management.
Mary Jo White
When Ms. White left her post as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in 2002, she was acclaimed for her nearly nine years as the leader of what is widely recognized as the premier U.S. attorney’s office in the nation. She had supervised over 200 assistant U.S. attorneys in successfully investigating and prosecuting numerous cases of national and international significance, including complex white-collar and international terrorism cases. Ms. White rejoined Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in 2002 and serves as a partner there and chair of the firm’s 225-lawyer Litigation Department. She has received numerous awards and honorary degrees and is regularly ranked as a leading lawyer by directories that evaluate law firms.
Rosalind S. Fink
Ms. Fink is of counsel to Brill & Meisel and heads its employment law practice. She was NYCLA’s first woman president from 1997-1998 and previously served as one of the early chairs of its Women’s Rights Committee (1981-1984). Under her leadership (and the watchful eye of the incomparable Edith Spivack), this committee continued to be in the forefront of advocacy of equal rights under the law for women. Prior to joining Brill & Meisel, Ms. Fink was the director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action at Columbia University. She has been a member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division, Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Judicial Department, for many years and is currently the president of the New York Inn of Court, which is affiliated with the New York City Bar Association. She was inducted into the Academy of Woman Achievers of the YWCA of the City of New York in 1997 and is regularly recognized as a leading employment lawyer by directories evaluating attorneys.
To participate in the Annual Dinner, please contact Christina Andujar at [email protected].