The Burton Awards Program presented awards to five recipients of the first ever “Legends in Law” award June 4 at the Library of Congress.

The Awards, funded by the Burton Foundation in association with the Library of Congress and the Law Library of Congress, recognize and reward achievement in the legal profession. The “Legends in Law” category, introduced this year, honors outstanding general counsel of corporations with 2006 gross revenues exceeding $1 billion. Managing partners in the country's 1,000 largest law firms as well as law school deans can make “Legends in Law” nominations.

The “Legends” winners are James T. Hale, GC, Target Corp.; Michele Coleman Mayes, senior vice president and GC, Pitney Bowes, Inc.; Timothy Mayopoulos, executive vice president and GC, Bank of America; Geralyn M. Presti, senior vice president, GC and assistant secretary, Forest City Enterprises Inc. and Richard H. Walker, GC, Deutsche Bank AG.

William C. Burton, a partner at D'Amato & Lynch and author of Burton's Legal Thesaurus, is the founder and chairman of the Burton Foundation, a non-profit academic organization that concentrates on legal writing.

Burton, who judged the awards, said, “Each of the leaders selected are preeminent in their specialized fields of law. We applaud their careers and their accomplishments. They deserve the accolades and the attention that will be paid to them, and the special designation that will be conferred.”

The Burton Awards Program presented awards to five recipients of the first ever “Legends in Law” award June 4 at the Library of Congress.

The Awards, funded by the Burton Foundation in association with the Library of Congress and the Law Library of Congress, recognize and reward achievement in the legal profession. The “Legends in Law” category, introduced this year, honors outstanding general counsel of corporations with 2006 gross revenues exceeding $1 billion. Managing partners in the country's 1,000 largest law firms as well as law school deans can make “Legends in Law” nominations.

The “Legends” winners are James T. Hale, GC, Target Corp.; Michele Coleman Mayes, senior vice president and GC, Pitney Bowes, Inc.; Timothy Mayopoulos, executive vice president and GC, Bank of America; Geralyn M. Presti, senior vice president, GC and assistant secretary, Forest City Enterprises Inc. and Richard H. Walker, GC, Deutsche Bank AG.

William C. Burton, a partner at D'Amato & Lynch and author of Burton's Legal Thesaurus, is the founder and chairman of the Burton Foundation, a non-profit academic organization that concentrates on legal writing.

Burton, who judged the awards, said, “Each of the leaders selected are preeminent in their specialized fields of law. We applaud their careers and their accomplishments. They deserve the accolades and the attention that will be paid to them, and the special designation that will be conferred.”