The Legal Intelligencer is pleased to announce the 2019 Professional Excellence Award winners. We are delighted to highlight the great work and achievements across the full breadth of the Pennsylvania legal community.

The Legal Intelligencer Professional Excellence honorees will be recognized in special editorial sections and at an awards dinner set for June 27 at the Crystal Tea Room in Philadelphia. Click here for booking information. For information about sponsoring the event, contact Andre Sutton at 757-721-9020 or email [email protected].

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Attorney of the Year Finalists

Mark Aronchick, Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller: Aronchick played pivotal roles in—and, most importantly, won—two of the biggest cases in Pennsylvania in 2018. On behalf of the city of Philadelphia, Aronchick successfully defended the controversial sweetened beverage tax. And, on behalf of Gov. Tom Wolf and members of the Pennsylvania Department of State and across four separate lawsuits, Aronchick successfully opposed attempts to block or postpone the institution of new electoral maps ahead of the May 2018 primary elections and November 2018 general elections.

Virginia Gibson, Hogan Lovells: While serving as Hogan Lovells' Philadelphia managing partner and U.S. head of the firm's investigations practice, Gibson led a team that successfully convinced a federal judge to enjoin the U.S. Department of Justice from withholding grant funding because of Philadelphia's status as a “sanctuary city.” The case was closely watched across the country and the district court's ruling was ultimately upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit earlier this year.

Gary Lynch, Carlson Lynch: In a landmark cybersecurity and data privacy case, Lynch successfully argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that companies have a common-law duty to protect their electronically stored employee data. The high court's ruling reversed two controversial lower court rulings that had tossed out a lawsuit against UPMC over a data breach that exposed the personal information of tens of thousands of current and former employees. Earlier in 2018, Lynch was appointed co-lead counsel of national multidistrict litigation brought by over 70 financial institutions against Equifax, related to the company's 2017 data breach.

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Distinguished Leaders

  • Joshua Horn, Fox Rothschild
  • Jim Keller, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr
  • Brent Landau, Hausfeld
  • Lori Miller, Goldberg, Miller & Rubin 
  • Barbara Murphy Melby, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Casey Ryan, Reed Smith
  • Sherrie Savett, Berger Montague
  • Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office
  • Marc Tepper, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
  • Petrese Tucker, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • George Vinci, Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci
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Lifetime Achievement

  • Tom Brophy, Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin
  • Malcolm Gross, Gross McGinley
  • Marina Kats, Kats Jamison & Associates
  • Stephanie Resnick, Fox Rothschild
  • Gregg Rosen, McGuireWoods
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Litigation Departments

  • McNees Wallace & Nurick (General Litigation Winner)
  • Conrad O'Brien (General Litigation Finalist)
  • Kleinbard (Appellate Winner)
  • Berger Montague (Class Action Winner)
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GC Impact

  • Evan Davis, SugarHouse Casino
  • Jordan Frankel, Shift4 Payments
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Best Mentors

  • Paul Fires, Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby
  • Maria L.H. Lewis, Drinker Biddle & Reath
  • Deborah Minkoff, Cozen O'Connor
  • Ji Jun, Philadelphia Law Department
  • Ed Shensky, Stark & Stark
  • Claudia Springer, Reed Smith
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Power Players

  • Scott Cooper, Schmidt Kramer
  • Justin C. Danilewitz, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr
  • Sharon Dietrich, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
  • Jeffrey Sultanik, Fox Rothschild
  • Shea Rhodes, Director CSE Institute, Villanova
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Law Firm Innovators

  • Horty Springer & Mattern
  • J. Kyle Poe, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Reed Smith
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Unsung Heroes

  • John Bielski, Willig, Williams & Davidson
  • Ilana Eisenstein, DLA Piper
  • Emeka Igwe, The Igwe Firm
  • James Turoff, The Hershey Co.
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Lawyers on the Fast Track

  • Brian Berkley, Fox Rothschild
  • Eleanor Bradley Huyett, Ballard Spahr
  • Julia Chapman, Dechert
  • Sarah Fask, Littler Mendelson
  • James P. Faunes, Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig
  • Matthew Galati, Green and Spiegel
  • Gabrielle Giombetti, Ward Greenberg Heller & Reidy
  • Adrienne Gittens, Hogan Lovells
  • Zachary M. Johns, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Molly Kenney, Hausfeld
  • Theresa Langschultz, Duane Morris
  • Diego Matamoros, Kleinbard
  • Elisa P. McEnroe, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  • Rebecca Melley, Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller
  • Daniel S. Morris, Blank Rome
  • Michelle Nguyen, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Amey Park, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis
  • Antonio Pozos, Drinker Biddle & Reath
  • Clare Pozos, U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • Gregory G. Schwab, Pennsylvania Governor's Office of General Counsel
  • Richard Slavin, Larsson & Scheuritzel
  • Aleena Sorathia, Ahmad Zaffarese
  • Whitney Snyder, Hawke McKeon & Sniscak
  • Bradley Terebelo, Heckscher, Teillon, Terrill & Sager
  • Jason Weil, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld