Law & Society Award Luncheon

NYLPI’s annual Law & Society Award Luncheon is one of the premier events of the legal community in New York City, attended by hundreds of lawyers from AmLaw 100 law firms and from the corporate law departments of Fortune 500 companies. The event honors a prominent member of the private bar for his/her exemplary commitment to public service.

Past honorees include: Drew S. Days, then Solicitor General of the United States, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Governor Mario M. Cuomo, the Honorable A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Robert B. Fiske, Jr., Dean John D. Feerick, Evan A. Davis, Sheila L. Birnbaum, Richard I. Beattie, Mary Jo White, Richard J. Davis, Kenneth R. Feinberg, Zachary W. Carter, Bettina B. Plevan, Bernard W. Nussbaum, and Gary P. Naftalis.

2010 Law & Society Award Luncheon
This year was the Law and Society Award Luncheon’s seventeenth anniversary, and we were delighted to honor Michael S. Helfer, General Counsel of Citigroup Inc. and Theodore V. Wells, Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. The Luncheon was held on February 11, 2010 at The Waldorf Astoria.

Click here for pictures from the event.

Michael S. Helfer
Michael S. Helfer, General Counsel, Citigroup Inc. is respected throughout the legal community for his legal acumen, his deep commitment to pro bono, and his devotion to public service. Prior to joining Citigroup in 2003, Mr. Helfer served as partner and chairman of the Management Committee at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr) where he encouraged and fostered pro bono initiatives. His dedication to ensuring access to justice for all is reflected in Citigroup’s pro bono programs through which hundreds of Citigroup attorneys assist low-income court litigants, battered women, low-income artists, street vendors, and elder care facilities. Early in his career, Mr. Helfer clerked for Chief Judge David Bazelon and served as Counsel for the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1995, he was one of the founding directors of Lawyers for Children America, a nonprofit organization that operates programs through which lawyers provide pro bono assistance to abused and neglected children, and currently serves as a member of its board of directors. His abiding commitment to public service and his community is reflected in his service on the boards of The Legal Aid Society of New York and the Lincoln Center Theatre as well as his previous service as president of the Legal Aid Society in Washington D.C. and the Mayor’s Task Force on Downtown Revitalization in Columbus, Ohio.

Theodore V. Wells
Theodore V. Wells Jr., Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, is admired for his accomplishments as a litigator, his considerable public service, and his staunch commitment to social justice. During his distinguished legal career Mr. Wells has successfully represented prominent political and corporate leaders as well as major corporations. A consummate litigator, Mr. Wells is one of the outstanding jury trial lawyers in the United States, and in June 2009 was awarded the Chambers USA Award for Excellence for his achievements as a business trial lawyer. Mr. Wells’ deep commitment to social justice is reflected in his service as the co-chair of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Board of Directors and as trustee of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. He has served as pro bono general counsel to the New Jersey NAACP and was the New Jersey co-chairperson of the United Negro College Fund. Active in social, political, and community affairs, Mr. Wells served as national treasurer for Senator Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign and general counsel to the New Jersey Democratic Party. Mr. Wells is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been a faculty member of the Practising Law Institute Trial Advocacy Program, a teaching team member of the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop, and a lecturer at the Securities Regulation Institute.


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