Stimson Medal Honors Integrity and Fairness in Public Service

As mentioned in: New York Law Journal
June 5, 2012
The New York City Bar Association held its 20th annual Henry L. Stimson Medal ceremony June 5, with four Assistant U.S. Attorneys receiving medals in recognition of their outstanding public service. The ceremony was covered in the New York Law Journal and Main Justice. The medal is named for Henry Stimson, who served as U.S. Attorney in New York from 1906 to 1909 and who was a founding partner of Pillsbury's New York legacy firm, Winthrop Stimson. Pillsbury partner Mark Hellerer, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, serves as Chair of the New York Bar's Stimson Medal Committee. He says the medal is a tribute to the standard of fairness and integrity in public service Mr. Stimson set for U.S. Attorneys Office in New York, one that also became a model for other U.S. Attorney offices.

The legacy of Mr. Stimson's high standard can be seen in the careers that have launched from the U.S. Attorney's offices in New York, and in those honored by the medal that bears his name. This year's medal recipients—Roger Burlingame, Kenneth Abell, Laurie Korenbaum, and David Kennedy—join a cohort that has gone on to accomplish significant achievements in the public and private sector. One of the first recipients, James Comey, became the Associate Attorney General for the United States, and a number of winners have taken other senior positions in the Department of Justice in Washington. Rob Khuzami is current head of the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Patrick Fitzgerald, as the United States Attorney in Chicago, prosecuted the cases against former Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Mr. Comey and David Kelley served as the U.S. Attorney in New York's Southern District and Alan Vinegrad in the Eastern District.  Other winners, Richard Sullivan, Cathy Seibel and Paul Gardephe, have become federal district judges in the Southern District Court.

Pillsbury co-sponsors the event with the Bar Association of New York; Mark Hellerer and retired partner and senior counsel Stephen Weiner serve on the committee. Many Pillsbury lawyers attend this annual Bar Association event.