Above The Law’s 2016 Lawyer Of The Year Contest: The Finalists!
Cast your vote for one of these eight deserving nominees!
Last year was, for better or worse, a big year in legal news. So it should come as no surprise to see big names dominating our list of finalists for 2016 Lawyer of the Year (“LOTY”).
We received some great nominations from our readers, which we supplemented with our own editorial selections before selecting a slate of eight. Here are the nominees, in alphabetical order, with a brief blurb about each:
1. Hillary Clinton. Whether you worship at the hem of her pantsuit or think she’s above the law (and not in the good way), there’s no denying that this Yale Law School grad and former law firm partner was a consequential figure in 2016. The former First Lady, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of State finally became, in 2016, the first woman to be nominated for the presidency by a major political party. She is also, as one of her nominators put it, “one tough cookie.” Although she didn’t win the presidency, she won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. Will she win LOTY honors as well? That’s up to you, dear readers.
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2. James Comey. Also a polarizing figure, and also someone who undoubtedly made a difference in 2016, the FBI director could have cost Clinton the election, with his eleventh-hour announcement of potentially problematic emails for Hillary Clinton (which turned out to be no big deal in the end). But his defenders would say that he simply followed the evidence, allowed the proper process to play out, and acted with the highest integrity — consequences be damned — to uphold the rule of law (just as he famously did during his time as Deputy Attorney General in the Bush Administration).
3. Merrick Garland. Even the Republicans who opposed putting him on the Supreme Court cannot question the long record of achievement, public service, and integrity that led this Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit to snag President Obama’s final SCOTUS nomination. Nor can they deny that Chief Judge Garland conducted himself with dignity and grace during an undoubtedly difficult period. C’mon, readers, give the good judge a consolation prize!
4. Kamala Harris. Speaking of SCOTUS potential, back in 2012, no less an authority than Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog declared the then-California Attorney General to be “the ideal nominee” for the Supreme Court. But her friends and colleagues said she had her eye on elected office, and they were right: last year, Harris won election to the U.S. Senate, becoming the second African-American woman and the first Indian-American selected to serve in that august body. We suspect that the Senate is not the end of the road for this accomplished attorney.
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5. Duncan Lloyd. If you are one of the many Americans who’s going out of your mind at the thought of a President Trump, considering casting your vote for Lloyd. He is, to refresh your recollection, the Philadelphia city attorney who — while wearing a blue blazer and ascot, and holding a glass of wine — participated in the tagging of an upscale supermarket with “F**k Trump” graffiti. As one of his nominators put it, “He’s pretty bad ass. Way to go, Duncan Lloyd!”
6. Loretta Lynch. Why should you cast your vote for the 83rd and current Attorney General of the United States (who also happens to be the second woman, second African-American, and first African-American woman to hold the office)? As one of her nominators tweeted, last year Lynch was “the lawyer at the center of it all, from trans rights to the HRC email investigation.” During her tenure as AG, the Justice Department successfully prosecuted such high-profile defendants as Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof — and also entered a period of relative stability after the somewhat controversial tenure of Lynch’s predecessor, Eric Holder.
(Runner-up for the “prominent prosecutor” spot: U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who won honorable mention in last year’s LOTY contest — and who, now that he’s sticking around for the Trump Administration, will have future opportunities to distinguish himself.)
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7. Don McGahn. McGahn’s decision to serve as campaign counsel to Donald Trump was not very popular at Jones Day. But let’s give credit where credit is due: the savvy McGahn steered the Donald to victory, without any FEC or other election-law problems, and without a contested convention. And Trump has rewarded McGahn for his efforts, bestowing upon him the plum position of White House counsel — a perch from which McGahn will exert significant influence over administration policy.
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(Runners-up for this “Team Trump” spot: campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, a GW Law grad; Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten; Trump organization special counsel Michael Cohen; outside counsel Marc Kasowitz, sender of threatening correspondence to the New York Times; and former Trump transition chief Chris Christie, who played a major role in the campaign before getting sidelined by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who’s not a Christie fan.)
8. C. Allen Parker. Have we saved the best for last? The foregoing nominees are nice and all, but how many of them have actually made a tangible difference in your lives? How many have put extra money in your wallets?
Allen Parker, who just handed the reins over to Faiza Saeed after a spectacularly successful tenure as presiding partner at Cravath Swaine & Moore, is the man who took NY to $180K. This increase in associate base salaries, the first in almost a decade, spread throughout the land, making life (and loan servicing) that much easier for thousands of grateful young lawyers. If you’re a Biglaw associate with a few more bucks in the bank, as a result of both the June pay raise and the solid November bonuses, then you have Allen Parker and his fellow Cravath partners to thank.
There’s no need to send Parker your crumpled-up currency — Cravath has profits per partner of $3.6 million — but if you want to express your gratitude, vote for him for Lawyer of the Year. And maybe donate to the ASPCA, where Parker is a board member. (I made my donation already; the Cravath pay raise was great for ATL’s traffic — and revenue — last year.)
Who should be named Above the Law’s Lawyer of the Year for 2016? Cast your vote. We’ll leave polls open until SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern time). Thanks!
Who should be named Above the Law’s Lawyer of the Year for 2016?
- Don McGahn (41%, 614 Votes)
- C. Allen Parker (34%, 509 Votes)
- Hillary Clinton (11%, 164 Votes)
- Merrick Garland (4%, 58 Votes)
- Kamala Harris (3%, 43 Votes)
- Duncan Lloyd (3%, 42 Votes)
- James Comey (2%, 35 Votes)
- Loretta Lynch (1%, 18 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,483
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Above The Law’s 2016 Lawyer Of The Year Contest: Nominations Needed
David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].
