White-Collar Crime

D.C. Lawyer Prom

An exciting night honoring D.C.'s brightest legal stars.

By  
on

It’s like this… sort of. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Many professional communities have a version of prom. The Oscars, the Tony’s, the Grammy’s, and the Emmy’s are, largely, outgrowths of adult prom for entertainers. The White House Correspondent’s dinner is prom for D.C. journalists and political folks.

For lawyers in Washington, D.C., our prom is the Bar Association of D.C.’s annual Gala.

This year the Gala is on December 2 at the newly opened Wharf Intercontinental. A few hundred D.C. lawyers will don tuxedos and evening gowns. It’s going to be a star-studded night — under a certain technical definition of “star-studded.” You should go.

As with every prom, there will be awards and dinner and dancing. A few years ago uber-Supreme Court advocate Lisa Blatt was the Lawyer of the Year. Without breaking the dance floor privilege in too much specificity, I can say that Lisa Blatt knows how to get down.

Lawyers in D.C. and around the country want to feel like they’re a part of a professional community. We’re looking for ways to connect and feel like we belong. Showing up and celebrating the work that lawyers do is an important part of creating that community.

The main event at the BADC’s Gala is the Lawyer of the Year Award. This year’s Lawyer of the Year is Sally Yates. Remember those innocent times when it seemed that Sally Yates’ legacy would be the Yates memo? Those were the days (for discussion of the Yates memo, see generally, here).

Sponsored

In any event, the theme of this year for the BADC is “The Role of Lawyers in a Constitutional Democracy.” Doubtless Sally Yates will have thoughts.

The BADC’s other marquee award is Judge of the Year; this year it’s U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, who will be introduced by Williams & Connolly’s Rob Cary. Judge Sullivan has had a tremendous career — so far — and there will be a lot to celebrate about what he’s done. Rob Cary, of course, famously represented Senator Ted Stevens before Judge Sullivan in a case that reignited interest in the government’s obligations under Brady v. Maryland. It used to be that only defense lawyers cared about Brady, and it had the same status as the rule of lenity — invoked but rarely applied. Stevens and Judge Sullivan changed that.

The BADC’s Young Lawyer’s Section awards its Young Lawyer of the Year Award for a lawyer under 35 or someone who has been practicing for fewer than five years. This year, the Young Lawyer of the Year is Georgetown Law Professor Shon Hopwood, one of the few lawyers who has had a cert petition granted, and one of the fewer who had the petition granted while he was serving time in a federal prison for bank robbery. Hopwood’s petition was so impressive that when Seth Waxman agreed to argue the case, he insisted Shon be allowed to continue to work on it. Seth Waxman will, incidentally, introduce Hopwood when he receives the Award.

Finally, the BADC gives an award — the Wagner Pioneer Award — for a lawyer who “has taken risks, the benefits of which provide significant contributions to the advancement of others in the legal profession.” This year’s Wagner Pioneer Award is Ava Benach. In addition to being a hugely successful immigration lawyer who has been incredibly generous with her time when talking to public defenders around D.C. about the immigration consequences of criminal convictions, she’s the first openly transgender lawyer listed in Chambers. There have been some good victories for transgender folks this week — particularly Tuesday’s election of Danica Roem and Andrea Jenkins. Benach’s award is a strong recognition of both her individual accomplishments and of the support transgender lawyers will get from their fellow members of the Bar.

I should also disclose that I’m the President of the Bar Association of DC. As such, I will personally guarantee that if you come to the Gala you will have fun or we’ll give you your money back, and someone in the BADC will refer you a really large case. (Note: the guarantee in the sentence above is not legally binding and is not intended to create any rights in law or equity to your money back or any referral.)

Sponsored

And if you aren’t lured by the raw excitement of the awardees, WilmerHale is sponsoring an open bar.

If you’re a lawyer in D.C., you should come to D.C. lawyer prom. Just like in high school, all the cool kids will be there.

Matt Kaiser is a white-collar defense attorney at KaiserDillon. He’s represented stockbrokers, tax preparers, doctors, drug dealers, and political appointees in federal investigations and indicted cases. His twitter handle is @mattkaiser. His email is mkaiser@kaiserdillon.com He’d love to hear from you if you’re inclined to say something nice.

Topics

, , , , , , ,