2017 AWARDS LUNCHEON HONORS CLC VOLUNTEERS

The 2017 Awards Luncheon of the Colorado Lawyers Committee on Friday, May 5, 2017 at the Marriott Denver City Center was a remarkable success.

This year’s keynote speaker, Ken Armstrong, investigative reporter at The Marshall Project, inspired attendees with his story entitled “The Trials of Dick Cunningham: An Extraordinary Lawyer’s Life and Death”.  Mr. Armstrong shared an incredible portrait of Dick Cunningham, a criminal defense attorney who helped free innocent men on Illinois’ Death Row and was instrumental in the state’s moratorium on executions. Mr. Armstrong writes on the topic of criminal justice and has won or shared in four Pulitzer Prizes.  His first book, “Scoreboard, Baby,” written with Nick Perry, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for non-fiction. He has been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and the McGraw Professor of Writing at Princeton University. Recently, Mr. Armstrong received the John Chancellor Award from Columbia University for lifetime achievement.  To view video of Mr. Armstrong’s message, click here.

The Colorado Lawyers Committee was also pleased to feature the Young Lawyers Division and their accomplishments for the year, shown in their video here. Another wonderful highlight of the luncheon was the presentation of awards to honor individuals and organizations who have contributed significantly to the Colorado Lawyers Committee in the past year.

David W. Stark (Faegre Baker Daniels LLP) received the Outstanding Sustained Contribution Award for his longstanding support and extensive involvement with the work of the Colorado Lawyers Committee. For more than 15 years, Dave has served as Chair (sometimes with a co-chair) of the Children’s Task Force in its efforts to improve conditions for children.  In addition to his substantive work on Lawyers Committee projects, Dave has been involved in the leadership of the Lawyers Committee as a member of the Board of Directors and has also served on the Executive Committee for the past three years.  We are incredibly grateful for Dave’s dedication and are thrilled to honor him with this award.  To view the video honoring Dave, click here.

The Board of Directors selected Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP as the recipient of the Law Firm of the Year Award. Other law firms honored for their contribution to the Colorado Lawyers Committee were:

  • Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP

  • Hogan Lovells US LLP

  • Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC

The Team of the Year Award was presented to the:

  • Jail Wait Litigation Team:

    • Caleb Durling (Rollin Braswell Fisher LLC)

    • Iris Eytan (Eytan Nielsen LLC)

    • Mark Ivandick (Disability Law Colorado)

    • Kelsey Lesco (Disability Law Colorado)

    • Ellie Lockwood (Snell & Wilmer)

    • Jason M. Lynch (Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP)

    • Jennifer Purrington (Disability Law Colorado)

Other teams honored at the luncheon were:

  • Denver Legal Night Team:

    • Stephanie A. Kanan (Snell & Wilmer)

    • Ellie Lockwood (Snell & Wilmer)

  • Hate Crimes Presentation Task Force Team:

    • Beth Ann Lennon (Sherman & Howard L.L.C.)

    • John M. McHugh (Reilly Pozner LLP)

    • Tarek F. M. Saad (Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP)

    • Christine Snider (Ballard Spahr LLP)

    • Phyllis V. Wan (Hogan Lovells US LLP)

  • Nonprofit Legal Audit Clinic Team:

    • David L. Coats (Student, University of Denver Sturm College of Law)

    • Samuel E. Edwards (Holland & Hart LLP)

    • Martina Hinojosa (Butler Snow LLP)

    • Jill Tenley Oldak (Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP)

    • Carolyn S. Powell (Association of Corporate Counsel – Colorado Chapter)

    • Hannah Pressler (Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP)

    • Peter H. Schwartz (Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP)

    • Scott Thompson (Budget Analyst, Colorado General Assembly)

    • Melanie Tsuchida (Colorado Nonprofit Association)

The  Lawyers Committee was also proud to present two Special Recognition Awards:

  • For years of service in Denver Legal Night coordination and administration:

          Susan C. Cole and Timothy R. Macdonald (Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP)

  • For its community outreach program and partnership with CLC in expanding hate crimes and “know your rights” education programs:

          U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado

Congratulations to all our amazing honorees and volunteers. Your work to improve the lives children and the underserved in our community is inspiring.

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