Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and the Massachusetts Bar Association Name the 2012 Honorees of Excellence in the Law

Boston, MA, April 06, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Lawyers Weekly and the MBA will celebrate Excellence in the Law on Thursday, May 10, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the Copley Fairmont Plaza in Boston. The sixth annual Excellence in the Law gala will honor the recipients of our Excellence in Journalism, Daniel Toomey Excellence in the Judiciary, Excellence in Diversity, Up & Coming Lawyers, and Excellence in Pro Bono, Marketing, Firm Administration and Operations awards. 39 professionals will be recognized for their contributions to the legal community.

Honorees were selected by a panel drawn from Lawyers Weekly's editorial department and representatives of the legal community, who reviewed nominations submitted by members of the bar and industry experts.

This year's honorees include...

2012 Up & Coming Lawyers:
* Alison R. Bancroft, Law Office of Alison Bancroft
* Jason Benzaken, Benzaken & Wood LLP
* Fangli Chen, Ph.D., Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP
* Zachary N. Coseglia, DLA Piper
* Sherley E. Cruz, Greater Boston Legal Services
* Vikas S. Dhar, Dhar Law, LLP
* Steven Eric Gagne, Northwestern District Attorney's Office
* Daniel K. Gelb, Gelb & Gelb LLP
* Cynthia M. Gilbert, Hyperion Law, LLC
* Rebecca Jacobstein, Office of Appellate Advocacy
* Joseph Kennedy III, Former Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney, candidate for Representative from Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District
* Adam J. Kessel, Fish & Richardson
* John B. Koss, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
* Stephen M. LaRose, Nixon Peabody LLP
* Katharine L. Milton, Casa Myrna Vazquez
* Keith A. Pabian, Hirsch Roberts Weinstein LLP
* Jason S. Pinney, Bingham McCutchen LLP
* Noah C. Shaw, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
* Danielle K. Sheer, Carbonite, Inc.
* Louis W. Tompros, WilmerHale
* Natasha Varyani, McCarter & English
* Michael H. Zarren, Boston Celtics

Excellence in Pro Bono Award:
* William E. Kelly, Nixon Peabody LLP
* William O'Brien, Board of Directors, Association of Corporate Counsel, Northeast Chapter
* Susan M. Finegan, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
* William L. Patton, Ropes & Gray
* Michael N. Sheetz, Cooley LLP
* Hanishi T. Ali, Mithras Law Group
* Brown Rudnick LLP
* WilmerHale

Excellence in Diversity Award:
* Angela McConney Scheepers, Division of Administrative Law Appeals
* Wayne A. Budd, Goodwin Procter
* Catherine E. Reuben, Hirsch Roberts Weinstein LLP
* Minita Shah-Mara, Bingham McCutchen LLP

Excellence in Marketing Award:
* Vanessa Schaefer, Clockwork Design Company

Excellence in Firm Administration Award:
* Lorraine Curry, Looney & Grossman LLP

Excellence in Operations Award:
* Julie Pease, Massachusetts Parole Board

Excellence in Legal Journalism Award:
* Kevin Cullen, Boston Globe

Daniel F. Toomey Judicial Excellence Award:
* Hon. Mark Wolf, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court

Registration is now open for the event. To purchase tickets please visit http://www.regonline.com/excellenceinthelaw2012. For more information visit http://masslawyersweekly.com/excellence-in-the-law/, or contact Caitlin Ball at 617-218-8134 or caitlin.ball@lawyersweekly.com.

Questions can be directed to Publisher Susan A. Bocamazo at susan.bocamazo@lawyersweekly.com.