Corporate Board Member magazine and global business advisory firm FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) hosted the sixth annual Legal Recognition Dinner last night at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, honoring five distinguished general counsel and the top 25 national corporate law firms. The law firm winners were selected by directors and general counsel of publicly traded companies as a part of the 13th annual America's Best Corporate Law Firms study.
The event honored Peter M. Kreindler, former senior vice president and general counsel, Honeywell International Inc., with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his accomplishments and commitment to the legal profession. Additionally, the event recognized four other general counsel who have made significant strides in helping their boards and companies succeed: S. Jack Balagia Jr., vice president and general counsel, Exxon Mobil Corp.; Louis J. Briskman, executive vice president and general counsel, CBS Corp.; Donald J. Rosenberg, executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, Qualcomm Inc.; and Jane C. Sherburne, senior executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
This year, Corporate Board Member welcomed two new partners in the legal recognition program. Computershare/Georgeson sponsored the 2013 General Counsel to Watch list, which paid tribute to five up and coming general counsel as recommended by our past general counsel honorees, representatives of the top national corporate law firms and Corporate Board Member. They are as follows: Roya Behnia, senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, Pall Corp.; Deborah P. Majoras, chief legal officer and secretary, The Procter & Gamble Co.; Christian S. Na, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Xylem Inc.; John J. Suydam, chief legal and compliance officer, Apollo Global Management LLC.; and Michael Wu, general counsel and corporate secretary, Rosetta Stone Inc.
In addition, Corporate Board Member partnered with Computershare/Georgeson to present the Distinguished Corporate Secretary award to Douglas K. Chia, assistant general counsel and corporate secretary, Johnson & Johnson, and also partnered with Corpedia to present the award for Distinguished Chief Compliance Officer to Douglas M. Lankler, executive vice president, chief compliance and risk officer, Pfizer Inc.
"Risk management and legal and compliance matters are critical to the boardroom discussions of today's public companies," stated TK Kerstetter, chairman of Corporate Board Member. "The individuals we have honored represent the best qualities needed to help public companies do business in a complex global marketplace."