Patricia Hynes Nominated to be City Bar President; New York City Bar Announces Nominees for Leadership Positions

Patricia Hynes Nominated to be City Bar President; New York City Bar Announces Nominees for Leadership Positions

New York – Patricia M. Hynes has been nominated as President of the New York City Bar Association. If elected, Hynes will succeed Barry Kamins as the 63rd president in the Association’s 137-year history. The election will take place at the City Bar’s annual meeting on May 20, 2008. The City Bar also announced its slate of officers and members of its Executive and Audit Committees.

Hynes, Senior Counsel at Allen & Overy LLP, is an acclaimed trial lawyer specializing in complex securities, commercial and criminal matters. Her legal talent has been well recognized; Hynes has been included in the list of Best Lawyers in America since 1993, the National Law Journal ’s Profile of America’s Top 50 Women Litigators and its May 2007 Survey of the 50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America.

Keeping with Association tradition, Hynes has dedicated much of her life to public service. She served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1967 to 1982, where she was Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1980-1982. In 2003 Hynes became the Chair of the Board of Directors of The Legal Aid Society where she oversaw the restructuring that allowed the organization to avoid bankruptcy and continue to serve the legal needs of indigent New Yorkers.

Hynes’ commitment to maintaining the high standards of the profession and the judiciary can be demonstrated through her service as Chair of the Merit Selection Panel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for Magistrate Judges since 2002 and her previous chairmanship of the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. She currently serves as a member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Judicial Department.

Hynes has been an active member of the City Bar Association and a member of its Executive Committee and has served as Association Secretary. She also served as Chair of the City Bar’s Delegation to the NY State Bar House of Delegates, Chair of its Federal Courts Committee and as a member of the Association’s Delegation to the ABA House of Delegates.

“I am proud and honored to have been nominated to be the next President of the New York City Bar. For more than 137 years, this organization has been revered for its commitment to the rule of law, the profession and the community. If elected, this position will provide me with a unique opportunity to continue my dedication to public service, which has been of singular importance to me throughout my career, and allow me to work with my esteemed colleagues at the City Bar to carry forward its great traditions.”

Sheila L. Birnbaum of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP; Peter M. Kougasian of the New York County District Attorney’s Office; and Roger J. Maldonado of Balber Pickard Maldonado & Van Der Tuin PC, were nominated to serve as the City Bar’s three Vice Presidents.

Donald S. Bernstein of Davis Polk & Wardwell was nominated to serve as Treasurer and Sheila S. Boston of Kaye Scholer LLP was nominated to continue to serve as Secretary.

The nominees for the Executive Committee Class of 2012 were: Mark C. Morril of Viacom Inc; Lynn K. Neuner of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; David A. Schulz of Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz LLP and Jane C. Sherburne of Citigroup.

The following were re-nominated to serve on the Audit Committee: Robert J. Anello of Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason Anello & Bohrer; Laurie Berke–Weiss of Berke-Weiss and Pechman; Allan L. Gropper, US Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of NY; Christopher L. Mann of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Marsha E. Simms of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.

The candidates were nominated by the City Bar’s Nominating Committee, which is comprised of E. Leo Milonas (Chair), Preeta D. Bansal, Robert B. Fiske, Sara Moss, Carlos G. Ortiz, Milton L. Williams and Mary Marsh Zulack.

About the Association
The New York City Bar Association (www.nycbar.org) was founded in 1870, and since then has been dedicated to maintaining the high ethical standards of the profession, promoting reform of the law, and providing service to the profession and the public. The Association continues to work for political, legal and social reform, while implementing innovative means to help the disadvantaged. Protecting the public’s welfare remains one of the Association’s highest priorities.