Best Lawyers in America, a well-respected lawyer-rating directory, announced it will honor McGuireWoods Partners Robert L. Burrus, Jr., chairman emeritus of the firm, William H. King, Jr., Rosewell Page III, Robert G. Sable, R. Gordon Smith, and W. Carter Younger, as well as Thomas S. Word, Jr., who serves of counsel, during its 25th Anniversary Event in Atlanta, Ga., being held April 23-25. The event will celebrate the distinguished careers of the lawyers listed in the directory since it began rating lawyers in 1983.
Best Lawyers in America compiles its listings of outstanding lawyers through a lengthy peer-review survey process that involves tabulating more than 2.5 million votes as lawyers confidentially evaluate peers. It is the oldest lawyer-rating publication in the U.S.
“We are very proud of these seven lawyers’ accomplishments and congratulate them for this distinguished honor,” said Richard Cullen, chairman of McGuireWoods. “Each has been a mentor to our younger lawyers, who still look at them for wise counsel.”
Burrus, who served as McGuireWoods’ chairman from 1990 through 2006, is primarily engaged in corporate and fiduciary counseling, mergers and acquisitions, and shareholder disputes. He speaks nationally on topics involving corporate governance. Burrus serves on the board of Smithfield Foods, and has served on several other boards, including CSX Corp. He also chairs McGuireWoods’ Diversity Committee.
King has an extensive background in the litigation of commercial and products liability cases, and he has specialized in the management of national products liability defense litigation for more than 20 years. He is a member of the firm’s board of partners; is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Bar Foundation; serves on the Product Liability Committee of the American Bar Association; and serves as a member of the Product Liability Section of the Defense Research Institute.
Page focuses on litigation management and trial. He has appeared as lead counsel in state and federal courts in 42 states. He has a wealth of experience in the management and trial of professional liability cases. Page has served on the firm’s Board of Partners and as head of the environmental litigation group. He has served on the firm’s Executive Committee, as head of the Litigation Department, and co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee.
Sable has an extensive background in bankruptcy law, representing numerous financial institutions, corporations, creditors’ committees and debtors in bankruptcy and reorganization proceedings. He has served as the chair of McGuireWoods’ bankruptcy practice. Sable is certified in business bankruptcy by the American Bankruptcy Board of Certification. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Smith concentrates his practice in the areas of health care, corporate finance and securities, mergers, acquisitions, and securities compliance and enforcement. He previously served on the board of directors of Trigon Healthcare, Inc. and Scott & Stringfellow, Inc., and as general counsel to Signet Corporation. He is a former president of the Virginia Bar Association, a member of the American Law Institute, and a Fellow of the American Bar Association.
Younger represents management in the areas of employment discrimination, union-management relations, international employment, executive employment contracts, and government regulation of the employment relationship. Younger was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers in 1998. He is a past member of the board of directors of Lex Mundi, a global association of 165 independent law firms. He was the president of the Labour Law Commission of the Union Internationale des Avocats for 2000 to 2003, and is a former member of the UIA’s governing board.
Word has practiced tax and fiduciary law and trust banking law for more than 35 years. He has extensive experience in advising families on wealth conservation and transfer programs. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
“Our 25th Anniversary Event provides an extraordinary opportunity to recognize the careers of the lawyers who have been listed in Best Lawyers from its beginning,” said Steven Naifeh, president and founder of Best Lawyers. “Each of them has contributed in an exceptional way to the legal profession.”
Best Lawyers will recognize the honorees during the anniversary dinner event at the Georgia Aquarium on Thursday, April 23. The keynote speaker will be Carolyn Lamm, president-elect of the American Bar Association.