“Law Firm Leadership Award” to be Presented to Neil Barr, Chair and Managing Partner of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, at the Upcoming Burton Awards Program

New York, New York: Neil Barr, Chair and Managing Partner of Davis Polk, has been selected as the Law Firm Leadership award winner by The Burton Awards. The Burton Awards Program is a national501(c)(3)non-profit effort, presented by leadsponsor Law360, co-sponsored by the American Bar Association and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, run in association with the Library of Congress.

This year marks the Twenty-sixth Anniversary of the program which will be held on Monday, May 19, 2025, at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. American broadcast journalist Ted Koppel will serve as Master of Ceremonies. The program will also include a performance by 16 Grammy Award- winning composer and producer David Foster and Broadway star Katharine McPhee.

Neil is the Chair and Managing Partner of Davis Polk. He advises companies, senior executives and boards on complex and transformative transactions, corporate governance and risk mitigation matters. Clients rely on Neil’s broad skill set and look to him for advice on a wide range of issues in the context of crisis response.

Neil has represented Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, private equity and other asset managers, and high-net-worth individuals on their most significant matters and difficult challenges. Senior executives appreciate his insights and judgment as a fellow business leader.

The criteria for the award includes: an outstanding professional, who as a leader of a firm, has helped promote its reputation and succeed in business, protect the firm against formidable obstacles, demonstrated the highest ethical principles, and is universally admired in the legal community.

Mr. Barr was chosen for this award by the Law Firm Leadership Committee led by H. Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Betty Whelchel, former Head of Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs, BNP Paribas SA; Brad Karp, Chairman, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; and William C. Burton, Founder and Chair of the program.

William C. Burton, Founder and Chairman of the event, said: “Mr. Barr is a consummate and proven professional who has a remarkable record of success. He is well respected in the legal community and a leader among managing partners and chairs of law firms.”

H. Rodgin Cohen, Managing Partner of Sullivan and Cromwell LLP and co-chair of the Law Firm Leadership committee, said: “Neil Barr is richly deserving of the Law Firm Leadership Award. As Chair and Managing Partner, he has led the renowned firm of Davis Polk to new heights. And Neil has led by example. He is one of the leading lawyers of his generation, advising a wide range of clients on their most challenging matters with unsurpassed judgment and knowledge. Neil has also led by example through his service on the boards of numerous philanthropic and community organizations. This Award recognizes the deep respect in which Neil is held by the entire legal community.”

Brad Karp, Chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and co-chair of the Law Firm Leadership committee, remarked: “Neil is a most deserving recipient of the Law Firm Leadership Award. He is deeply respected by all in the community for his legal acumen, his leadership skills and his strategic insights. Neil also is a supremely lovely and thoughtful person.”

 

THE BURTON AWARDS

The Burton Awards, established in 1999, is funded by the Burton Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and academic effort devoted to recognizing and rewarding excellence in the legal profession. The Burton Awards were established to honor the finest accomplishments in law, including writing, reform, public service and interest, regulatory innovation, and lifetime achievements in the profession. The Honorary and Distinguished Board of Directors of The Burton Awards Program includes: William C. Burton, Partner, Sagat | Burton LLP; former Chief Judge Richard A. Posner, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet; former U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.; U.S. Senator Christopher Coons; U.S. Senator John Cornyn; U.S. Senator Mike Crapo; U.S. Senator Joni Ernst; U.S. Senator Tim Kaine; U.S. Senator James E. Risch; U.S. Senator Mike Rounds; U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen Jr.; U.S. Senator Roger Wicker; U.S. Senator Todd Young; Justice Carol A. Corrigan, California Court of Appeals; Les Parrette, President, One Page Thinking; Jane Sullivan Roberts, Managing Partner, Macrae; H. Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Betty Whelchel, Former Head of Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs, BNP Paribas S.A. (retired); Brad Karp, Chairman, Paul, Weiss Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; Linda A. Klein, Senior Managing Shareholder, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, and former President, American Bar Association; Stephen R. Mysliwiec, Partner, Miller Friel, PLLC; Bernard Nash, State Attorneys General Practice Co-Chair, Cozen O’Connor; Brian D. Burton, Senior Attorney, Alston & Bird; Hubert L. Allen, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Abbott; Bruce Byrd, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Palo Alto Networks; Lynn Charytan, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Comcast Cable; Elaine Mandelbaum, Interactive Brokers LLC; Lucy Fato, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Seaport Entertainment Group; Duane Holloway, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, U. S. Steel Corporation; Marc Kesselman, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Purdue Pharma; Jennifer Newstead, Chief Legal Officer, Meta; Anne Robinson, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Vanguard; Maryanne R. Lavan, former Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Lockheed Martin Corporation; Steve McManus, Chief Legal Officer, State Farm; Kevin O’Connor, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Lockheed Martin Corporation; and Bradford Berenson, General Counsel, TPG.

 

LAW360, LEAD SPONSOR

Law360, a LexisNexis company, is a trusted provider of breaking legal news and in-depth analysis, with up-to-the-minute, comprehensive coverage of litigation, regulation and enforcement, legislation, administrative proceedings, executive actions, corporate deals, legal industry trends, and more. With a unique blend of cutting-edge technology and journalistic expertise, Law360 delivers the intelligence legal and business professionals at top law firms, Fortune 1000 companies, key government agencies, and many other organizations need to remain experts, mitigate risk, and beat the competition.

 

THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, CO-SPONSOR

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is one of the largest voluntary professional membership organizations in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

This prominent institution is one of the most celebrated and distinguished libraries in the world. It was established on April 24, 1800, and since that time has grown to become one of the largest repositories in history. The Library of Congress functions as both a national library and as the research arm of the U.S. Congress. It contains more than 32 million catalogued books and more than 62 million manuscripts.

 

WILLIAM C. BURTON, ESQ., CHAIRMAN

William C. Burton is a partner at Sagat|Burton LLP, New York. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Burton Awards Program. He is also the Founder and Chair of the Burton Foundation for Legal Achievement, which funds the program. He has served as a New York State Assistant Attorney General and an Assistant New York State Special Prosecutor. For fifteen years, he was the Director of Government Affairs for Continental Insurance, then one of the largest international insurance companies. He is the author of “Burton’s Legal Thesaurus,” the first and only reference book of its kind written for the legal profession. The book is now in its sixth edition. When it was published forty- one years ago, Mr. Burton was given a prestigious award by the Association of American Publishers which declared the book “One of the most Creative and Innovate Projects of the Year.”

In 1999, Mr. Burton created the Burton Foundation and established the non-profit Burton Awards Program with the initial goal of encouraging clear and comprehensive legal writing and rewarding other monumental achievements in law.

In 2010, Mr. Burton was awarded the prestigious Golden Pen Award by the Legal Writing Institute, the second largest organization of law professors in the United States with 3,000 members. The honor was given for his advocacy and impact on legal writing. Later in 2011, he was presented the “Blackstone Award” by the Friends of the Law Library of Congress for embodying and promoting the best ideals of the venerable institution.

He was a Legal Reform Award recipient from the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform in the fall of 2017. In 2022, Mr. Burton was selected as a member of the Hofstra Law School Hall of Fame. The Law School selected its top 50 graduates on celebrating its 50th Anniversary. He is also the recipient of the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Legal Writers comprised of more than 2,700 jurists, professors and practitioners. The award was previously presented to U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Paul Stevens, and Stephen Breyer, and other prominent award winners. In 2024, he received the ABA Presidential Citation for his visionary leadership and contributions to the legal profession and society at large.