O’Melveny Earns Multiple Awards at 2021 National Law Journal Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Firm Named to Pro Bono Hot List; Two Lawyers Named "Rising Stars"

WASHINGTON, DC—October 21, 2021—O’Melveny was named to The National Law Journal’s Pro Bono Hot List and two firm lawyers were named “Rising Stars” at the publication’s 2021 Legal Awards in a gala ceremony here last night.

The editors describe the awards as “honoring those attorneys and judges who have made a remarkable difference in the legal profession—whether in shaping the law, achieving outsized results for their clients, being an outstanding jurist or assisting those in need of legal services.”

In being named to the Pro Bono Hot List, O’Melveny was lauded for its success in several major pro bono initiatives. The list recognizes law firms and lawyers who are “dedicated to making a monumental impact on the lives of those in need and have taken on some of the biggest issues of our time.” O’Melveny is one of only 10 firms across the US to be selected for the list.

This past year, O’Melveny’s pro bono efforts included three Supreme Court wins centering on hot button issues, such as reproductive rights, racial justice and criminal justice reform. Firm lawyers succeeded in defeating efforts to overturn reproductive rights protections and were victorious in ending racially unjust, Jim Crow era criminal jury practices. O’Melveny attorneys also helped secure the release of a medically vulnerable inmate amid the COVID-19 pandemic and helped immigrant children seeking asylum remain in the US, among many other life-changing victories.

In 2020, 94 percent of O’Melveny’s attorneys provided pro bono legal services—contributing over 99,000 hours to underrepresented individuals, families, nonprofits, and small businesses.

Also feted at the 2021 Legal Awards were Supreme Court & Appellate Practice partner Brad Garcia and counsel Kendall Turner, both recognized as “Rising Stars.”

Garcia has drafted numerous briefs in the US Supreme Court and state and federal appellate and trial courts. He has presented argument in more than a dozen appeals in federal and state appellate courts, including in the US Supreme Court, the First, Third, Fourth, Ninth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits, and the California Court of Appeals and Maryland Court of Appeals. With 13 appellate arguments under his belt, Garcia argued his first Supreme Court case in April 2021 in United States v. Palomar-Santiago. He also led the O’Melveny team that successfully secured writs of mandamus from the Federal Circuit in a precedent-setting opinion on venue law for clients LG and Samsung.

Turner focuses her practice on appellate advocacy, critical motions, and complex legal questions. Over the past year, she served on the O’Melveny team that wrote the merits briefs and helped secure a 5-4 victory in this US Supreme Court case challenging a Fifth Circuit decision allowing Louisiana to require abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. She argued before the Eighth Circuit and secured a unanimous affirmance of a preliminary injunction of two Arkansas abortion restrictions: one that banned abortion at 18 weeks into a pregnancy, and one that banned abortions based on the patient’s reasons for seeking care. And she helped an O’Melveny team obtain a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of two Kentucky laws that would have effectively banned abortions. Turner was also one of the few women to argue before the Supreme Court in the 2019 Term, when she won a unanimous reversal of her client’s criminal sentence.

O’Melveny was also named a finalist in the National Law Journal’s Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Products Liability contest.

About O’Melveny

It’s more than what you do: it’s how you do it. Across sectors and borders, in board rooms and courtrooms, we measure our success by yours. And in our interactions, we commit to making your O’Melveny experience as satisfying as the outcomes we help you achieve. Our greatest accomplishment is ensuring that you never have to choose between premier lawyering and exceptional service. So, tell us. What do you want to achieve? Visit us at www.omm.com or learn more in our firm at-a-glance, annual report, and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Visit The Boardroom for our insights on pressing issues facing global corporations.

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