DALLAS – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – For the third consecutive year, a Gardere Wynne Sewell partner has been selected to receive the Burton Award for Legal Achievement.
As a result of having one of its partners recognized for the third year in a row, Gardere will also receive a Record of Distinction Award from The Burton Foundation, a Washington, DC-based organization that honors excellence in legal writing. Only five other U.S. law firms have ever received this Record of Distinction recognition.
Randy Gordon, a partner in the firm’s trial section, received the 2005 award for his article titled “Rethinking Civil RICO: The Vexing Problem of Causation in Fraud-Based Claims Under 18 U.S.C. § 1962 9c)”.
“I am honored to be included in such a select group, and very pleased to see the high standards we have at Gardere Wynne Sewell recognized for the third year in a row,” Gordon said.
Gordon’s article, which originally appeared in the University of San Francisco Law Review, examines problems posed by the element of causation in civil class-action RICO cases and concludes that courts should make fact-specific inquiries, rather than apply broad generalizations to causation.
“The Record of Distinction Award is a tremendous honor that reflects our Firm’s commitment to quality legal scholarship and writing,” Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP Managing Partner Stephen Good said. “We’re proud to be leading the way in efforts to foster plain, precise and clear legal writing.”
The Burton Awards are presented annually by the Burton Foundation in association with The Law Library of the Library of Congress to promote excellence in the field of legal writing. Forty-six attorneys from the nation’s top 500 firms, along with 15 law school students, were selected for this year’s awards.
Gardere partner Jim Sentner, trial section, received a 2004 Burton Award for his article “Arbitration in International Contracts: A Reflex or Cognitive Decision.”
Gardere partner Richard O. Faulk, head of the firm’s Environmental Practice Group, received a 2003 Burton Award 2003 for his paper “Armageddon Through Aggregation? The Use and Abuse of Class and Group Actions in International Dispute Resolution.”
The 2005 Burton Awards Program will be held in the Great Hall of The Library of Congress the evening of June 6. Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” is the speaker.
