Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt to Speak at Burton Awards Luncheon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 5, 2014

New York, New York: The Burton Awards program, run in association with the Library of Congress announced that Oklahoma Attorney General, E. Scott Pruitt, and chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association, will be the guest speaker at the Burton Awards luncheon held on June 9, 2014. The luncheon will be held in honor the finest general counsels in America who have been named ?Legends in Law.? A Gala follows the event. This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the non-profit program, which will be held on June 9, 2014 at the Library of Congress.

Attorney General Pruitt was elected in 2010 and currently serves as chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) as well as chairman of the Midwest Region of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). As a first priority in office, Attorney General Pruitt established Oklahoma’s first Federalism Unit in the Office of Solicitor General to more effectively combat unwarranted regulation and systematic overreach by federal agencies, boards and offices. Prior to serving as Attorney General, Mr. Pruitt served Broken Arrow, Coweta and Tulsa in the Oklahoma State Senate for eight years, four of which were served as Assistant Republican Floor Leader.

Attorney General Pruitt grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in communications and political science at Georgetown University before being accepted to the University of Tulsa College of Law. The Attorney General and his wife of 22 years, Marlyn, are raising two children, McKenna and Cade, in Tulsa.

Thomas L. Sager, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at DuPont Legal, and Les Parrette, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Compliance Officer at Novelis Inc., co-chairs of the Legends in Law Committee, stated: “We are fortunate to honor such dynamic leaders in law. These prominent general counsel truly warrant this special recognition.”

The following outstanding general counsel have been named 2014 Legends in Law:

Kellye Walker
Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Secretary
American Water Works Company, Inc.
Nominated by Littler Mendelson P.C.

Jane C. Sherburne
Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
BNY Mellon
Nominated by Mayer Brown JSM/Mayer Brown

James B. Buda
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
Caterpillar, Inc. 
Nominated by Mayer Brown LLP

R. Stanton Dodge
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
DISH Network L.L.C.
Nominated by Dickstein Shapiro LLP

Jack C. Silhavy
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Fresenious Kabi USA
Nominated by Morrison & Foerster LLP

Leslie M. Turner
Senior Vice President General Counsel and Secretary
The Hershey Company
Nominated by Kaye Scholer LLP

Kim Rucker 
Executive Vice President, Corporate and Legal Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Kraft Foods Group, Inc.
Nominated by Sidley Austin LLP

David F. Snively
Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel
Monsanto Company
Nominated by Husch Blackwell LLP

Marianne D. Short
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
UnitedHealth Group (NYS: UNH)
Nominated by Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP

Don H. Liu
General Counsel and Secretary
Xerox Corporation
Nominated by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

THE BURTON AWARDS PROGRAM

The Burton Awards, established in 1999, is funded by the Burton Foundation, a non-profit, academic effort devoted to recognizing and rewarding excellence in the legal profession. The Burton Awards was established to honor the finest accomplishments in law, including writing, reform, public service and interest, regulatory innovation, and lifetime achievements in the profession.

THE 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., Founder and Chair

The Founder and Chair of The Burton Awards for Legal Achievement is William C. Burton, Esq., a partner in the law firm of Sagat|Burton LLP. He is a former New York State Assistant Attorney General, a former New York State Assistant Special Prosecutor, and is the author of the first legal thesaurus ever written for the legal profession, entitled BURTON’S LEGAL THESAURUS. The book is now in its 5th edition and quickly approaching its 35th anniversary. When the book was released, the Association of American Publishers recognized it as “one of the Most Innovative and Creative Projects of the year.” In 2011, Mr. Burton was presented the highest honor given by the second largest association of law professors in America, The Legal Writing Institute. He was recognized for “significantly advancing the cause of legal writing in the profession of law.” More recently, he was awarded the “Blackstone Award” by the Friends of the Law Library of Congress, for “embodying and promoting the best ideals of the institution.”