Hanks chosen as top leader in law

The top winner of The Daily Record‘s 12th annual Leadership in Law award dashed into the awards dinner on Thursday in the nick of time to accept the accolade.

James J. Hanks Jr. flew back to the United States from Munich on the day of the event, hit traffic and had trouble with directions en route from Dulles International Airport. But he arrived at the gathering, which was held at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve in Hanover, just as his name was being announced.

“I am deeply honored,” Hanks said. “There is no more satisfying honor that any lawyer can receive than to be recognized by his peers, especially by such a distinguished group as this year’s honorees.”

Hanks was one of 24 members of the legal community who were honored for their significant and consistent contributions. He was selected by a ballot vote of all of the winners, and the fact that he was the top winner was kept secret until the conclusion of the awards ceremony.

Hanks received the Honorary Medal of Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany, last Monday at a ceremony led by former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

Bucerius is the No. 1-ranked law school in Germany and that country’s first private law school. Hanks has taught at Bucerius for the past 10 years.

Since 2003, he has been a partner at Venable, where he has counseled buyers and sellers in more than 250 merger and acquisition transactions. Some of his notable clients include Stanley Works in its acquisition of Black & Decker Corp. and Equity Office Properties Trust in its $40 billion sale.

He has taught at Cornell Law School, Cornell Graduate Business School and Northwestern University Law School. He also served as a guest lecturer at universities in Guatemala, South Africa, China, France and Germany and at several law schools in the U.S.

The honorees were selected from more than 100 nominations. The Daily Record staff received these nominations and narrowed the list down to 65 finalists. The 24 winners were then chosen by a six-member panel made up of Glenn F. Ivey of Leftwich & Ludaway LLC, Deborah Jennings of DLA Piper LLP, Timothy F. Maloney of Joseph, Greenwald & Laake P.A., Bonnie Sullivan of Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, James L. Thompson of Miller, Miller & Canby Chtd. and Barbara Grzincic, The Daily Record’s managing editor/law.

About 250 people attended the event. A general reception was held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and the awards dinner was held from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

“To be considered for the Leadership in Law award, an individual must demonstrate excellence and achievement in the legal profession, maintain a leadership role and devote time and talent to the communities in which our winners live and work and demonstrating a commitment to mentoring,” said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, publisher of The Daily Record. “We honored 24 winners from across the state of Maryland, including judges and attorneys, nonprofits, for-profits, small and large firms.”

The event’s Awards Sponsor was Special Counsel, and the Celebration Sponsor was Comcast Business Class. The Congratulatory Sponsors were Ellin & Tucker, Epsilon Registration, Federal News Service and VPC Inc., and the Table Sponsors were Beveridge & Diamond P.C., DLA Piper, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., The Law Offices of Julie Ellen Landau, Ober|Kaler, SunTrust Bank, Stein Sperling Bennett De Jong Driscoll PC, Whiteford Taylor Preston LLP, Venable LLP and Cawood Inn of Court.