Jones Day recognized in four categories in 2023 Legal Intelligencer's Professional Excellence Awards
ALM's The Legal Intelligencer recognized the Firm in four categories in its 2023 Professional Excellence Awards. For the third consecutive year, Jones Day was named a finalist for Law Firm of the Year, winning the top distinction in 2021. The Legal Intelligencer also honored three individual lawyers in the Pittsburgh Office with awards in the Unsung Heroes, Best Law Firm Mentors, and Lawyers on the Fast Track categories. The Legal Intelligencer's Professional Excellence Awards annually honor law firms and lawyers in Pennsylvania who have made a significant, positive impact on the legal profession.
The recognitions are:
- Law Firm of the Year – Finalist (winner to be announced June 14, 2023)
- Unsung Heroes – Matthew Divelbiss
- Best Law Firm Mentors – Matthew Johnson
- Lawyers on the Fast Track – Susan Kessler
Jones Day was named a finalist for "Law Firm of the Year." The winner will be announced on June 14. The award, which Jones Day won in 2021, is given to the firm in Pennsylvania that has demonstrated talent depth and a broad spectrum of achievements in litigation, deals, mentorship, and associate development over the past year.
Unsung Heroes – Matthew Divelbiss
Matt Divelbiss is an Insurance Recovery partner in Pittsburgh who represents companies seeking to recover from their insurers. He has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for policyholder clients seeking coverage under D&O, general liability, employers' liability, property, and other policies.
The Legal Intelligencer is recognizing Mr. Divelbiss for his pro bono work at Jones Day. He's served as the pro bono partner for the Pittsburgh Office since 2016. He donates his time as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, co-teaching two classes (Insurance Law and Advanced Trial Evidence). Recent examples of his pro bono work include: immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine, he met with Ukrainians in church basements in Pittsburgh to assist with immigration issues; he tried an immigration case for a Venezuelan family in a temporary courtroom next to the Rio Grande River, resulting in the family being admitted to the United States after spending months in Mexico; he currently is representing clients in other compelling immigration cases.
Best Law Firm Mentors – Matthew Johnson
Matt Johnson is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice in the Pittsburgh Office and one of the Firm's primary practitioners before the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), where patentability of issued patents can be challenged. He currently co-chairs the Firm's PTAB subpractice and is involved in proceedings at the Board, including trials for inter partes review (IPR) and Covered Business Method review (CBM), and has been involved in these trials since the first day of their availability in September 2012.
Leading Jones Day's Pittsburgh Intellectual Property team since June 2010, Mr. Johnson assists in recruiting tech-savvy talent, and regularly collaborates with junior team members in Pittsburgh and beyond on how best to unlock and maximize their potential. As manager of Jones Day's PTAB Litigation Blog, publishing between 100-150 articles per year on strategy and practice before the PTAB, Mr. Johnson engages with dozens of associates—providing opportunities for them to learn while broadening their reach as knowledgeable, published practitioners.
Lawyers on the Fast Track – Susan Kessler
Susan Kessler is an associate in the Financial Markets Practice in the Pittsburgh Office and represents financial institutions and other entities as a litigator in structured product disputes and other complex commercial matters. She has developed particular experience in structured product disputes, and has played a key role in defending more than a dozen litigations involving residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), among other complex financial products, including novel theories of liability against RMBS trustees, servicers, and master servicers. These cases have had significant impact not only on the law governing structured products, but also on commercial law more generally. Ms. Kessler is active in the Firm's Pittsburgh summer associate program, having served on the office's summer committee for the past six years. In the community, she is passionate about the arts, and currently serves as secretary of the board of the River City Brass Band, the only full time professional brass band in the United States.
