Five Attorneys Receive "Lawyer of the Year" Honors

Five (5) lawyers from Shipman & Goodwin LLP have been named “Lawyer of the Year” in their individual practice areas by The Best Lawyers in America© 2020: Richard Cohen, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law; Bryon Harmon, Trusts and Estates; Timothy Hollister, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning; John Lawrence, Jr., Corporate Law; and Anne Littlefield, Education Law.

Best Lawyers has been regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence for more than 30 years. Based on more than 7.3 million confidential detailed evaluations, only a single lawyer in each high-profile legal specialty in each large legal community is designated as a “Lawyer of the Year.” These Shipman & Goodwin attorneys received particularly high ratings from their peers for their abilities, professionalism and integrity:

Richard Cohen has been named Lawyer of the Year in Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law in Hartford. His practice encompasses pensions and employee benefits, including tax-qualified retirement plans, 403(b) plans, non-qualified deferred compensation plans, SERPs, cafeteria plans, ERISA and COBRA compliance. Richard has served clients and the firm in a variety of roles, including pension counsel to corporate benefits departments of major insurance companies, banking institutions, and mutual fund companies. He currently serves as co-trustee of the firm's own 401(k) and profit sharing plans. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2010 and was previously named Lawyer of the Year.

Bryon Harmon, Lawyer of the Year in Hartford Trusts and Estates, practices in the areas of estate planning, estate settlement and trust administration. He assists clients with the full range of planning techniques for tax-effective intergenerational and charitable transfers. He also prepares (and advises professional preparers, such as CPA's) probate documents, estate tax returns and fiduciary income tax returns and represents individuals and estates before the IRS and DRS on audit, and in U.S. Tax Court. In addition, Bryon actively administers trusts and advises trustees. Bryon services clients in the firm's Greenwich, Hartford, Lakeville, and Stamford offices. Bryon also serves as corporate trust counsel to a Connecticut bank and trust company. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2015.

Timothy Hollister, recognized as Hartford Lawyer of the Year in Land Use and Zoning Litigation, practices land use, environmental and municipal law, and handles a wide range of real estate and administrative law problems that arise in the context of land use and environmental matters. He has represented developers, corporations, property owners, municipalities, boards of education, and neighborhood and environmental groups in administrative proceedings before local, state, regional and federal agencies and litigation in the state and federal trial courts, and has argued more than 40 cases in the state and federal appellate courts. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2009, and was previously recognized as Lawyer of the Year in both Land Use and Zoning Litigation and Land Use and Zoning Law.

John Lawrence, Jr. has been recognized as Hartford Lawyer of the Year in Corporate Law. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity transactions, angel investments, private equity fund formation, and securities transactions in a broad range of industries, including aerospace, insurance and managed care, health care, energy and natural resources, and technology. He represents public and private companies in merger and acquisition transactions, private equity and venture capital investments, joint ventures, recapitalizations, corporate governance matters, shareholder disputes and business separations and dissolutions. John has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2006 and was previously named Lawyer of the Year in Health Care Law.

Anne Littlefield, Hartford Lawyer of the Year in Education Law, represents schools in labor relations, employment and education law, including collective bargaining, personnel policies and practices, constitutional law, special education, student discipline, freedom of information, and education policies. She negotiates collective bargaining agreements on behalf of schools, including representation in interest arbitration proceedings as needed. Anne works with schools to address issues such as bullying and sexual harassment. She is often called upon to advise schools regarding professional boundaries and child abuse and neglect issues. In her role as general counsel to boards of education around the state, Anne facilitates self-evaluation and goal-setting sessions. She also leads Shipman & Goodwin's model policy project, which provides policy support and guidance to a number of school districts. In addition, she is a frequent author and speaker on education matters. She currently serves as General Counsel to Shipman & Goodwin. Anne has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2010 and is a former recipient of the Lawyer of the Year distinction.