for the $50 billion healthcare products and services provider. The Yale Law School graduate came to Cardinal Health in 1995, after serving as group counsel with Borden Inc. and practicing corporate and securities law at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease in Columbus, Ohio.
Power Play: Williams played a key role in the growth of Cardinal Health through his involvement in numerous mergers and acquisitions, including Allegiance Corp., R. P. Scherer Corp., and Pyxis Corp.
CRIMINAL LAW
Kenneth L. Lawson
Managing Partner
Lawson & Associates
Cincinnati, OH
Contact: 513-345-5000
Career Highlights: Lawson’s firm, founded by the University of Cincinnati College of Law alumnus in 1993, has racked up numerous wins in criminal law and civil rights litigation, including a racial profiling lawsuit resulting in a federally enforceable collaborative agreement allowing for community problem-oriented policing.
Power Play: In a high-profile case, he successfully represented professional football player Deion Sanders on five criminal charges against a police officer and then later in civil court when the same officer attempted to seek damages.
William B. Moffitt
Partner
Asbill Moffitt & Boss
Washington, DC
Contact: 202-234-9000
Career Highlights: The second of two black attorneys elected president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Moffitt has been listed in Best Lawyers in America and Who’s Who in American Law. He earned his J.D. from Washington College of Law, American University.
Power Play: Moffitt successfully got half the charges dismissed against William Aramony, the former president of the United Way convicted for defrauding the charity. Also, in Commonwealth of Virginia v. Terry Williams, he negotiated a life sentence plea for Williams, who had been on death row longer than any other inmate in Virginia’s history.
Jeffery Robinson
Shareholder
Schroeter Goldmark & Bender
Seattle, WA
Contact: 206-622-8000
Career Highlights: The 48-year-old Harvard Law School graduate began his career in criminal defense in 1981. A former public defender, Robinson teaches at both his alma mater and the University of Washington and is a frequent guest lecturer at trial advocacy seminars nationwide.
Power Play: Robinson successfully lobbied for the dismissal of a hit-and-run charge against Washington State Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge in 2003. In 1988, he represented Kari Tupper, a woman allegedly drugged and sexually abused by U.S. Sen. Brock Adams. The senator chose not to run for re-election.
James R. Willis
Partner
Willis Blackwell & Watson
Cleveland, OH
Contact: 216-523-1100
Career Highlights: Willis, elected as the first African American president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 1974, has had over 350 reported opinions rendered in courts and has won two of the three cases he argued before the Supreme Court. He received his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1952.
Power Play: His two Supreme Court wins are Doyle and Wood v. Ohio in 1976 and Beck v. Ohio in 1964, a precedent-setting case dealing with a search by Cleveland police that was ruled a violation of the Fourth and 14th Amendments.
ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
NINA L. SHAW
Founding Partner
Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka & Finkelstein
As a founder of the law firm Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka & Finkelstein, Nina L. Shaw negotiates deals and contracts for A-list Hollywood celebrities, including actors Laurence Fishburne, James Earl