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Duane Morris Honors Environmental Entrepreneur Michele McGeoy at San Francisco Office 10th Anniversary Celebration

March 6, 2009

Duane Morris Honors Environmental Entrepreneur Michele McGeoy at San Francisco Office 10th Anniversary Celebration

March 6, 2009

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SAN FRANCISCO, March 6, 2009 - The international law firm Duane Morris LLP will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its San Francisco office by honoring local community leader and environmental entrepreneur Michele McGeoy with the 2009 Duane Morris Leadership Award during a reception at the Asian Art Museum on March 11, 2009.

The Duane Morris Leadership Award is awarded annually to a community leader in a city in which the firm has an office who epitomizes the firm's core values of community involvement by motivating and inspiring others to help people by leading initiatives to create programs or projects that positively impact the community.

Michele McGeoy is the founder and executive director of California-based Solar Richmond (SR). SR is a non-profit organization McGeoy founded in 2006 to serve the community through green-collar job training and placement in solar photovoltaic technology and solar thermal. SR has always worked closely with diverse partners in city government, the non-profit world and local businesses, in order to foster a green economy in Richmond and bring good, green jobs to its residents. Since its inception, the program has completed several installations throughout the Bay Area and boasts a 91-percent job placement rate, with many graduates of the program attaining green-collar jobs. It has also served as a model for addressing both the local concerns of violence reduction, youth investment and infrastructure investment and the global concern of climate change.

"Michele McGeoy is an innovator who has used her many talents to provide members of her community with hope for a better future through job training and placement in solar construction, a fast-growing area of the economy," John Soroko, Duane Morris Chairman, said. "We are pleased to recognize her many contributions to the community and the dedication, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and leadership that have made Solar Richmond such a success. As a law firm leader in the industry, Duane Morris attorneys are deeply involved in and committed to the renewable energy and conservation markets, and by helping our clients find innovative energy solutions, Duane Morris shares Michele's commitment to developing new green and renewable energy sources."

McGeoy will accept a charitable contribution from Duane Morris on behalf of Solar Richmond, enabling her to further strengthen and contribute to the community Duane Morris has served for over 10 years. "Duane Morris has always made strong community relations a top priority in each of our offices," Joseph Burton, a prominent information technology lawyer and managing partner of the office, noted. "I can think of no better way to commemorate the founding of Duane Morris' presence in San Francisco than to honor the achievements of Michele, whose work has improved our area in so many ways."

Opening in October 1998 with the arrival of energy lawyer Thomas Berliner, who had formerly served as general counsel to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Duane Morris' San Francisco office has grown into a significant presence in the Bay Area legal market. Fueled by a January 2006 merger with litigation boutique firm Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft, the office now boasts more than 60 attorneys practicing in a wide range of disciplines, including complex litigation and alternative dispute resolution, insurance and reinsurance, corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, energy and water law, intellectual property, employment and immigration, and information technology and telecom law.

In addition, the Duane Morris San Francisco office serves as the base of the firm's 120-lawyer Insurance and Reinsurance Practice Group, which is one of the largest insurance practices in the United States and is led by partners Max Stern and Peter Whalen. The growing White-Collar Criminal Defense, Corporate Investigations and Regulatory Compliance Practice Group is also co-chaired from San Francisco by partner George Niespolo, and the firm's Commercial, Securities and Antitrust Litigation Practice Group is co-chaired by San Francisco partner Rick Seabolt.

"We are proud of Duane Morris' decade of legal service to the Bay Area and our on-going commitment to the clients who are based here," John Soroko said. "Our lawyers have developed a reputation for excellent legal service, strong relationships with clients and the business community at large, and a tradition of public service characterized by the recipients of the Duane Morris Leadership Award."

About Duane Morris

Duane Morris LLP, a full-service law firm of more than 650 attorneys, offers innovative solutions across diverse industries in the United States and internationally to address the legal and business challenges of today's evolving global markets.