FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Torrence Phillips, NBA-CLS Chair
trp@lgplaw.com
Announcing: Cora T. Walker, John Lewis, Jr.
Corporation of the Year, and Jean-Marie Sylla, Jr. Award Winners
March 3rd, 2023 — The National Bar Association Commercial Law Section (NBA-CLS) announced the winners of their three prestigious annual awards during the Awards Gala at last month’s 36th Annual Corporate Counsel Conference.
The Cora T. Walker Award is given to an NBA member who has a longstanding history of supporting the Commercial Law Section and promoting diversity. Walker was a legal pioneer admitted to the New York State Bar in 1947 in a time when very few women and very few Blacks were practicing attorneys. This year’s recipient of the Cora T. Walker Award is Dr. Walter L. Sutton, Jr., Chair of the National Bar Institute, Past President of the National Bar Association, and long-standing champion of diversity and equity in the legal profession. On top of an inspiring legal career spanning over 50+ years, Dr. Sutton mentors black law students and lawyers across the country, serves as Chairman of the Wiley College Board of Trustees, and has received dozens of awards.
The John Lewis, Jr. Corporation of the Year Award is given to an organization who’s demonstrated ongoing support of the NBA-CLS community and mission, including a commitment to DEI within their workplace. This award is named after John Lewis, Jr., a former Chair of the CLS and a committed diversity leader that instituted critical foundational changes to form the NBA-CLS we have today. This year’s Corporation of the Year is Bank of America, for its continued dedication to actionable DEI initiatives and far-reaching opportunities for black students and attorneys. The Bank of America workforce currently includes 50% women and 49% people of color. Associate General Counsel & SVPs Kisha Jones and Alexander B. White accepted the award on behalf of Bank of America.
The Jean-Marie Sylla, Jr. Legacy Award is a $1,500 fellowship provided to a recent law school graduate with a promising legal future ahead of them. The award’s namesake was a dedicated servant leader in the NBA-CLS community, former Executive Committee member, and former member of the NBA’s General Counsel and Board of Directors. This year’s recipient of the Legacy Award is Emmanuella A. Saforo, a third year law student at George Washington University. This student attorney is also an executive board member for GW Law’s Moot Court Board and a 1L mentor for the Black Law Students Association. Saforo also completed an internship with NBCUniversal through the NBA-CLS’s Black Lawyers Matter (BLM) Internship Program.
The NBA-CLS wishes a heartfelt congratulations to the deserving recipients of these prestigious awards and thanks them for their passionate support of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. The future holds exciting opportunities thanks to the great work of these recipients.
About NBA-CLS
The NBA-CLS is to bring outside counsel members together with in-house counsel who seek to increase diversity and provide networking and education forums for NBA-CLS members. The NBA-CLS is also committed to serving the community and expanding the pipeline of African Americans entering the legal profession. For more information visit www.nbacls.com.
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