Raymond M. Brown Selected to Receive the 2021 Daniel J. O'Hern Award
Pashman Stein Walder Hayden is pleased to announce that Raymond M. Brown has been selected to receive the 2021 Daniel J. O’Hern Award.
The award is presented annually by the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law, a cooperative effort of the New Jersey State Bar Association, the New Jersey judiciary and New Jersey’s law schools. The award is given to a senior member of the bar who has demonstrated outstanding character and career achievement, and who has continually displayed a firm commitment to the ideals of professionalism. The award will be presented in spring 2022.
Raymond will be the third Pashman Stein Walder Hayden attorney to receive the award. Partner Joseph A. Hayden received the award last year in 2020 and partner Justin P. Walder received the award in 2014.
“I am deeply honored to have been selected to receive this award, especially in light of the Justice for whom it is named and the others who have received it before, including my partners Justin Walder and Joe Hayden, “ remarked Raymond M. Brown. “Without the example of my father, Raymond A. Brown, I couldn’t have contemplated the opportunities I have had to be of service to clients and to the cause of justice. I continue to believe in the concept advanced by the great Charles Hamilton Houston that we must be social engineers as well as champions of our clients.”
Raymond has decades of experience as a highly respected civil and criminal litigator. He focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, international human rights compliance, internal investigations, and complex commercial litigation on behalf of individuals, corporations, and government entities. He counsels foreign and domestic multinationals on a broad range of corporate risk management, governance, and transactional issues. He has been a leader in the development of the practice of law concerning the regulation and enforcement of business requirements for human rights compliance, both domestically and on the international stage.
“We are thrilled that Raymond has been selected to receive the O’Hern award,” said Michael S. Stein, the firm’s managing partner. “Raymond has contributed so much to this profession and our legal community through his ability to lead by example and is very deserving of this award. For one of our attorneys to receive this very prestigious award 2 years in a row, and 3 times in the past several years, is immensely gratifying and a testament to the caliber of attorneys at our firm.”
A devoted advocate for human rights, Raymond was a student activist and an important participant in the 1968 occupation of Columbia University; he and other participants contributed to “A Time to Stir,” a collection of essays written by participants. He is the co-founder of the International Justice Project, which promotes human rights through the rule of law and provides support to victims of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes.
Raymond has appeared in courts in twelve U.S. states and conducted investigations throughout the country as well as in Kenya and elsewhere in East Africa, El Salvador, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, the Bahamas, Colombia, and Sierra Leone. He also has significant international experience qualifying as counsel before the International Criminal Court in the Hague, where he represents victims in the Darfur genocide.
“We are incredibly proud that Raymond has been honored with the O’Hern Award,” said Justin P. Walder, firm partner and co-chair of its litigation practice. “Raymond’s career has been exemplified by effective and zealous advocacy in keeping with integrity and civility and maintaining the highest professional standards.”
Raymond is an active member of the bar, serving as co-chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Working Group on Jury Selection, as well as a member of the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights and Criminal Justice and International Law sections. He is also a member, and past president, of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey. Raymond is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a fellow of the American Board of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Raymond has received many accolades and honors including the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from Essex County Bar Association, 2018 Professional Lawyer of the Year Award from the Federal Bar of New Jersey and the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law, 2018 (inaugural) Francis X. Dee Award from the American College of Trial Lawyers, 2018 Gerald B. O’Connor Award from the New Jersey Association for Justice, 2014 recipient of Litigation Counsel of America’s Peter Perlman Service Award, 2013 recipient of the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award, 2011 recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Award of Excellence, 2009 recipient of the NJN Foundation NJN Legacy Award, 2007 recipient of the NAACP Freedom Fund Award, 2005 recipient of the National Council of Women of the USA Distinguished International Award, 2005 recipient of the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender Champion Defender Award, 1998 recipient of the Garden State Bar Association Van Y. Clinton Award, and 1998 recipient of the Macon B. Allen Black Bar Association Recognition Award.
Mr. Brown received his B.A. from Columbia University and his J.D. from University of California, Berkeley School of Law.