PHILADELPHIA and SAN DIEGO, November 12, 2021—The Duane Morris Women's Impact Network for Success (WINS) has honored two attorneys for their efforts to advance women in the legal profession. Philadelphia partner Sharon L. Caffrey received the Cheryl Bryson Leadership Award. San Diego special counsel Brooke B. Tabshouri received the Margery Reed Professional Excellence Award. Caffrey and Tabshouri received the awards at Duane Morris’ annual firmwide meeting.
The Cheryl Bryson Leadership Award recognizes significant contributions to women in the profession, including professional development of women lawyers and the advancement of women lawyers in the profession. The award is named in honor of the late Cheryl Blackwell Bryson, a Duane Morris partner in Chicago who was a leader in many significant civic and community causes, and she was repeatedly honored throughout her career as a major pioneer, both as a woman lawyer and as a lawyer of color.
The Margery Reed Professional Excellence Award recognizes significant contributions toward creating, modeling, and/or mentoring others regarding issues of work-life management. The award is named in honor of the late Margery Reed, a Duane Morris partner in Philadelphia. Margery Reed was the recipient of numerous awards, including her admission as a fellow in the prestigious American College of Bankruptcy. She was repeatedly recognized as one of the best commercial bankruptcy lawyers in the country. A consummate partner, Reed was incomparably selfless in giving of her time and talents to assist her colleagues and mentor junior lawyers. She was a true professional in every sense, and her unwavering commitment to her clients and colleagues, the firm and the profession of law is the reason this award for professional excellence is given in her name.
Despite the intense workload of her practice and her position as co-chair of the Duane Morris Trial Practice Group—the firm’s largest practice group—Sharon L. Caffrey has also devoted countless hours of her career to mentoring and developing young attorneys and women lawyers. She founded and chaired the firm’s women’s initiative for seven years, served as co-chair of the Women’s Rights Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association for two years and as a member of the association’s Committee on Women in the Profession and Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention, as well as the board of the Public Interest Section. She co-chaired the first Lexis-Nexis conference on Advancing Women in the Profession. Caffrey concentrates her practice in the areas of mass tort, products liability and toxic tort litigation on behalf of large, well-known clients in the pharmaceutical, transportation and automotive sectors. Caffrey was twice presented with an “Excellence in Trial Advocacy” award by CSX Transportation, Inc. and has been twice listed in Chambers USA in the category of Product Liability and Mass Torts – Nationwide. She is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce COVID-19 Working Group as well as its Liability Reform Group. Caffrey is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and has served as a vice chair of the Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee of the American Bar Association. In addition, she is a member of Duane Morris’ Partners Board and served for several years on its Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Embodying the focused, professional excellence of Margery Reed, Brooke B. Tabshouri practices in the area of employment and labor law. She has extensive experience counseling and advising clients in employment law issues and defends employers and management in administrative charges, arbitration and single-plaintiff litigation. She is a former instructor at San Diego State University, serves as the Director of Legal Education for the San Diego HR Forum, the largest education and networking organization for human resources professionals in the San Diego area, and has served on the Duane Morris interdisciplinary COVID-19 strategy team since its inception. Notwithstanding a part-time arrangement with the firm and two young children at home, in addition to her busy practice, she invested significant non-billable hours keeping both the firm and clients aware of new legal and regulatory developments as the pandemic developed. In California, this often meant updates multiple times per week. Tabshouri stepped up to the challenge, demonstrating her dedication to the firm and its clients as well as to her family.
About the Duane Morris Women’s Impact Network for Success
WINS is devoted to the success of the firm’s women attorneys. Through various programs, it exchanges ideas, fosters and expands business contacts and opportunities, and enhances attorney development to fully realize the talent, knowledge and potential of Duane Morris’ women attorneys.
About Duane Morris
Duane Morris LLP provides innovative solutions to today’s multifaceted legal and business challenges through the collegial and collaborative culture of its more than 800 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally. The firm represents a broad range of clients, spanning all major practices and industries. Duane Morris has been recognized by BTI Consulting as both a client service leader and a highly recommended law firm.