Umberg Zipser LLP is pleased to announce that co-founding partner Dean Zipser will receive the Franklin G. West Award from the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) at the Judges' Night & Annual Meeting on January 26, 2017. According to the OCBA: “The Franklin G. West Award is the OCBA's highest honor, presented to outstanding attorneys and judges whose lifetime achievements have advanced justice and the law. This annual recognition was established in memory of Judge Franklin G. West, who epitomized the best of the legal profession as both an attorney and a judge.”
Umberg/Zipser is pleased to announce that co-founding partner Dean Zipser will receive the Franklin G. West Award from the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) at the Judges’ Night & Annual Meeting on January 26, 2017. The OCBA press release announcing the award is available here.
According to the OCBA: “The Franklin G. West Award is the OCBA’s highest honor, presented to outstanding attorneys and judges whose lifetime achievements have advanced justice and the law. This annual recognition was established in memory of Judge Franklin G. West, who epitomized the best of the legal profession as both an attorney and a judge.”
“Everyone at Umberg/Zipser is very proud of Dean,” said co-founding partner Thomas Umberg. “The award is well-deserved and a wonderful recognition of Dean’s lifelong service to the profession, the Bar, and the community.”
David Harshman, Vice President, V.P. Legal and Administration, and General Counsel of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., stated, “Dean is a leader who demonstrates a great ability to address legal problems in litigation and business. He is very personable and trustworthy, and has earned the respect of all those who have the opportunity to work and associate with him.”
“I believe that much of the success I have achieved as an attorney is due, in no small part, to Dean’s wise counsel and unwavering support for me in each of the positions that I have been privileged to hold in both local and statewide bar-related organizations,” said Todd Irby, Chief Counsel, Legal Affairs, California Department of Veteran Affairs. “Dean is, as universally acknowledged by his peers in the local and national legal community, a consummate gentleman, as well as legal scholar, strategist and tactician.”
“Dean has always been a mentor and role model for me,” said Umberg/Zipser partner Carole Reagan, who has worked with Dean for over 20 years, previously at Morrison & Foerster and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. “Dean is the ultimate team player. Most of what I’ve learned about writing, advocacy, negotiation, civility and public service, I’ve learned from Dean. He is dedicated to bettering the profession, and truly cares about not just the careers, but the lives of those he works with.”
“I am humbled and honored to be included in the group of distinguished lawyers and judges who have received this award,” said Zipser. “I have been blessed to have worked with so many wonderful and dedicated lawyers in the Orange County legal community in various capacities over the years, including my longtime colleagues at the firm. They have inspired and supported me and I share this recognition with them.”
Zipser is a recognized leader in the Orange County legal community, having served as President of the OCBA and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL)-Orange County Chapter, and, most recently, chairperson of the OCBA’s Masters Division. Zipser currently is serving as Co-Vice Chair of the California Rules Revision Commission, tasked with rewriting California’s Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers, as Secretary of the Federal Bar Association of Orange County, and as Vice President of Constitutional Rights Foundation, Orange County. A committed advocate for those who are less fortunate, he regularly works on pro bono cases and has served on the Board of the Public Law Center. Prior to joining Umberg/Zipser LLP, Zipser was a partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP (co-chair of the firm’s Class Actions and Financial Services Litigation practice groups), and before that was the managing partner and head of the Litigation Department at the Orange County office of Morrison & Foerster LLP.
Umberg/Zipser is a complex commercial litigation firm known for exceptional client service, creative thinking, problem solving, and decades of proven success, and its lawyers are actively involved as leaders of multiple professional, pro bono, and charitable organizations, as well as governmental positions. More information at umbergzipser.com.
