Press Release
Awards and Rankings
October 20, 2009

Goodwin Procter Advisory Counsel Don Glazer Wins ABA Honor for Legal Opinion Work

Don Glazer, advisory counsel to Goodwin Procter since 1996, received the James J. Fuld Award from the American Bar Association’s Working Group on Legal Opinions (WGLO). Don, who is only the second person to receive this award, was honored October 20, 2009 at the WGLO’s fall meeting in New York.

The WGLO was formed in 2007 to provide a national forum for the discussion of important issues related to closing opinions. Common in U.S. business law practice, closing opinions are letters delivered at the closings of most large business transactions by the lawyer for one party to the other party offering limited assurance that the transaction will have legal force and effect.

Established by the WGLO in 2008, the James J. Fuld Award is named for the corporate lawyer who wrote what is considered the seminal article on legal opinions. The award is presented by the WGLO to an individual or entity that has made a significant contribution to the field of legal opinions in business transactions. It is designed to honor and encourage individuals who write and educate in the area of legal opinions as well as bar associations, law firms and others who contribute to the development of the law or practice in the area of legal opinions.

The Fuld Award is a fitting tribute for Don’s work in this area. Don is co-chair of the TriBar Opinion Committee, the nation’s first bar-sponsored legal opinion committee, and past chair of the ABA Business Law Section’s Committee on Legal Opinions. He is also past chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Business Law Section, as well as its Legal Opinions Committee. He is the co-author of Glazer and FitzGibbon on Legal Opinions, and served as co-reporter for the TriBar Opinion Committee’s “Third Party Closing” report and its “LLC Opinion” report, as well as the ABA Business Law Section’s “Legal Opinion Principles.” In addition, Don is an active, articulate commentator and thought leader whose input continues to shape third-party opinion practice throughout the country.