Brown Rudnick Honors Lawyers, Business Professionals for DEI, Pro Bono Achievements

Two Brown Rudnick partners and two business professionals received the 2024 Elizabeth A. Ritvo Inclusion and the M. Robert Dushman Pro Bono and Community Service awards.

Brown Rudnick CEO Vince Guglielmotti announced the winners during his State of the Firm address on April 25.

The Elizabeth A. Ritvo Inclusion Awards honor a Brown Rudnick lawyer who has demonstrated a sustained commitment to creating an equitable and inclusive workplace environment for all Brown Rudnick lawyers and business professionals; and a Brown Rudnick business professional whose personal and work life has demonstrated a commitment to fairness and equality. Liz Ritvo was Brown Rudnick's first woman partner and remains a strong advocate for inclusion at Brown Rudnick.

Arjun Sivakumar and Joe Nardella are the recipients of the 6th Annual Ritvo Awards.

Sivakumar, a partner based in the Firm's Orange County office, is a long time committed leader and supporter of the Firm's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. He serves on the Firm's Diverse Attorney Working Network (DAWN) Leadership Council and is a DAWN Squad partner where he dedicates time to mentoring and supporting associates.

Nardella, a network engineer based in the Boston office, serves as co-chair of the Firm's LGBTQ+ affinity group BR & Proud - the first business professional to co-lead an affinity group at Brown Rudnick. Nardella brings the same level of dedication and commitment to this role as he does in his work with the IT team.

The 17th annual M. Robert Dushman Pro Bono and Community Service Awards honor a Brown Rudnick lawyer who has a history of dedication to pro bono representation and the public interest; and a Brown Rudnick business professional whose work exemplifies the commitment to serving the public interest. The late Bob Dushman was a talented First Amendment partner at Brown Rudnick who was dedicated to pro bono.

Partner Blair Rinne was chosen for the Dushman Pro Bono Award and Harbir Deol received the Dushman Community Service Award.

Rinne, based in the Firm's Boston office, is the model for providing excellent client service. Rinne has worked closely with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) to provide pro bono legal help to unaccompanied minors. Many of the children served by KIND have fled life-threatening violence in their home countries in Central America and come to the United States in hopes of finding safety. Rinne also trains, mentors and covers for colleagues as needed to make sure the Firm provides excellent pro bono legal representation.

Deol, a digital marketing specialist in the New York office, made outstanding contributions in support of the Firm's pro bono and community service efforts. Since September 2022, Deol has worked closely with the pro bono team on a website project to update and enhance the

content for the Firm's pro bono and Charitable Foundation pages. He is also active in the Firm's community service efforts. Deol leverages his creativity to assist with art parties and card decorating events with Free Arts NYC, a Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation grantee that provides art programming for youth experiencing housing insecurity.

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