WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 14, 2011) – Morrison & Foerster partners received three 2011 Burton Awards for Legal Achievement for excellence in legal writing.

The Burton Foundation, in association with the Library of Congress, annually honors writing achievement and legal scholarship, recognizing "partners in law firms...who use plain, clear and concise language and avoid archaic, stilted legalese." Recipients are selected by The Academic Board, which includes a distinguished group of professors from leading law schools and judges.

Morrison & Foerster tax partner Thomas Humphreys and capital markets partner Anna Pinedo received the 2011 Legal Writing Award for their article titled "Is it a bird? A plane? Exploring contingent capital," published by Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law. The article discusses a new financial product, contingent capital.  Contingent capital has been endorsed by regulators as a form of high quality regulatory capital for financial institutions.  Humphreys and Pinedo both work with financial institutions on the design of financial products, including contingent capital and other hybrids.

Ms. Pinedo and capital markets partner James Tanenbaum won this year's Burton Association of Legal Administrators Award for Best Law Firm Encyclopedic Handbook. Their Covered Bonds Handbook (Volumes 1 & 2), published by Practising Law Institute, is the first comprehensive guide to covered bonds.  The treatise addresses regulatory and legal issues across a number of jurisdictions and discusses the incipient covered bond market in the United States, where covered bonds are seen as a housing finance solution.

Technology transactions partners John Delaney and Gabriel Meister also won a 2011 Burton ALA Award for Best Law Firm Newsletter.  Delaney and Meister edit the firm’s social media newsletter called Socially Aware.

Morrison & Foerster Chair Keith Wetmore said, "We’re proud that our partners were recognized for the quality of their writing and scholarship, and honored that the Burton Foundation recognized their accomplishments along with those of the many other excellent practitioners honored this year."

The Burton Awards were established by William Burton, former New York State Assistant Attorney General. The awards are presented in association with the Library of Congress, which hosted a reception for this year's honorees on June 13 in Washington, D.C.