Walsworth Celebrates Retiring Partners, Sandy Kennedy, Lisa Rice, and Laurie Sherwood

We recently celebrated the incredible careers and contributions of retiring partners, Sandy Kennedy, Lisa Rice, and Laurie Sherwood. While they will be stepping away from their day-to-day work at Walsworth, their legacy and impact will remain with the firm.

“It has been such a blessing to know and work with these incredible women for more than a quarter of a century,” said Managing Partner Dee Cohen Katz. “They have truly helped make Walsworth the firm we are today.”

With more than 90-years of combined experience at Walsworth, Sandy, Lisa, and Laurie shaped so many aspects of the firm – from our culture to our capabilities. Their careers reflect the best of what makes Walsworth a great place to grow, learn, and lead.

Joining the firm 34 years ago, Sandy paved the way as the firm’s first female partner and was responsible for hiring many of the female attorneys who rose through the ranks to become partners. During her career Sandy successfully represented a variety of clients in complex litigation and commercial real estate matters. “One of the main reasons I stayed so long is because of the people I was fortunate enough to work with at Walsworth,” she reflected. “Thank you to all the partners for making Walsworth such a great place to work.”

Lisa joined Walsworth in 1996 and played a key role in developing the firm’s Life Sciences practice group. During her time at Walsworth, Lisa successfully represented manufacturers, distributors, premises owners, large national retailers, and municipalities in individual lawsuits as well as multiple-party, complex, mass tort, and class action matters. “I am very proud of the Life Sciences practice group, which I was central to building and expanding for many years,” she said. “I was privileged to work with so many sophisticated and impressive clients, attorneys, and experts on the most interesting and challenging cases.”

During Laurie’s 31-year career at Walsworth where she focused on life sciences, employment, product liability, and travel, tourism, and hospitality, Laurie successfully defended a variety of clients in complex federal and state litigation, obtaining favorable verdicts on behalf of her clients. Laurie was an active member of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), most recently serving as co-chair of NAMWOLF’s Labor & Employment Practice Area Committee. “I hope that my impact on our profession and firm encompasses being there to help, teach, and guide others along the way, to brainstorm, think outside the box, and consider divergent perspectives, and to have made a positive difference in the lives of others,” she noted.

“These were truly three pillars of Walsworth, and what the firm is today is a reflection of their impact,” said General Counsel Ron Bevins, who hired all three retiring partners, and coincidentally attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, with Sandy and Laurie. “But for Sandy Kennedy joining the firm, we would never have created the success that became the San Francisco office, nor populated our firm consistently with the amazing staff that continue to be a trademark of the firm to this day. Lisa was the first attorney to start on our fourth-floor office in Orange, after we outgrew the fifth floor, and was one the hardest working associates I ever saw. I had to tell her to slow down during her review and find balance, and after that, she became one of the smartest and classiest leaders of the firm, representative of the best of what the firm has achieved. And when Laurie joined our San Francisco office, she became an immediate leader and anchor of our practice there, filling all roles with grace, intelligence, and dedication.”

At Walsworth, we deeply value people and relationships, a core principle that underpins our history of providing high-quality service to our clients. Part of moving forward with confidence is knowing how you arrived at the current moment and celebrating the advancements along the path. That is just what the Walsworth team did recently when we congratulated Sandy, Lisa, and Laurie on a job well done and a well-deserved retirement!