Former Congressman Joe Crowley will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 IrishCentral Legal Elite Awards.
The 2025 IrishCentral Legal Elite Awards celebrate outstanding leaders across the law, policy, and public service sectors whose achievements embody integrity, mentorship, and a commitment to community. This year’s honorees include distinguished attorneys, advocates, and emerging professionals whose work has significantly shaped the practice of law and public life.
The IrishCentral Legal Elite Awards are taking place next week (Nov 19) at the beautiful, Gilded Age mansion that is the American Irish Historical Society in Manhattan. This year’s ceremony will bring together honorees, nominees, and guests for an evening of recognition and celebration.
The judging panel comprised a cross-section of academics, public interest leaders, practicing leaders, and former awardees, including Professor Michael W. Martin, Mary Kay Lynch, J.P. Duffy IV, Jennifer Frankola, John Stahl, and Darren Moore. The judges played a central role in selecting honorees across seven public nomination categories that reflect mentorship, public interest work, and innovation. Tickets are still available here.
The awards cover seven categories - Rising Star, Outstanding Community Service, Client Service Excellence, Public Interest Law, Mentorship, Technology and Law, and Human Rights Defender.
The 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to former Congressman Joe Crowley in recognition of his decades of public service.
The 2025 Legal Elite Award Winners are:
Lifetime Achievement Award
Former Congressman Joe Crowley
Joe Crowley
Former Congressman Joe Crowley is being honoured for a lifetime of public service and leadership that bridges politics and public policy. Crowley, a proud Irish American from Queens, followed in his family's footsteps into public service and continues to serve his community and the Irish at large. Most recently, as the America250 Commissioner, Joe Crowley, signed a "historic" Memorandum of Understanding with the US Semiquincentennial Commission, setting out the terms for co-operation in support of America's 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next year.
During the race for the Kennedy-McCain Bill for immigration reform (2005), Crowley was a firm advocate for the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and maintained his support for the cause.
Crowley represented New York's 14th congressional district for nearly 20 years and was Chair of the Caucus. On the House Ways and Means Committee, he fought to protect Social Security and Medicare and helped advance affordable healthcare while advocating for tax reforms that benefit middle-class families and small businesses. After serving in Congress, he joined Dentons as a senior policy director, where he advises on tax, healthcare, and financial services, utilizing his deep knowledge of the legislative process and negotiation.
Laurence Kraemer
Technology and Law Award
Laurence A. Kraemer
Laurence A. Kraemer, of Northwell Health, receives the Technology and Law Award for steering legal strategy at one of New York's largest healthcare systems while pioneering legal support for health tech innovation.
As Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Northwell Health, he leads an in-house team of over one hundred lawyers and oversees governance, joint ventures, and tax-exempt planning across twenty-eight hospitals and more than one thousand ambulatory sites.
He has supported Northwell Ventures' investments in companies focused on artificial intelligence, bioelectronics, and genomics, and serves on the boards of Truveta and Clarapath. His background in tax and healthcare transactions places him at the nexus of innovation and regulation.
Daniel S. Connolly
Client Service Excellence Award
Daniel S. Connolly
Daniel S. Connolly is awarded Client Service Excellence for a career built on zealous representation in high-stakes litigation and sensitive regulatory matters. As managing partner of Bracewell's New York office, he represents clients across banking, construction, and pharmaceutical sectors and handles complex defense, bankruptcy, and class action litigation.
Dan regularly engages with federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Food and Drug Administration, and has guided corporate boards on compliance and ethics. His background as a Manhattan prosecutor, where he tried more than 60 cases to verdict, informs his courtroom instincts and commitment to clients facing the most consequential legal risks.
Mary Cecelia Johnson
Rising Star Award
Mary Cecelia Johnson
Mary Cecelia Johnson receives the Rising Star Award for early career impact and public service in the Bronx courtroom. Mary graduated from St. John's University School of Law in spring 2024 and is now in her second year as an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County, where she is developing trial skills and prosecutorial judgment.
Beyond the office, she serves on the leadership board of Achilles Long Island, where she advocates for athletes with disabilities, and volunteers with the Limb Kind Foundation as a mentor to young amputees, while providing social media support to Achilles International. Her community work and rapid professional growth exemplify the promise the Rising Star Award seeks to recognise.
Burton T. Ryan Jr
Public Interest Law Award
Burton T. Ryan Jr.
Burton T. Ryan Jr is honoured with the Public Interest Law Award for a half-century of prosecutorial work that targeted organized crime, narcotics networks, and corruption affecting New Yorkers.
As Senior Investigative Counsel in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, he created and supervised task forces, including the DEA Career Dealer Initiative and the Federal Construction Task Force, resulting in more than 1,300 criminal cases and substantial forfeiture and restitution orders.
His work generated referrals to domestic and international prosecutors and included prosecutions connected to violent plots and transnational criminal enterprises. Recognised with national and agency awards, he now counsels pro bono immigration attorneys on constitutional issues and habeas corpus matters.
Arthur J. Smith
Mentorship Award
Arthur J. Smith
Arthur J. Smith receives the Mentorship Award for decades of trial practice and a long record of training and guiding younger lawyers.
Mr. Smith has litigated negligence, labor law, toxic tort, products liability, and premises liability matters in state and federal courts and is admitted to the United States Supreme Court and multiple federal appellate courts.
He has lectured widely for the New York State Bar Association and other professional bodies, chaired sections and seminars, including a TICL meeting in Killarney, and served as a judge at law school moot court and trial advocacy contests. His steady involvement in education and professional leadership has shaped generations of trial advocates.
Anna Marie Gallagher
Human Rights Defender Award
Anna Marie Gallagher
Anna Marie Gallagher receives the Human Rights Defender Award for a career devoted to refugee and migration law in the United States and abroad. With over three decades of experience, she has successfully combined private practice, advocacy, and academia, advising organizations in Europe and helping to establish a Guatemalan human rights group to promote the rights of internally displaced persons.
Before joining CLINIC, she led litigation at a New York law firm and worked with the Jesuit Refugee Service on policy, training, and research initiatives. Her teaching roles and published work on asylum and refugee law reflect a lifetime commitment to protecting the most vulnerable migrants.
Michael Breen
Outstanding Community Service Award
Michael Breen
Michael Breen is awarded the Outstanding Community Service Award for sustained leadership in Irish American cultural and educational causes. Mike chairs the board of advisors for Mary’s Gift Irish Language Foundation, which supports Irish immersion schools in Northern Ireland and volunteers at an organizational level to ensure donations reach classrooms.
He is a partner at Price Meese Shulman D'Arminio in New Jersey and serves on the board of trustees at Dominican College, where he combines his legal practice with civic stewardship. His dual citizenship and active role in Irish American networks have helped channel legal and philanthropic resources to community initiatives and education.