Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partner Joni B. Flaherty was honored with the 2018 Business Women of the Year Award by the San Diego Business Journal and its charity partner, the American Heart Association, at an awards ceremony on December 13. Flaherty was recognized among 25 award winning business women leaders who have contributed significantly to San Diego's workplaces and communities.
"We are very proud of Joni," said Kevin Alexander, San Diego Office Managing Partner. "At Gordon & Rees we know she is not only an outstanding attorney but she is a very good person. We are so pleased that she has been recognized for her dedication to her legal career and to community causes."
"I am honored to receive the 2018 Women of the Year Award," said Joni Flaherty. "I am proud to represent Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, a firm that values the philanthropic, community impact, and business endeavors of its attorneys."
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Business Women Awards. The winners were chosen by an independent judging panel of successful business women who rated the candidates on their innovation, entrepreneurship, professional accomplishment and community leadership. Out of an original 200 nominations, 103 women were named finalists. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the awards program, 25 women were selected as award winners from the finalist pool.
The awards program was emceed by former news anchors Susan Taylor and Pat Brown. The keynote speaker was Shelley Zimmerman, the former San Diego police chief.
Joni B. Flaherty is a partner with the firm's Intellectual Property, Business Litigation, and Product Liability practice groups. Her practice focuses on the representation of businesses in a broad range of matters, including complex business litigation, consumer class actions, antitrust, product liability, premises liability, fraud and misrepresentation claims, and unfair competition actions. Flaherty also handles a variety of intellectual property matters, including disputes regarding trade secrets, copyrights, and product licensing, and trademark litigation and registrations. She has handled IP, antitrust, and other commercial matters involving various business sectors, including the higher education, consumer products, food and beverage, financial, and tech industries, and for professional organizations and nonprofits.
In addition to Flaherty's full-time thriving legal practice, she is a longtime member of the Junior League of San Diego, a women’s volunteer and training organization of more than 1,000 members, and currently serves as the League's 2018-2019 President. As President, Flaherty guides the League’s strategic plan, which focuses on the development of trained volunteers and philanthropic leaders. Currently, the League serves the San Diego community by offering a mentorship program where Junior League members are paired with foster youth transitioning into independent life, as well as continuing their advocacy efforts to combat human trafficking and other issues affecting women and children. To read Flaherty's visionary welcome letter as President of the Junior League, or to learn more about the Junior League of San Diego, please click here.
Gordon & Rees is a national litigation and business transactions firm with more than 850 lawyers in 52 offices across the United States. Our lawyers provide full service representation to public and private companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to start-ups. Founded in 1974, Gordon & Rees is recognized among the fastest growing and largest law firms in the country. Additionally, in 2018 Law360 ranked the firm among the top 40 largest U.S. firms and The American Lawyer ranked the firm among the top 45 on its Diversity Scorecard.