Sharon A. Hwang Honored Among Select Group of Recipients as “Advocates for Diversity” by the Diversity Scholarship Foundation

11.25.15

McAndrews, Held & Malloy Shareholder Sharon A. Hwang will be recognized as an “Advocate for Diversity” by the Diversity Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit organization comprised of more than 50 associations dedicated to promoting diversity within the Chicago legal community. The Advocate for Diversity award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the legal industry and community at large. Hwang will receive her award at the Annual Unity Award Dinner on December 1, 2015.

At McAndrews, Hwang spearheaded the launch of the firm’s Diversity in Patent Law Fellowship, which encourages diversity in the field of intellectual property law. This year, she received the Sandra R. Otaka Leadership Award from the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago and was previously honored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association as one of its “Best Lawyers Under 40.”

Currently, Hwang serves as President of the Asian American Bar Association Law Foundation and Vice President of the Chicago Legal Clinic. She also is on the Boards of the Chicago Committee and the Chinese American Bar Association, and is a Fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago. She previously served as the President of the Asian American Bar Association of Chicago.

Hwang frequently speaks on patent law as well as diversity issues.  She has spoken at events for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law, Northwestern University School of Law and weSTEM (Women Empowered in STEM).

In addition to Hwang, other Advocates for Diversity include: the Hon. Patrice Ball-Reed, Associate Judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County; Hugo Chaviano, Director of the Illinois Department of Labor; Hon. Robert E. Gordon, Justice for the Illinois Appellate Court, First District; Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director for the National Immigrant Justice Center; and Sailesh K. Patel, Partner at Schiff Hardin LLP. The Hon. Charles E. Freeman, Justice for the Illinois Supreme Court, is this year’s Unity Award Recipient.

At McAndrews, Hwang focuses her practice on patent litigation and intellectual property counseling, and has experience with many diverse technologies, such as medical devices, orthopedic implants, surgical navigation systems, digital cellular telephones and complex communication systems. For more than 20 years, she has represented patentees and defendants in high-stakes patent litigation in federal courts and in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. In October 2015, the Supreme Court granted Hwang’s petition for writ of certiorari in Stryker v. Zimmer to consider the standard for enhancing damages in patent infringement cases.  Hwang was selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer in 2015 as well.