March 11, 2013 - Washington, D.C. - A. Scott Bolden received the prestigious Charter Day Alumni Achievement Award in the Field of Law at the 89th Charter Day Dinner held Saturday, March 9, at The Washington Hilton. The gala fundraiser, attended by more than 1,500 alumni, faculty, supporters and friends, singled out Bolden for his post-graduate excellence as an attorney and his distinguished law career. Bolden serves as Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office of leading international law firm Reed Smith LLP.

The 2013 Charter Day Dinner continues an 89-year-old tradition of honoring the founding of Howard University through a university-wide celebration. The annual gala, which also serves as Howard‘s premiere fundraising event, is one of the most important activities of the year.

The first Alumni Achievement Awards were presented in 1943. Past honorees include Toni Morrison and Ossie Davis for the arts, and former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Vernon Jordan in the field of law.

In accepting the award, Bolden, 50-year-old former Chair of the D.C. Democratic State Committee and D.C. Chamber of Commerce, drew laughter when he said, referring to the past honorees, “Clearly I have much more work to do.” He thanked his father, retired Illinois judge Raymond A. Bolden, for being his inspiration, and he recalled as a young boy visiting jails and courtrooms around the state of Illinois as his father worked on behalf of civil rights causes.

Bolden came to Washington, D.C. after serving as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office. He was the lead counsel in numerous trials before joining Reed Smith in 1991. “When I first came to Washington, I had 25 felony trials under my belt but I was unemployed, busing tables and washing cars in Rockville, Maryland before I joined Reed Smith.”

Bolden was named Managing Partner in 2008, and in 2009 was recognized by The Washington Business Journal as a “Top Lawyer” in the White Collar Crime Category. The Washington Post declared him the “go to lawyer” for individuals and corporations with issues against, and before, the federal and local governments. Among Bolden’s more high-profile clients have been former Redskin player Albert Haynesworth, D.C. Chartered Healthcare, and Che Brown, brother of former D.C. City Council Member Kwame Brown.

Bolden currently sits on several boards and commissions, and was also recently named to the board of the DC Legal Aid Society and The Board of Governors of The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers in 25 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses, from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its lawyers provide litigation and other dispute resolution services in multi-jurisdictional and other high-stakes matters; deliver regulatory counsel; and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising, technology and media, shipping, energy and natural resources, real estate, manufacturing, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com.

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