NEW YORK – July 6, 2022 –Shari L. Heyen, managing shareholder of the Houston office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP and global co-chair of the firm’s Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice, and Diane N. Ibrahim, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Delaware office, are among the 2022 Profiles in Diversity Journal® Women Worth Watching® Award winners, the publication announced. Additionally, Magan Pritam Ray, Greenberg Traurig shareholder and co-chair of the firm’s Global Employee Benefits & Compensation Practice, is among the publication’s 2022 Asian Leaders Worth Watching Award winners.
In addition to their talent and skill, the winners are leaders who demonstrate a dedication to excellence in everything they do, a deep commitment to mentoring and supporting the next generation of leaders, and a genuine involvement with the larger community, demonstrating courage, persistence, commitment, and generosity of spirit, according to Profiles in Diversity.
“As a diverse individual who has worked hard to earn a seat at the table, I believe it is my responsibility – and honor – to use my position to positively impact the lives of others,” Heyen said. “I am grateful to be with Greenberg Traurig, a firm at the forefront of change in the legal profession, especially with regards to diversity.”
Heyen has experience in complex restructuring, bankruptcy, insolvency, and complex commercial litigation matters. She has represented numerous creditors’ committees, debtors, bank groups, acquirers, and other significant constituencies in national Chapter 11 cases and workout proceedings, including complex oil, gas, and energy cases. She has broad experience in the prosecution and defense of fiduciary litigation, real estate, oil and gas, health care, receiverships, and alternative energy matters.
“As a young lawyer, I always had a vision of what I wanted to achieve. But it was difficult to find other women who achieved these things in quite the same way that I hoped that I would,” Ibrahim said. “Today, I work arduously to be a visible and approachable role model for other women and to support them in whatever they want to achieve – no matter what it looks like for them.”
Over the course of her career, Ibrahim has handled virtually every type of corporate transactional matter involving Delaware corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, and statutory trusts, including mergers and acquisitions, asset and stock sales, equity security offerings, conversions, dissolutions and recapitalizations, and the structuring and operation of private equity funds and joint ventures. Her broad knowledge and breadth of experience allow her to efficiently counsel clients on a wide range of corporate transactions from start to finish – using her business acumen to structure, draft, and negotiate complex and sophisticated agreements.
“I chose the law as a career for its power and promise. Its power to liberate lives or incarcerate lives. Its promise of equal treatment, justice, and fairness,” Ray said. “My career has afforded me the opportunity to achieve a life full of the blessings of prosperity, intellectual satisfaction, and security. These blessings demand that I do my part to dismantle the structural racism and inequity that plagues America today.”
Ray has wide-ranging experience in all facets of employee benefits and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 matters, including the design, implementation, and operation of retirement plans, health and welfare benefit plans, cafeteria plans, fringe benefit plans, and non-qualified deferred compensation programs. She focuses on counseling clients on the business impact, strategic response, plan design and compliance with the evolving legal requirements and industry changes impacting health care. In addition to her employment benefits counseling practice, Ray serves as the co-chair of the Greenberg Traurig Asian Affinity Group.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Diversity Initiative: From its inception, Greenberg Traurig has been committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Greenberg Traurig is a uniquely empowering and diverse firm built on a foundation of fairness, equality, and authenticity. Through its Social, Racial, and Economic Justice Action Plan, the firm has committed $5 million over five years to help combat systemic racism and support impoverished communities. In addition, the firm’s efforts have been recognized through its Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certification Plus, administered by The Diversity Lab, and by local, national, and global publications and organizations including Chambers and Partners. Web: https://www.gtlaw.com/en/general/our-firm/diversity Twitter: @GT_Drives.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2400 attorneys in 43 locations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm, often recognized for its focus on philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono, reported gross revenue of over $2 Billion for FY 2021. The firm is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law 100, Am Law Global 100, NLJ 250, and Law360 (US) 400. On the debut 2022 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard, it is a Top 15 firm. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab and net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage. Web: www.gtlaw.com.