CHICAGO –(August 3, 2012) – Baron and Budd shareholder Burton LeBlanc was elected President-Elect of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) today at the association’s Annual Convention in Chicago. LeBlanc heads Baron and Budd’s Baton Rouge office where he focuses on environmental law and complex litigation.

"AAJ does incredible work on a national level to help protect the rights of Americans," said LeBlanc. “I am honored to be part of this prestigious organization’s leadership.”

LeBlanc is one of the very few attorneys nationwide to have been honored twice with the AAJ’s prestigious Wiedemann Wysocki National Finance Council Award, which he received in 2007 and 2010. This award honors lawyers for their commitment to the legal profession and their continued efforts to improve the civil justice system.

Though LeBlanc’s focus is on environmental law, he has also represented the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia and Hawaii in consumer fraud lawsuits and complex securities fraud cases.

LeBlanc previously served as Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Parliamentarian of the AAJ, as chair of the AAJ National Finance Council, the association’s chief fundraising arm, and is a past president of the Louisiana Association for Justice (LAJ).

The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Austin and Los Angeles, is a nationally recognized law firm with a 30-year history of "Protecting What’s Right" for people, communities and businesses harmed by negligence. Baron & Budd’s size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals, governmental and business entities in areas as diverse as water contamination, Gulf oil spill, Qui Tam, California Proposition 65 violations, unsafe drugs and medical devices, Chinese drywall, deceptive advertising, consumer financial fraud, securities fraud and asbestos cancers such as mesothelioma. http://baronandbudd.com.

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The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has selected Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., as its 2012-2013 President-Elect. Sawyers is chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), one of the leading medical facilities in the United States treating mesothelioma, a deadly cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer.

Sawyers also is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and a professor in the Cell and Developmental Biology Program and the Department of Medicine at the Joan & Sanford Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University. He will become president-elect of AACR at the organization’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill., on April 2, 2012, and will become president of the organization in April 2013.

In a news release from AACR, Dr. Sawyers says, “I am deeply honored to serve as president-elect of the AACR. We are in the midst of a transformative decade in cancer research, with many new therapies emerging from our work that are improving the lives of cancer patients around the world. Yet we are at risk of failing to realize this full vision due to the economic challenges faced by our nation. Now is not the time to cut our investment in cancer research. I will work with the outstanding staff of the AACR to get this important message to the leadership in Washington.”

His own research efforts are currently centered on investigating the signaling pathways that drive the growth of cancer cells, with an eye toward designing new treatment options for patients.

According to its website, MSKCC offers a team of specialists, including surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists pathologists and other scientists to work together to treat mesothelioma, particularly malignant pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs. Working together, this group of physicians and researchers can determine the best course of treatment for each individual patient. Additionally, MSKCC offers emotional support programs and counseling for mesothelioma patients and their families, and conducts ongoing clinical trials in an effort to find new solutions, and hope for a cure for this deadly disease.

Sources:
American Association for Cancer Research
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center