Southwestern Law School honors attorneys, judge at awards gala

Southwestern Law School's 33rd Annual Alumni Awards Gala took place June 20 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

The event, hosted by the Southwestern Alumni Association, celebrated the achievements of the school's distinguished alumni and friends.

Kramer Trial Lawyer's Daniel Kramer, the association's president, said that the 2024 gala had the highest attendance on record. He added that this increase in turnout also resulted in the highest funds raised in the event's history. The proceeds will support the newly renamed Debbie Leathers Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund, providing financial assistance to students.

Robert Brandt, graduating class of 1976 and head of the family law department at Feinberg Mindel Brandt & Klein LLP, was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Outstanding Judicial Officer award was presented to Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Susan Bryant-Deason, a member of the class of 1978. Arash Homampour, class of 1992, and founder of The Homampour Law Firm, was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Year.

Leathers, who is associate dean for institutional advancement at Southwestern, was honored with the Outstanding Friend award.

"All of these awardees, the one thing they have in common is they all have grit, they never back down, they out work, they out hustle and they have led to the top of their field," Kramer said. "There are countless Southwestern graduates who are cut from the same cloth."