The Robert M. Morgenthau Award honoree:

Robert J. McGuire

former New York city police commissioner

Robert J. McGuire is an attorney and business executive who served as the New York City Police Commissioner from 1978 to 1983.

Mr. McGuire began his professional career as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and traveled to Somalia, Africa, to serve as the legal advisor to that country’s police force. Upon his return he joined the law firm of Phillips Nizer.  Thereafter he started a legal services program in East Harlem (Community Law Offices) providing free legal representation to indigents of the area.  The program eventually merged with The Legal Aid Society. In 1969 he began a law firm with Andrew M. Lawler, a former S.D.N.Y colleague.  The firm was the first boutique white collar firm in the City.

On December 15, 1977, Mayor-elect Ed Koch appointed Mr. McGuire to serve as the New York City Police Commissioner.   At the age of 41, he was the youngest Commissioner since Teddy Roosevelt. In 1979, Koch gave him authority over the New York City Transit Police and the New York City Housing Authority Police.  During that time, in 1980, Mr. McGuire was the architect in creating the Joint Terrorism Task Force, a multi-agency partnership among various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, tasked with investigating terrorism and terrorism-related crimes.  Mr. McGuire resigned his office on December 30, 1983.

On January 1, 1984, he joined Pinkertons as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  Thereafter, he became a Senior Managing Director of Kroll Associates and subsequently was named Kroll’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. McGuire has served on numerous government boards and commissions, including The Advisory Panel on Overseas Security, a government commission created to recommend improvements to security following terror attacks at diplomatic facilities around the world (1984-1985).  He also served as Chairman of the New York City Charter Revision Commission (appointed by Mayor Bloomberg in 2002).  He was also a member of the Board of the Police Athletic League for forty-eight years and recently resigned as Co-Chairman.  He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Mutual of America Financial Services.

The Robert M. Morgenthau Award Honoree:

ANJAN SAHNI

WILMER CUTLER PICKERING HALE AND DORR LLP

Anjan Sahni is the managing partner at WilmerHale. He specializes in representing companies, boards, and senior executives in government investigations, litigation, and crisis-related matters. He returned to WilmerHale in 2015, after having been an Assistant United States Attorney for over a decade at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.  As an AUSA, Anjan served in various senior roles, including as Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and as Co-Chief of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit.  Anjan clerked for the Honorable Pierre N. Leval of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  He graduated from Emory College and Yale Law School.     

 

inaugural robert j. mcguire honoree:

chauncey parker

executive director, hidta ny/nj

Chauncey Parker serves as the Executive Director of the New York/New Jersey HIDTA, a federally funded grant program that invests in public safety and public health partnerships to build safe and healthy communities. Parker has served as the HIDTA Director for 30 years.   Parker began his career in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 1986, where he served for five years. He next served for 10 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In 2002, Governor George Pataki appointed Parker as the Director of Criminal Justice for New York State and Commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services. In 2010, Parker returned to the Manhattan DA’s Office as an Executive Assistant District Attorney, where he served until his appointment to the NYPD as the Deputy Commissioner for Collaborative Policing in 2019.  In 2024, Parker was appointed as Assistant Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, and then Deputy Mayor, a position where he served until March 2025.

THE ROBERT M. MORGENTHAU AWARD PRESENTED TO
ROBERT J. MCGUIRE Former NYC Police Commissioner	ANJAN SAHNI Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
INAUGURAL ROBERT J. MCGUIRE HONOREE
CHAUNCEY PARKER Executive Director, HIDTA NY/NJ
EVENT CHAIRS
BRENDAN R. MCGUIRE Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP PAL Board
CHARLES A. STILLMAN Ballard Spahr LLP PAL Board
FRED WILPON
HOST COMMITTEE
ELKAN ABRAMOWITZ Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC.
BENJAMIN BRAFMAN Brafman & Associates, P.C.
DEIRDRE M. DALY Finn Dixon & Herling LLP
BOYD M. JOHNSON, III Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
RICHARD ZABEL Elliott Investment Management L.P.
BART M. SCHWARTZ Guidepost Solutions LLC
RICHARD ZABEL Elliott Investment Management L.P.
PLEASE JOIN US!!
JOHN A. CATSIMATIDIS PAL Chairman
BART M. SCHWARTZ Guidepost Solutions LLC PAL President
PAL BOARD EVENT HONORARY CHAIRS
CRAIG A. EATON Eaton & Torrenzano Attorneys at Law
LISA M. FRIEL National Football League
HON. BARBARA S. JONES (ret.) Bracewell LLP
STEPHEN E. KAUFMAN Stephen E. Kaufman, P.C.
VINCENT F. PITTA Pitta LLP