Daniel K. Wiig President Medal’s Acceptance Speech

Daniel K. Wiig
Boris Kostelanetz President’s Award

May 29th / Sept 8, 2025

Thank you, Madame President – I used to address Lew Tesser as ‘Mr. President’ – good lord he hated that – and I kept doing it. Richard, Officers, the Board, Former Presidents. Thank you.

I was surprised, really shocked, when Adrienne and I spoke very early on a Friday morning in March and she told me about this award. We were probably the only two lawyers in the city working that early. When I subsequently did a little research on this award, I became even more humbled considering the luminaries of our profession who previously received this award. And yes, I include Carol Sigmond in that category.

I think I also need to thank Jeff Kimmel. Let me explain. As some of you may recall, Jeff held a number of roles for NYCLA some years back, including Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers’ Section. I joined the Section, at the behest of my then-boss, Justice Eileen Bransten, of happy memory. At some point, Jeff called me to tell me he was no longer a young lawyer – his words, not mine – and asked if I would serve as co-chair of the young lawyer’s section. I said ‘sure.’

Maybe a day or two later, someone else called me, who happened to be the chair of the young lawyers group of another bar association, and asked me the same – to serve as chair of that group. I declined, because I accepted Jeff’s offer. I guess timing is everything and, if not for Jeff’s call, I might not have had the great privilege of serving NYCLA in various capacities over the years and receiving this honor today.

Sophia Gianacoplos is frustrated, thinking “if only Jeff waited a few days…”

To be honest, when Adrienne called me, I thought she wanted to fire me from hosting Amicus Curiae. She might have listened to that episode where I suggested to Chief Judge Wilson that he may have a claim against Governor Hochul because she failed to disclose that the job of Chief Judge, as the Chief explained to me, was really four jobs. Or that Adrienne heard the episode where I managed to get past president Judge Stewart Aaron to sing because – let’s be honest – we all thought we were done with that.

When Toni Valenti and I spoke in the summer of 2020 about starting this series, I never could have dreamed that I would speak with whom I have spoken on the topics that we addressed. To me, this is what NYCLA membership is about and brings me back to one of my very first NYCLA duties.

Shortly after I became Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers’ Section, then-President Jim Koback asked me to participate in a “Meet the Bar Associations Event” at New York Law School. After the panel Q&A about bar associations ended, a student came up to me and asked, bluntly, “what’s in it for me?” I do not recall my answer, but I am fairly certain it was not good.

I wish I could answer her now.

If I could, I would tell her about the career-long relationships you could form. I would mention how NYCLA leadership, a number of years ago, indulged my absolutely unconventional – some said insane – idea to host a mentor auction. And then I would tell her the stories I hear – to this very day – from lawyers who were then just students or newbie lawyers and how the mentor they won with fake NYCLA money because Toni is her own treasury department – helped them navigate the post-law school job search, assisted them with a work matter, advised on job-related issues or invited them to sit at their table at the NYCLA Annual Dinner – that was before the buffet version. I would also mention how Bari Chase worked to give law students and young lawyers the chance to be involved in CLE programming, affording them the opportunity to engage with senior lawyers on a common project. I would tell her how you can do what I did now, make a few good natured jokes with people, of whom I greatly respect, reflective of a history of working together for what we believe to be the common good.

Finally, I would like to once again express thanks to the presidents with whom I worked over the years: Jim, Judge Aaron, Judge Moses, Lew – yes, even Carol – Michael, Steven, Vince, and Adrienne; Sophia, who tolerates me; Toni, with whom I collaborated closely, and shared a lot of laughs; Bari, with whom I worked on a number of CLE programs; and, finally Azelia Cutts who deals with my 5:30 am emails wondering about when the next episode will drop.

Richard – best of luck to you and your new team in moving forward.

Thank you