Robbins Geller Partner Sanford Svetcov to Receive Ninth Circuit’s John Frank Award

Award recognizes Svetcov for “dedication to highest standards of the legal profession.”

San Francisco, CA, July 26, 2012 -- Attorney Sanford “Sandy” Svetcov, a partner in the San Francisco office of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (“Robbins Geller”), will be honored next month at the 2012 Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in Hawaii. Mr. Svetcov has been selected to receive the 2012 John Frank Award, recognizing "a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession and the rule of law."

“We are incredibly proud of Sandy and his selection to receive this prestigious award,” said Darren J. Robbins, a partner at the Robbins Geller law firm. “There is simply no greater honor than receiving the highest recognition from the esteemed judges of the Ninth circuit,” he added.

Mr. Svetcov is a renowned appellate lawyer who has briefed and argued more than 300 cases in state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. He has practiced law for 47 years and is considered to be the dean of appellate lawyers appearing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is also well known for volunteer work on behalf of the court, including recruiting lawyers from the Northern District of California to participate in the Ninth Circuit Pro Bono Program. The Ninth Circuit consists of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the district and bankruptcy courts and their related court units in nine western states and two Pacific Island jurisdictions.

He was a partner in the law firm of Landels Ripley & Diamond LLP until 2000, when he joined Robbins Geller.  In 1999 and 2002, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist appointed Mr. Svetcov to three-year terms on the Federal Appellate Rules Advisory Committee. He is also an ex officio member of the Ninth Circuit Advisory Committee on Rules and Internal Operating Procedures. His other memberships and service commitments to the legal profession include: American Academy of Appellate Lawyers; the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers; the Bar Association of San Francisco (Appellate Courts Section); the American Bar Association (Appellate Judges Conference) Committee on Appellate Practice; and the Northern California Federal Bar Association, Board of Directors.

Mr. Svetcov has been active as a teacher and lecturer in continuing legal education programs, including the Ninth Circuit Federal Bar Association Appellate Practice Seminar. He also served as an adjunct professor at Hastings College of the Law and an instructor in appellate advocacy at the United States Attorney General's Advocacy Institute (1980-1989).

Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Svetcov earned his B.A. in 1961 from Brooklyn College, graduating cum laude, and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, in 1964.