Mar. 23, 2013

Bar association honors Dodgers general counsel

On March 11, the Los Angeles County Bar Association presented its 2013 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in front of more than 500 attendees. Sam Fernandez, senior vice president and general counsel of the Dodgers, was honored for his storied legal career with the Dodgers. This year marks his 30th season with the team. Fernandez described his start with the Dodgers as a sort of "experiment." He was a second year associate at Latham & Watkins LLP when he was assigned to serve as resident counsel with the team. The arrangement was supposed to last one year, but he joined the organization full time and was named general counsel in 1984. "When you are GC of a company that finds itself in the paper every day, that's not an easy assignment, and when you combine that with three ownership changes over 15 years, Sam Fernandez has been more than a survivor, he has been a tremendous contributor," said Fred Claire, former Dodgers executive vice president and general manager, who introduced Fernandez. "[The Dodgers have] had an incredible history, and Sam is the link through all those organizations." Before the award presentation, featured speaker Hall of Fame broadcaster and voice of the Dodgers Vin Scully shared stories of Dodgers baseball past. -Caitlin Johnson