MONTEREY, CA -- Boston University School of Law will honor attorney Ed Kelly this week for his groundbreaking legal work to fight illicit trafficking and counterfeit operations in Asia.
Kelly will be presented with the Victor Garo Public Service Award in a ceremony Wednesday night at Barristers Hall on the Campus of BU.
Kelly, a 1991 alumnus of BU, joined the Monterey, California law firm of LaRiviere, Grubman & Payne in August. He is based in Bangkok where he oversees the firm’s operations in Asia.
Kelly has dedicated his legal career to developing strategies to thwart organized crime syndicates that prey on child labor to manufacture counterfeit products.
“To me, there is no higher honor than being acknowledged for volunteer service,” Kelly said while visiting his alma mater this week. “This honor is actually one that I will share with the hundreds of other volunteers working to stop child slave labor.”
Kelly and his wife, Sasithorn “May” Jarukdee, have been instrumental in the legal battles to end human trafficking, and have been featured in several documentary films and news reports, including BBC, ABC and the National Geographic Society. They are key advisors to sisha.org a charitable foundation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Bangkok, Thailand.
The Victor Garo Award is named for the Boston attorney who famously worked for decades to free an innocent man who had been wrongly convicted of murder. Kelly is the law school’s first recipient of the award.
LGP concentrates in intellectual property and related business matters for constantly changing globally-minded enterprises. Based in central California with operations in Asia, agents in Europe, South America, and Australia, LGP provides clients with a rare blend of local accessibility and exceptional service, combined with world-wide reach and expertise.
For more information, contact:
Dave LaRiviere 831.649.8800
Mark Hass 503.226.7095