PHILADELPHIA – Stradley Ronon Chairman William R. Sasso and Investment Management Co-Chair Bruce G. Leto have been selected as The Philadelphia Inquirer’s 2018 Influencers of Law award recipients in the “Lifetime Achievement” and “Investment Management” categories, respectively. This recognition honors Philadelphia’s leading lawyers who “set the bar high” by impacting business and serving the community.
To determine Influencers of Law winners, a panel of experts reviewed nominations based on accomplishments in specialized practice, business impact and civic/community services. Winners were profiled in the Inquirer’s Sunday Business section on July 8, and honored at an awards luncheon held at the Crystal Tea Room on July 11.
Sasso has been chairman of Stradley Ronon since 1994. In that role, he is responsible for oversight and management of more than 200 attorneys in the firm's eight offices in Philadelphia, Malvern and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, Delaware; Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; and New York. Outside of his legal practice, he is widely recognized for his civic accomplishments, including having served as chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, a commissioner of the Delaware River Port Authority, and as a trustee of Leo Niessen Jr. Charitable Foundation. He also serves on the board of directors of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, and Independence Health Group; the board of trustees of LaSalle University; and was the chairman of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure and Investment Authority (PENNVEST). He is the board chair of Holy Redeemer Health System, and he serves on the board of Cancer Treatment Centers of America.
Leto is co-chair of Stradley Ronon’s Investment Management Group, one of the premier investment management practices in the country, representing investment company clients with more than 1,000 separate funds and assets under management approaching $2 trillion. Under his leadership, the group has expanded in size from 10 to 60 investment management attorneys, becoming the largest such practice in Philadelphia, and one of the largest nationwide. Consistently acknowledged in the market as one of the top registered-funds lawyers in the United States, Leto also serves on Stradley Ronon’s board of directors, as well as on the advisory board of BoardIQ, an industry publication that addresses issues confronting investment company independent directors. Leto is a member of the board of trustees and executive committee of Settlement Music School, the largest community arts school in the United States. He also serves on the board of directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association, one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, and the Academy of Music, a 150-year-old Philadelphia institution. Leto is the founder and a steering committee member of the Philadelphia Fund Alliance, a nonprofit organization of Philadelphia-based asset management industry professionals formed to hold an annual fundraiser that benefits charities in the Greater Philadelphia area. In just two years under Leto’s leadership, PFA has raised more than $124,000 for Philadelphia-area nonprofits.
About Stradley Ronon
Counseling clients since 1926, Stradley Ronon has helped private and public companies – from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations – achieve their goals by providing pragmatic, value-driven legal counsel. With offices in eight strategic locations, our responsive team of more than 200 attorneys seamlessly addresses the full spectrum of our clients’ needs, ranging from sophisticated corporate transactions to complex commercial litigation.