Judith Whittaker to Join SHB

Judith Whittaker, the General Counsel, Executive Vice President of Hallmark Cards, Inc., will join Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P as Of Counsel in the Kansas City, Missouri, office, effective February 1, 2004.

“We are delighted to have such a pillar of the corporate and legal community join our firm,” said SHB Vice Chairman Pat McLarney. “Judy will be handling special projects and will be involved with client audits as well as other business development initiatives.”

In addition to working with client audits, Whittaker will advise clients on risk management and risk avoidance for SHB. Prior to joining Hallmark Cards in 1972, Whittaker was a Partner with Sheffrey, Ryder, Skeer, Krigel & Rose.

Whittaker currently serves as a Director of the Board of Crown Media Holdings, Inc. She also was a Director of Harmon Industries and MCI Communications Corporation, and served as Director, Vice President and General Counsel of Univision Holdings, Inc. Whittaker’s civic involvement includes being on the Advisory Council for the Henry Bloch School of Business, serving as Director and member of the Executive Committee of the American Arbitration Association, being on the Board of Trustees for the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Foundation and serving as Director and recent past President of the Board of DeLaSalle Education Center. She also served as a Trustee of Brown University.

Ingram’s Magazine named Whittaker one of the 20 Outstanding Executive Women in 2002. She was honored with the Women Who Mean Business Award from the Kansas City Business Journal in 2002 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 2001.

Whittaker received her J.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and B.A. from Brown University.