Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards 2023 | ALM Media Properties, LLC. | 27 June 2023 | The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 130 Roosevelt Way, New Orleans, LA 70112, US

The Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards 2023 honors top women lawyers who have made a remarkable difference in the legal profession -- whether in shaping the law, achieving outsized results for their clients, being an outstanding jurist or assisting those in need of legal services.

Each year this event brings together firm leaders, star dealmakers, winning trial lawyers, in-house counsel on the cutting-edge, along with thought leaders from government and academia.

Categories Include
• Ally of the Year
• Innovative Leaders
• Thought Leadership
• Collaborative Leadership
• Lifetime Achievement
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion
• General Counsel of the Year
• Managing Partner of the Year
• Mentor & Mentee Collaboration

2022 Honorees

In-House Awards

Crisis Management
• Krishna Walker, General Counsel, CareVet
• Allison Purmort, General Counsel Southwest Foodservice Excellence (SFE)
• Kimberly Bennion, VP, Associate General Counsel Robert Half International Inc.

Innovative Leadership
• Danielle Antill, Director of Legal Operations, Barings
• Julie Anne Gillespie, VP and Head of IP, BioNTechUS
• Stacy Walsh, AVP Corporate Legal Operations, Travelers
• Karla Robertson, EVP, General Counsel, Secretary & Chief Social Responsibility Officer, Pentair
• Hope Mehlman, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Bank of the West

Thought Leadership
• Yosr Hamza, Director, Legal & Compliance – Middle East, Gartner
• Nicole Linda Kelsey, Amyris, Inc.
• Elizabeth McBride, VP, Litigation, Compliance and Privacy, Applied Materials, Inc.
• Ashley Kuruvilla, VP and General Counsel, Woodland Direct, Inc.
• Gabrielle Kohlmeier, Managing Associate General Counsel/Lead Legal for Consumer Omnipresence & Orchestration Operations Group, Verizon

Collaborative Leadership
• Kathy Hibbs, Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary, 23andMe
• Cara Hawkinson, Associate General Counsel, Data Privacy and Security, Fresenius Medical Care North America
• Yafit Cohn, Chief Sustainability Officer and Group General Counsel, Travelers
• Angela Jeffers, SVP, General Counsel, Patelco Credit Union
• Sibyle Medie, Deputy General Counsel, Payer

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion
• Inderpreet Sawhney, EVP-Group General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Infosys Limited
• Patricia Astorga, Chief Legal Officer, The Mintz Group
• Tara Plimpton, Senior EVP, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary, Regions Bank
• Aviva Will, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Burford Capital
• Tammy Albarrán, Chief Deputy General Counsel, Uber Technologies, Inc.

Best Mentor
• Lora Spencer, Principal Litigation Counsel, Litigation & Investigations, Global Legal, Medtronic
• Michelle Carson, Chief Litigation Counsel, Universal Health Services, Inc.
• Samantha Wellington, EVP, Business Affairs, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Trinet
• Shana Simmons, General Counsel, Everlaw
• Melanie Gross, Senior Director & Associate General Counsel at Genentech, Inc.

General Counsel of the Year
• Karen Leetzow, Chief Legal Officer, U.S. Soccer Federation
• Fatema Fathnezhad, Group VP Legal, Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa
• Joan Aristei, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer, Oportun
• Irene Liu, Chief Legal Officer, Hopin
• Alexis Kremen, General Counsel, Related Companies

Lifetime Achievement
• Carol Bernheim, Deputy General Counsel, Bridgewater Associates

Law Firm Awards

Innovative Leadership
• Jeanne Gills, Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP
• Francine Friedman Griesing, Managing Member, Griesing Law, LLC
• Lynda A. Bennett, Shareholder, Lowenstein Sandler LLP
• Jill MacAlpine, Cecilia Sanabria, and Esther Lim, Partners, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP (team award)
• Jessica Taub Rosenberg, Partner, Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
• Julie G. Reiser, Partner, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
• Joanna Plichta Boisen, Chief Pro Bono & Social Impact Officer, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Thought Leadership
• Amber Rogers, Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth, LLP
• Ellen Holloman, Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
• Eva Davis, Chair, Transactions Department, Winston & Strawn LLP
• LaKeisha Marsh, Practice Group Chair, Government Affairs and Public Policy; Chair, Higher Education and Collegiate Athletics Practice, Akerman LLP
• Simona Agnolucci, Partner, Litigation Department; Managing Partner of the San Francisco office, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
• Frieda Garcia, Partner, Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP
• Cristina Shea, Partner and Global Head of Women’s Initiative at Reed Smith (WINRS), Reed Smith LLP

Collaborative Leadership
• Demetra Liggins, Partner, McGuireWoods LLP
• Christine Okike, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
• Carmen Brun, Head of Konexo US; Senior Counsel, Eversheds Sutherland
• Sharon Klein, Chair, Privacy, Security & Data Protection Practice, Blank Rome LLP
• Denice Tokunaga, Seattle Office Co-Managing Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
• Barbara Binzak Blumenfeld, Shareholder, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
• Carmita Alonso, Partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP
• Cristina DeMento, Partner, Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
• Sara Vinarov, Global Legal Head of Intellectual Property, Tate & Lyle PLC

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion
• Alison Chen, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
• Yendelela Holston, Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend
• Jamila Mensah, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright
• Michelle Park Chiu, Partner, Morgan Lewis
• Audrea Golding, Partner, Fragomen
• Brionna Denby, Senior Counsel, Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC
• Alexis Amezcua, Partner, Morrison Foerster
• Amaryah Bocchino, Managing Partner, Chief Diversity Officer and Firm Executive Committee Member, MG+M The Law Firm

Best Mentor
• Amy M. Stewart, Partner, Stewart Law Group
• Amanda Murphy, Partner, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
• Ingrid Bagby, Partner, Cadwalader
• Melissa Schwartz, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
• Megan DeLeon, Partner, Akerman LLP
• Shari Klevens, Partner, Dentons

Managing Partner of the Year
• Kelly Culhane, Culhane Meadows PLLC
• Jamie Levitt, Morrison Foerster
• Andrea Mitchell, Mitchell Sandler LLC
• Christine Howard, Fisher Phillips
• Rhonda Tobin, Robinson & Cole LLP

Lifetime Achievement
• Nancy Kestenbaum, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP
• Ursula Ungaro, Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
• Regina Petty, Chief Diversity Officer & Partner, Fisher Phillips
• Faith Gay, Founding Partner, Selendy Gay Elsberg PLLC
• Kathleen McKenna, Partner, Proskauer