Meet the Everlaw Summit '23 Award Winners
Celebrating Leaders Who Are Driving Breakthroughs Across Their Organizations and the Profession
Just three weeks ago, hundreds of leaders in the legal profession gathered in San Francisco for Everlaw Summit, our annual conference. Over three days, they dove into hands-on training with some of the most innovative legal technology available, demystified generative AI with a masterclass in the evolution and implications of this technology, and had nearly endless opportunities for networking, peer-led education, and, simply, celebration. There were two amazing keynotes, 18 breakout sessions, hundreds of hours of CLE credit offered, one unforgettable closing party — and seven new Everlaw Summit Award winners!
The Everlaw Summit Awards recognized select individuals, organizations, and law firms driving significant impact, innovation, and contributions across the legal and ediscovery industry. Across six categories, Everlaw celebrates the innovators, change agents, and star performers.
After reviewing many nominations throughout the lead-up to Summit, winners were selected by an esteemed panel of judges:
Maeghan Ottrey, Director of Litigation Support at Fidelity Investments
Shana Simmons, Chief Legal Officer for Everlaw
Alex Hafez, Director, Solutions Architects at Everlaw
Ryan O’Leary, Research Director at IDC
Nora Ahmed, Legal Director for the ACLU of Louisiana and 2022 Summit Award winner
We want to congratulate all our Everlaw Summit Awards finalists and our seven winners this year!
Corporate Breakthrough of the Year
For corporate legal departments transforming their approach to litigation and investigations in-house.
Winner: Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions, represented by Bryn Jones, Sr. Litigation & Audit Manager.
Bryn Jones heads the audit group at Intact Insurance, where his group is responsible for monitoring every legal bill submitted by outside counsel and service providers. For one of the largest insurance companies in the world, that spend can be substantial. Bryn recognized the opportunity to significantly reduce costs and took the initiative to seek out a solution, closely examining how their organization ingested, processed, and filtered documents, finding innovative ways to use Everlaw to drive significant efficiencies in their process.
Innovative Breakthrough of the Year
For individual leaders in ediscovery that are using technology in innovative ways.
Winner: Dawne Herbert, Litigation Project Manager, Seyfarth
Dawne Herbert’s amazing technological curiosity keeps her constantly innovating in her role at Seyfarth. In 2023, Dawn dove deep into Everlaw’s predictive coding abilities, applying her understandings and best practices to build a model for her firm that led to significant improvements in the review process. Dawne embodies innovation, routinely embracing new technologies, methods, and approaches to review, and is incredibly generous in sharing those insights throughout her organization.
Impact Agent of the Year
For paralegals and litigation support professionals making measurable impacts in their organizations.
Winner: Jodi Hanslick, Enterprise Information Management Analyst, City of Minneapolis - City Attorney's Office
In her role with the City of Minneapolis, Jodi Hanslick was able to manage and track an unfathomable amount and diversity of electron data that was produced over the course of a massive and high-profile investigation that included law firms and municipal, state, and federal government agencies. Jodi was able to provide high-level support not just to her own team, but to many other organizations involved in the litigation as well.
DEI Change Agent
For those demonstrating a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by mentoring the next generation of legal professionals.
Winner: Luke Liss, Pro Bono Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
As Pro Bono Partner at Wilson Sonsini, Luke Liss manages the firm’s pro bono efforts across the globe, serving as the firm’s primary contact for pro bono partnerships and developing collaborative relationships with nonprofit service providers. Luke also leads the pro bono litigation and immigration teams and devotes additional time to mentoring students of color from local law schools, not in an effort to develop talent for the firm, but for the genuine development and success of the student.
Rising Star in Ediscovery
For professionals with seven years or less of legal experience whose early accomplishments distinguish them as future leaders in the profession.
Winner: Michael Altebrando, Of Counsel, Benedict Law Group PLLC
With just a few years of ediscovery experience, Michael Altebrando has shown tenacity, ingenuity, and expertise. In a multi-state antitrust suit, Michael helped manage a team of review attorneys from 38 states and the District of Columbia, as they sifted through seven million documents — all while the pandemic pushed the team to a fully remote model.
People’s Choice Award
For a standout Everlaw Summit presenter, selected on-site by Summit attendees.
Winners: Cynthia Rose Bryant, Chair of the Board of Trustees, The Seeing Eye, and Stephanie Biehl, Partner, Sher Edling LLP
It’s a tie! In our first-ever Summit Awards split decision, Summit attendees selected both Cynthia Rose Bryant and Stephanie Biehl as their People’s Choice winners for the year.
Cynthia Rose Bryant is Chair of the Board of Trustees for The Seeing Eye, Inc. and an attorney who has served as Special Counsel for Alternative Dispute Resolution with the Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Workplace Diversity and program management for President Clinton’s presidential task force ensuring employment for people with disabilities.
At Everlaw Summit, Cynthia presented on how to support diversity in the legal profession, sharing her own experiences as both a blind woman and an advocate. You can read her thoughts on creating more inclusive hiring and recruitment practices in legal here.
Stephanie Biehl, Partner at Sher Edling, is a tenacious and inspiring litigator, who works tirelessly on behalf of communities and individuals in some of the most complex and high-stakes matters in the courts today. A two-time Summit speaker, Stephanie is also incredibly generous in sharing her insights and expertise with the profession at large, presenting this year on advanced collaboration strategies for complex litigation.
Congratulations to all Everlaw Summit winners for their inspiring contributions to the industry! We’re thrilled to highlight and honor the achievements of individuals and organizations who are pioneering change and innovation in the legal and ediscovery space.
