Meet the Everlaw Summit ‘24 Award Winners
Recognizing Breakthrough Achievements by Leaders in the Legal Profession
It’s hard to believe Everlaw Summit was just under a month ago, and our gathering of hundreds of legal professionals from across the industry kicked off in San Francisco. Since then, we hope you’ve returned to your organizations excited to tackle new challenges and apply the learnings gained at Summit.
After the thought-provoking keynote from Shankar Vedantam and the illuminating panel of judges, we presented the Everlaw Summit Awards to seven deserving winners.
The Everlaw Summit Awards recognized select individuals, organizations, and law firms driving significant impact, innovation, and contributions in the legal and ediscovery industry. Across seven categories, Everlaw celebrates the innovators, change agents, and star performers.
After receiving many nominations in the lead up to Summit, the winners were selected by our esteemed panel of judges, made up of:
Cynthia Bryant, Chair of the Board of Trustees, The Seeing Eye, Inc.
Bob Ambrogi, Lawyer and Journalist, Lawnext.com
Yvonne Pham, Associate General Counsel, Everlaw
Joy Woller, Partner, Lewis Roca
Mike Stuck, Senior Manager, Customer Support, Everlaw
We want to congratulate all our Everlaw Summit Awards finalists and our winners this year!
Corporate Breakthrough of the Year
For corporate legal departments transforming their approach to litigation and investigations in-house.
Winner: Kiewit, represented by Cat Damico, Assistant General Counsel
Kiewit is a true success story in the world of corporate legal departments. Like many, their discovery process was outsourced, cobbled together through three different vendors. And, like many, they also knew they needed to increase efficiency if they wanted to stay competitive.
As Assistant General Counsel, Cat Damico frequently experienced the pain these different solutions caused firsthand, and wanted to fix it. This entailed centralizing the firm’s entire project management system, and overseeing a complex change management process.
Cat drove the evaluation of Everlaw at Kiewit, and sold Everlaw to internal stakeholders, addressed cost concerns, and helped create a strategic company-wide rollout plan to ensure adoption and success.
Innovative Breakthrough of the Year in Generative AI
For leaders in ediscovery that are using technology in innovative ways.
Winner: Edelson PC, represented by Chris Campbell, Attorney/Co-Manager of Reviews, and Andrew Schmidt, Discovery Director
Edelson PC is a nationally-recognized plaintiffs’ firm known for winning some of the most cutting-edge cases in the legal system. With such unique cases on their docket requiring high levels of attention, they’ve turned to generative AI to help increase efficiency and streamline their operations. Through the use of EverlawAI Assistant, they’ve been able to take on greater caseloads, helping win business for the firm. As generative AI continues to spread across the legal industry, we’re excited to see how Edelson keeps innovating.
Impact Agent of the Year
For paralegals and litigation support professionals making measurable impacts in their organizations.
Winner: Kostantino Athanasopoulos, eLitigation Coordinator, United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
As the eLitigation Coordinator, United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Kostantino Athanasopoulos has to not only respond to, but also anticipate the needs of hundreds of attorneys and legal professionals who are handling some of the most important cases in the legal system, including those related to the opioid epidemic, corruption, and high-profile civil rights litigation.
He’s remained a champion for legal technology throughout his nearly 20 year career, and has been recognized as a consistent force for change. He’s also currently volunteering for the EDRM 2.0 project, helping refresh the model to ensure it remains relevant for modern times.
In addition to his ediscovery work, Kostantino serves on Temple University's alumni board, where he chairs the mentor program and takes on multiple mentees himself. He also uses this opportunity to show legal technology to undergraduates.
DEI Change Agent
For those demonstrating a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion by mentoring the next generation of legal professionals.
Winner: Jessica Wan, Partner, Ferguson Case Orr Paterson
Jessica Wan is a Partner at Ferguson Case Orr Patterson, where she litigates complex intellectual property, commercial, and employment matters in federal and state court, and counsels clients on U.S. and global intellectual property strategies. She’s been named a Super Lawyer Rising Star eight times.
Jessica serves on the board of the Ventura County Japanese American Citizens League, which grants scholarships to local high school seniors in Ventura County and sponsors cultural and family-oriented events throughout the year. Their goal is to bring awareness to the Ventura County community about Japanese-American history and civil rights. She’s also the secretary, and former president, of the Ventura County Asian American Bar Association.
Over the course of her legal career, Jessica has seen DEI practices change for the better, with increased hiring of women and more dedicated DEI roles within governments and law firms. However, she also acknowledges there is more work to do, and more support that needs to be given to potential candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.
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: Jennifer Perkins, Litigation Support Specialist, Adams and Reese LLP
Jennifer Perkins is a Litigation Support Specialist at Adams and Reese, where she uses her expertise to help attorneys and clients alike gain knowledge and experience with legal technology. Despite starting her career just over six years ago with no background in ediscovery, Jennifer has shown an exceptional ability to adapt and excel in the face of steep learning curves. She’s also continuously pursued learning and career advancement opportunities to ensure she remains at the forefront of what's happening in the profession.
Everlaw for Good Award
For leaders in nonprofit and pro-bono legal services helping to level the playing field for justice by supporting low income populations, civil liberties, and human, civil, public, and environmental rights.
Winner: Center for Justice & Accountability, represented by Claret Vargas and Daniel McLaughlin, Senior Staff Attorneys
The Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA) was founded in 1998 to help prosecute crimes like genocide, crimes against humanity, extrajudicial killings, and torture. CJA’s vision is a world in which justice thrives – where every nation has the capacity and willingness to prosecute human rights criminals and achieve justice for those most marginalized in society.
As part of their work for the CJA, Claret Vargas and Daniel McLaughlin, both Senior Staff Attorneys, have prosecuted war criminals, advocated for human rights around the world, and developed law in areas ranging from the Alien Tort Statute to the Torture Victim Protection Act.
Among their most notable achievements, Claret and Daniel have successfully prosecuted one of Colombia’s most violent paramilitary commanders for the murders of hundreds of civilians, advocated for justice in the decades-long aftermath of the Siege of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, held an Argentine naval officer responsible for his extrajudicial killings during the Trelew Massacre in Patagonia, and represented Yazidi women seeking to enforce their rights as victims at the hands of ISIL fighters.
Claret and Daniel regularly speak at law schools, work with leading law firms, and partner with other experts in international human rights law. They’re known as leaders in the field not only for their subject matter expertise, but also because they truly lawyer with respect, dignity, integrity, and compassion.
People’s Choice Award
For a standout Everlaw Summit presenter, selected on-site by Summit attendees.
Winner: Hon. Evette Pennypacker, Judge, Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California
Judge Pennypacker has served on the Superior Court of Santa Clara County since her appointment by Governor Brown in 2018. Before her judicial appointment, she was a distinguished intellectual property litigation partner at Quinn Emanuel, where she represented clients nationwide in patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret cases.
Judge Pennypacker was selected as the People’s Choice Award winner after pulling double duty at Summit this year, speaking on our mainstage as part of a panel with other leading judges on the evolution of ediscovery and generative AI, and during a breakout session later that same afternoon on the challenges of deepfake evidence in the courtroom.
In both of these sessions, Judge Pennypacker shared valuable insights and experiences, and received rave reviews from the Summit crowd.
Congratulations to all Everlaw Summit Award 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.
