Congrats to the First Annual Everlaw Summit Award Winners!
This past week legal professionals across various industries joined us at the Everlaw Summit, our three-day, in-person event. Attendees had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge with peer-to-peer education, learn best practices from industry experts, receive real-time guidance from the Everlaw team, and gain recognition for their work with the first annual Everlaw Summit Awards Ceremony.
The Everlaw Summit Awards recognized select individuals, organizations, and law firms driving significant impact, innovation, and contributions across the legal and ediscovery industry. In seven categories, Everlaw celebrates the top innovation, DEI change agent, and community influencer and the vital role they play in our society, as well as those whose work focuses on promoting justice. We want to congratulate all of the winners!
Below are this year’s Everlaw Summit Awards winners and their respective categories:
Impact Award of the Year: Penny Jones-Magee, Harness, Dickey & Pierce
Paralegal and Litigation Support
Sr. Technical Trainer & Litigation Support Specialist at Harness, Dickey & Pierce, Penny Jones-Magee headed her law firm’s transition from a legacy ediscovery platform to the cloud after a lengthy and competitive POC process, carefully evaluating various platforms and technology solutions.
She then owned the firm’s adoption and onboarding into Everlaw, carefully developing a training program to get her team familiar and comfortable with the Everlaw platform. Penny is now charting a new direction for her firm by leading the charge to implement new bill-back procedures, a new process for the firm.
Everlaw For Good Award: Nora Ahmed, ACLU of Louisiana
Journalist, Pro Bono Attorney, Law Firm, or Legal Organization
Nora Ahmed led the development and creation of the ACLU of Louisiana‘s Justice Lab initiative, which challenges racially discriminatory policing practices and combats police violence against people of color.
Through this program, the ACLU of Louisiana has enlisted law firms and law school clinics to challenge racially-motivated stops and seizures under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
DEI Change Agent: Steven Hicks-Safra, Cole, Scott & Kissane
Demonstrating a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by mentoring the next generation of legal professionals
Steven Hicks-Safra, the general counsel and co-chair of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee at Cole, Scott & Kissane, has put real action behind the law firm’s diversity initiatives. Steven has helped ensure that the firm is not only reflective of their surrounding communities and client base but also one that provides real opportunities for talented and qualified legal professionals from all walks of life.
Under his leadership, Cole, Scott & Kissane has ranked #2 in The 2021 Biglaw Diversity Scorecard, with 42% attorneys from underrepresented groups, and become RING certified.
Innovation Award of the Year: Denise Ware, Abbott
Oversaw initiatives to solve legal problems
Denise Ware leads Abbott‘s fast-paced internal investigations program, establishing her as not just a thought leader in the legal and ediscovery space but also a product expert. Denise brings her expertise and exactitude to partnering directly with technology providers like Everlaw’s product team, offering in-depth input on our email threading visualization and ways to improve the process for handling unusually large email threads.
As a result of her feedback, Everlaw has become more innovative and has informed how we develop features designed for the largest, most sophisticated legal departments.
Everlaw Community Influencer Award: Greg McCullough, Fire Litigation Consulting
Spotlighting our most impactful community member
Since the launch of the new and improved Everlaw Ediscovery Community, Greg McCullough, an IT Consultant at Fire Litigation Consulting, has been highly active in the community and has helped many Everlaw users get the most out of the platform.
Armed with a wealth of experience with Everlaw and in the broader legal industry, Greg is generous with his time, sharing tips, tricks, and general advice for any community members who need it.
Rising Star in Ediscovery: Amy Prime, Womble, Bond, Dickinson
A person with seven years or less of ediscovery experience whose early accomplishments distinguish them as possible future leaders in the profession
Amy Prime, a managing associate at Womble, Bond, Dickinson, initially took on ediscovery as a side project. Fast forward three years later, she is now the leading force in changing how the firm works, allowing the firm to advance using technology.
Amy has spearheaded the firm’s ediscovery efforts and expanded its usage beyond traditional litigation. Additionally, she is building a still-growing team of Everlaw Certified experts, allowing the firm to market itself as an innovative leader with a skilled team.
She’s also helped bring a few products to market, bundling lawyers fees with technology for an all-in-one service. There were many hurdles and some risks, and for that, we recognize her efforts as a rising star in the industry!
People’s Choice Awards: Rachel Taketa, University of California, San Francisco
Celebrating excellent Everlaw Summit presenters
Rachel Taketa, the processing and reference archivist at the University of California, San Francisco, has driven a significant impact with her work heading the university opioid archive project.
She has overseen the collection and preparation of millions of documents from opioid litigation defendants for public access, revealing the strategies and tactics used by the pharmaceutical industry to increase sales of drugs in the face of a growing epidemic. Her work highlights archives’ critical role as a source of truth, public health reform, and healing.
