Association of Corporate Counsel offices. Courtesy photo.

The Association of Corporate Counsel has announced the recipients of its eighth annual Top 10 30-Somethings award at its Corporate Counsel University in Minneapolis.

This year's recipients are: Fernanda Beraldi, senior director of ethics and compliance at Cummins Inc.; Lewis J. Dolezal Jr., manager of legal at Scotts Miracle-Gro; April Dale Goff, senior counsel at J.C. Penney Co.; Melissa Reiter, director of legal and privacy officer at G Adventures; Thomas Cluderay, general counsel at Yellowstone Forever; Erin Stewart, general counsel at Pinnacle Group; Alana St. Aude, assistant general counsel at Capital One; Sadeq Khan, chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel at Vertical Screen; Brian Buckham, senior vice president and general counsel at Idaho Power; and William K. Piotrowski, associate general counsel at Lydall Inc. They were recognized at the Minneapolis program Friday afternoon.

The finalists are selected by a panel of judges, made up mostly of former recipients of the award, and the field is narrowed down to 20 to 25 contestants. Each judge then goes through the nominations to decide who makes the final cut. The nominees, who are between the ages of 30 and 39, are judged in five categories: on their approach to challenges, global perspective, contributions to the in-house community, pro bono or community service work, and innovation.

Joshua Shields, who manages the Top 10 30-Somethings program and serves as managing editor of the ACC magazine, The Docket, said he was struck by the job and company diversity of this year's recipients.

“We have someone who is the general counsel of Yellowstone Forever and someone who works for a massive utility company,” Shields said.

Veta T. Richardson, president and CEO at the ACC, said in the press release that each year the recipients exceed expectations.

“On behalf of the worldwide in-house community, we applaud their dedication to guiding corporate strategy and leadership,” Richardson said.

Shields noted that this year, while nine out of the 10 recipients came from the United States, the ACC received more nominations from outside of the country than it had before.

“As the ACC moves to become more of a global organization I think international nominations will continue to pick up,” Shields said.