Corporate Counsel Announces Its 2022 Women, Influence and Power in Law Awards

Corporate Counsel is excited to announce the honorees for our 2022 Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards! The WIPL awards honor general counsel, in-house leaders and law firm partners who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in law. These outstanding women will be recognized at an awards dinner on Oct. 18 as part of our Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference in Washington, D.C.

These women leaders are business strategists, complex problem-solvers and, of course, great lawyers. But what particularly makes these women stand out is their personal dedication to the promotion of diversity in the legal industry.

Our 2022 WIPL awards recognize legal department leaders for their work in leading through crisis as well as highlighting extraordinary leadership by female in-house counsel and law firm partners in the following categories: Innovative Leadership; Thought Leadership; Collaborative Leadership; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion; Best Mentor; General Counsel of the Year or Managing Partner of the Year; and Lifetime Achievement.

Profiles of the below honorees will run on Corporate Counsel in October as part of the recognition event. Congratulations to all the exceptional lawyers on this list!

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 and Chief Social Responsibility Officer, Pentair
• Hope Mehlman, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Bank of the West

Thought Leadership 

• Yosr Hamza, Director, Legal and Compliance-Middle East, Gartner
• Nicole Linda Kelsey, Amyris
• Elizabeth McBride, VP, Litigation, Compliance and Privacy, Applied Materials
• Ashley Kuruvilla, VP and General Counsel, Woodland Direct
• Gabrielle Kohlmeier, Managing Associate General Counsel/Lead Legal for Consumer Omnipresence and 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
• Sibyl Medie, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Olive AI
• Sara Dastgheib-Vinarov, Global Legal Head of Intellectual Property, Tate & Lyle Solutions USA LLC

Diversity, Equity and 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 and Corporate Secretary, Regions Bank
• Aviva Will, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Burford Capital
• Tammy Albarrán, Chief Deputy General Counsel, Uber Technologies

Best Mentor 

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

General Counsel of the Year 

• Karen Leetzow, Chief Legal Officer, U.S. Soccer Federation
• Fatema Fathnezhad, Group VP Legal, Virgin Mobile Middle East and 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
• Francine Friedman Griesing, Managing Member, Griesing Law
• Lynda A. Bennett, Partner, Lowenstein Sandler
• Jill MacAlpine, Cecilia Sanabria, and Esther Lim, Partners, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner (team award)
• Jessica Taub Rosenberg, Partner, Kasowitz Benson Torres
• Julie G. Reiser, Partner, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll
• Joanna Plichta Boisen, Chief Pro Bono and Social Impact Officer, Davis Wright Tremaine

Thought Leadership 

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

Collaborative Leadership 

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

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion 

• Alison Chen, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
• Yendelela Holston, Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend
• Jamila  Mensah, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright
• Michelle Park Chiu, Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
• Audrea Golding, Partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy
• Brionna Denby, Senior Counsel, Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman
• 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
• Ingrid Bagby, Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
• Melissa Schwartz, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
• Megan DeLeon, Partner, Akerman
• Shari Klevens, Partner, Dentons

Managing Partner of the Year 

• Kelly Culhane, Culhane Meadows
• Jamie Levitt, Morrison & Foerster
• Andrea Mitchell, Mitchell Sandler
• Christine Howard, Fisher & Phillips
• Rhonda Tobin, Robinson & Cole

Lifetime Achievement 

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