We're excited to announce the winners and finalists in our second annual New England Legal Awards, recognizing attorneys and firms from Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

What we've ended up with is one of our strongest-ever groups of finalists in our annual excellence awards, which will be celebrated at a gala in September. Winners in categories such as Attorney of the Year and Litigation Departments of the Year, General Litigation will be recognized at an awards dinner on Thursday, Sept. 26 at Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston. For more information, please visit the New England Legal Awards event site. For tickets and sponsorships, please contact Andre Sutton at [email protected].

Many of the names below are familiar to all, but there will likely be some who are new to you from neighboring New England states. Connecticut's legal community remains proudly represented in this year's contest, which reaches out to a broader audience and will be showcased on a bigger stage.

Thanks to everyone who nominated candidates for this year's awards, and please join in celebrating the following winners and finalists:

Attorney of the Year Finalists

Benjamin H. Diessel, Wiggin and Dana

Chinh H. Pham, Greenberg Traurig

Lisa Pirozzolo, WilmerHale

Lifetime Achievement Winners

Daniel Halston, WilmerHale

John Rattigan, DLA Piper

Stanley A. Twardy, Jr., Day Pitney

Litigation Departments of the Year: General Litigation Finalists

Day Pitney

Latham & Watkins

Motley Rice

Silver Golub & Teitell

Wiggin and Dana

WilmerHale

Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Category, Antitrust Winner

Wiggin and Dana

Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Category, Appellate Finalists

FordHarrison Wiggin and Dana

Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Category, Business Litigation Winner

Latham & Watkins

Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Category, Commercial Litigation Winner

Latham & Watkins

Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Category, Family Law Winner

Pullman & Comley

Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Category, Intellectual Property Finalists

Mintz

WilmerHale

Litigation Departments of the Year: Other Specialty Category Winner, M&A and Private Equity Litigation

Brown Rudnick

Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Category, Products Liability/Mass Torts Winner

Motley Rice

Litigation Departments of the Year: Specialty Category, White Collar/Corporate Compliance Winner

Nixon Peabody

Distinguished Leader Winners

Bill Baldiga, Brown Rudnick

William D. Belanger, Troutman Pepper

Tanya Bovée, Jackson Lewis

Hans Brigham, Latham & Watkins

Steven C. Browne, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

James A. Budinetz, McCarter & English

Brian Flood, The Flood Law Firm

Daniel Halston, WilmerHale

Ryan Henry, Cramer & Anderson

Garrett Lee, Morgan & Morgan

Lou Lieto, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Alan Rome, Rome Clifford Katz & Koerner

Michael D. Schweitzer, Goldberg Segalla

Banking and Finance Attorney of the Year Finalists

David Ephraim, Morrison Foerster

Brian Rich, Barclay Damon

Intellectual Property Attorney of the Year Finalists

Sarah Chapin Columbia, McDermott Will & Emery

Sarah Gagan, Latham & Watkins

Tony Gangemi, Barclay Damon

Melissa Hunter-Ensor, Greenberg Traurig

Matthew Karlyn, Morrison Foerster

Jane Remillard, Nelson Mullins

Jackie Scheib, Robinson & Cole

Merger and Acquisition Attorney of the Year Finalists

Gregory Daddario, Greenberg Traurig

Laura Knoll, Skadden

Armand A. Della Monica, Kirkland & Ellis

Outside Counsel Management Finalists

Ben Hayden and Christina Ciaramella, Cengage Group

Resolute Management, Inc.

Real Estate Firm of the Year Winner

DLA Piper

Partner of the Year Finalists

Wayne Dennison, Brown Rudnick

Farah Gerdes, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

David Tolley,  Latham & Watkins

Barbara Trachtenberg, DLA Piper

Regional Managing Partner of the Year Finalists

Leander Dolphin, Shipman & Goodwin

David J. Dykeman and Terence P. McCourt, Greenberg Traurig

Christopher McKenna, Foley & Lardner 

Richard L. Street, Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey

Dr. Maria Laccotripe Zacharakis, McCarter & English

Social Impact Finalists

Amanda Eckhoff, Robinson & Cole

Claudia Quintero, Central West Justice Center

Elizabeth Ritvo, Brown Rudnick

Charles Sanders, Latham & Watkins

Steven J. Stafstrom, Pullman & Comley

Troutman Pepper's Education Law Center Partnership

Unsung Hero Winners

Max Gladstone and Mayisha Khan, Troutman Pepper

Ashley J. Hornstein,  Motley Rice

Jarod Taylor, Axinn

In-House Impact Winner

Tony Naquan Woolard, Genus PLC

Legal Innovators & Disrupters Finalists

Ashley Picker Dubin, Day Pitney

Anusia Gillespie, SkillBurst Interactive

Troutman Pepper's "Athena"

Best Mentors Finalists

Anne Littlefield, Shipman & Goodwin

Alisha Nanda, Skadden

Margaret "Peggy" Strange, Jackson Lewis

Lisa Tittemore, Sunstein

New Leaders in the Law Winners

Megan E. Boorsma, BBB Attorneys

Richard C. Buturla, Berchem Moses

Rebecca Clegg, Axinn

Blake Driscolli, Trantolo & Trantolo

Stesha A. Emmanuel, McCarter & English

Ellen Sutliffe Hain, Cohen and Wolf

Kenyon Hall, Sidley Austin

Monica Kwok, Goodwin

Paul Lewis, DLA Piper

Erica Nolan, Hurwitz Sagarin Slossberg & Knuff

K. Alexandra O'Neill, Saxe Doernberger & Vita

Amy Pimentel, McDermott Will & Emery

Sheldon R. Poole, Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Leah Segal, Goulston & Storrs

Chadé Severin, Skadden

Jeremy Shaw, Vicente

Rebecca Sivitz, Weil, Gotshal & Manges

Matthias Sportini, FLB Law

Gwendolyn Tawresey, Troutman Pepper

Joshua Taylor, Wiggin and Dana