By Connie Brenton
The RLLB 2025 Awards celebrated the individuals and organizations that are redefining what it means to run legal like a business. From innovation and transformation to mentorship, leadership, and the next generation of talent, this year’s honorees represent the very best of our profession.
Across 11 categories, we recognized the creativity, execution, and measurable business impact that are raising the bar for legal operations worldwide. Among these honors, the General Counsel of the Year stood out as a powerful reminder of how strategic leadership can transform both legal departments and the businesses they serve.
General Counsel of the Year
This recognition honors in-house General Counsel who combine legal excellence with business leadership, strategy, and a measurable impact within their organizations.
- Large Company: Janet McCarthy, Belron
- Small and Medium Business: Eugenia Bergantz, Planful
- Small and Medium Business: Marc Mandel, Exos
Innovation Excellence Award
This award honors individuals and teams who redefine how legal drives business value through technology and new ways of working.
- Lululemon in partnership with LexGO
- Mercedes-Benz
- Kari Clevenger, Mode Global
- Jessica Vander Ploeg, Belron
Best Transformation Project Award
This award recognizes organizations that have reimagined and fundamentally reshaped legal to deliver measurable business results.
-
- Mercedes-Benz in partnership with Consilio
- Eletrobrás in partnership with Docato
- Atlassian in partnership with Brightflag
Pioneering Use of AI Award
This award celebrates organizations that are transforming legal through bold, practical applications of artificial intelligence.
- Rubrik in partnership with Harbor Global
- Corteva Agriscience in partnership with Onit
- Honigman LLP
Provider Excellence Award
This award recognizes solution providers that deliver exceptional value and act as true partners to legal departments.
- Tonkean
- Luminance
Data-Driven Legal Department of the Year
This award honors departments that use data and analytics to drive decisions, optimize operations, and demonstrate value to the business.
- PayPal – Emily Teuben and team
- Phillips 66 – Michael Voutsinas and team
- Total Quality Logistics
Mentorship Excellence Award
This award celebrates leaders who invest time and energy to grow people and elevate the profession.
- David Cohen, Reed Smith
- Michael Johnson, DigiCert
- Krysta Johnson, DocuSign
IP Operations Excellence Award
This award recognizes excellence in intellectual property operations where innovation and efficiency support business growth.
- Steve Gong, Google
- Belron
Litigation Operations Excellence Award
This award honors organizations that have improved outcomes and efficiency by modernizing litigation management through process, technology, and strategy.
- Johnson & Johnson in partnership with Elevate
- Unisys
HERizon Leadership Award
This award recognizes women and allies who demonstrate vision, strength, and a commitment to lifting others across the legal ecosystem.
- Lucie Allen, BARBRI
- Lillian Caudle, Mercedes-Benz
- Monique White
Rising Stars in Law: 40 Under 40
This award highlights emerging leaders who are making an impact.
- Abigail Baughman, Mercedes-Benz
- Hope Cannon, Diligent
- Jen Cork, NetApp
- Andrew Denman, Total Quality Logistics
- Tyler Kemp, Hyundai
- Leana Lares, H1
- Jessica Lynch, Elevance Health
- Megan Ostling, Atlassian
- Steven Rippberger
What We Saw This Year
- Impact over activity. The strongest entries demonstrated business outcomes backed by data.
- Collaboration at scale. Cross-functional partnerships with Finance, IT, Procurement, Compliance, and business units were a differentiator.
- Practical innovation. The most successful AI and transformation programs targeted high-value use cases with disciplined change management.
Looking Ahead to RLLB 2026
It is never too early to prepare for next year. If you plan to submit, start capturing outcomes now. Define the business problem, quantify the baseline, track adoption and value created, and include testimonials from stakeholders. Consider which category best fits your work and involve your partners early.
Congratulations to all honorees and to the teams behind them. Thank you for raising the standard for our profession. I look forward to celebrating your next set of achievements at RLLB 2026.