We're excited to announce the winners and finalists in our second annual New England Legal Awards, recognizing attorneys and firms from Connecticut and across New England.

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

• Ford Harrison
• 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