Daily Report presented its awards Thursday at its annual dinner, which was held on May 1 at The Whitley in Atlanta. Following are the winners who were announced in March, as well as the winners in nine categories who were announced at the event. Each link below leads to Q&As and additional information about each winner and honoree. For photos of the event visit our, gallery.
Law Firm of the Year: Akerman
On the heels of expanding its nationally recognized litigation practice, Akerman was named the 2025 Law Firm of the Year. The Law Firm of the Year award recognizes the firm that has demonstrated a broad spectrum of achievements in the past year and talent depth while receiving the greatest level of support for awards in total categories.
Following are Q&As with the winner and the finalists:
Attorney of the Year: Angie Zimmern of McGuireWoods
Angie Zimmern, McGuireWoods’ pro bono director, has helped make 2023 and 2024 the most successful years of public service and access to justice in McGuireWoods’ 190-year history, her nominators said. Zimmern oversees innovative collaborations with health organizations and financial institutions to expand the reach of services and ease the burden on local aid organizations. She helped organize 48 pro bono events across the country in 2024 with lawyers donating thousands of hours and helping McGuireWoods rise 46 spots in The American Lawyer’s Pro Bono Scorecard.
Daily Report presents this award each year to recognize the attorney who’s had the biggest impact on the law or legal community or done the most “to advance the cause of justice” during the previous year.
Following are links to Q&As with the winner and finalists:
Best Legal Innovation: Polsinelli
Polsinelli was selected as the winner in this category because of their new Innovation Department. Launched last year, the department embeds cutting-edge technologies and processes, systems and workflows and a culture of creativity across its 1,000-plus attorneys nationwide under the leadership of an Innovation Department chair and a director of practice innovation, their nominators said. The department and its leadership prioritize attorney and client needs by fostering collaboration, creativity and efficiency under the guiding principle that attorneys, paralegals and staff are the key to innovation.
The Daily Report presents this award to recognize firms that have helped advance the industry through technological insight and forward thinking.
Following are Q&As with the winner and each finalist:
Best Mentor: Jodi Westbrook Flowers of Motley Rice
Jodi Westbrook Flowers was named Best Mentor. According to her nominators, Flowers takes great pride in serving as a mentor to dozens of female attorneys, paralegals and others around the world, bringing 30 years of complex mass tort litigation to the table while valuing the human aspect of legal work.
The Best Mentors Award recognizes the best in caring leadership to countless attorneys who have grown and prospered under the winner and nominees’ guidance.
Below are Q&As with the winner and finalists:
Best Diversity Initiative: Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
Daily Report presents the 2025 Best Diversity Initiative Award to the nominated firm that has embraced successful diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings was selected for their work in Tennessee with the Knoxville Bar Association’s Barristers Diversity Committee in encouraging diverse students to attend Knoxville law schools and for fostering a welcoming environment.
Following are Q&As with the winner and finalists in this category.
In-House Counsel of the Year: Jennifer Scantling of Mercedes-Benz USA
Daily Report’s 2025 Best In-House Counsel Award recognizes the attorney who works best to prepare the next generation of legal talent. Overseeing more than $1 billion in commercial contracts for one of the world’s leading brands last year, Jennifer Scantling handles everything from A-list celebrities and leading global media companies to EV charger networks, technology agreements and logistics, her nominators said. In addition, she manages her company’s real estate, antitrust, employee benefits and corporate governance legal needs.
Following are links to Q&As with the winner and finalists:
Legal Innovator: Angelo Spinola of Polsinelli
Angelo Spinola is the creator and executive director of POSH, a subscription service that provides essential resources, information and guidance to home-based care providers. His innovative approach has positively impacted his firm’s success and client satisfaction, his nominators said.
Following are links to Q&As with the winner and finalists:
Managing Partner of the Year: John T.L. Koenig of Barnes & Thornburg
The Managing Partner of the Year award recognizes the leaders in the field of law who have earned deep appreciation from their colleagues and clients and for being a shining model in the field of law. This year’s winner is John T.D. Koenig.
Koenig, according to his nominators, has helped drive more than 300% growth for his firm in Atlanta in the past six years while fostering a culture of inclusion. In addition to launching the annual Atlanta Women’s summit, he is known for promoting a welcoming and supportive office environment that allows all teammates to be their authentic selves.
Following are links to Q&As with the winner and finalists:
Most Effective Dealmaker: Hunter Carpenter of Akerman
The Most Effective Dealmaker award, recognizing the attorney who works not only for quantity or dollar volume but also for getting repeat business and achieving their clients’ goals so that both sides sign with strength on the dotted lines, was presented to Hunter Carpenter of Akerman. According to his nominators, his strategic mindset and results-driven approach consistently deliver impressive outcomes for his clients and create value for all parties involved, makes him a standout leader in corporate law.
Following are Q&As with the winner and finalists:
Most Promising Newcomer: Mirabella Nwaka
Selected from this year’s On the Rise honorees was a group of finalists for this year’s Most Promising Newcomer. This year’s Most Promising Newcomer was Mirabella Nwaka of Akerman. According to her nominators, her practice focuses on complex commercial real estate matters and representing lenders in high-stakes transactions. In her short tenure, she assisted an administrative agent on a $130 million acquisition loan for a portfolio of 53 properties across four states. A member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, she mentors law students in her state, and is recognized for her pro bono work through her firm.
Following are links to Q&As with these winner and finalists.
Litigation Departments of the Year
Daily Report honored the following firms for their excellence in a variety of practice areas. Several winners were announced before and others were revealed during the dinner. Following are the names of the firms and the categories for which they were recognized.
General Litigation: Dentons
With strong roots in Atlanta and clients ranging from City Hall to numerous cannabis companies, the winning firm’s litigation and dispute resolution practice has a deep bench and global footprint, making it a go-to firm for high-stakes complex and cross-border disputes, its nominators said.
The finalists in this category also included Beal Sutherland Berlin & Brown; Bondurant Mixson & Elmore; Eversheds Sutherland; Greenberg Traurig and Krevolin & Horst.
Specialty Practice Insurance Winner: Akerman
Akerman, with more than 700 lawyers across 26 cities, particularly in Atlanta, Winston-Salem and more recently Charlotte, have further solidified this firm’s reputation as a leader in its field, its nominators said.
Specialty Practice Intellectual Property: Alston & Bird
Alston & Bird was selected as the winner in this category for its intellectual property team’s work with multinational clients across a variety of industries. The team, according to their nominators, achieved two clean sweep jury verdicts in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in 2024 and took on numerous high-profile, business-critical cases for clients including Honeywell International, Signify, Skechers and Chick-fil-A.
The runner-up in this category was Duane Morris
Specialty Practice Labor & Employment: Seyfarth Shaw
Seyfarth Shaw’s nominators said the firm’s powerhouse teams in Georgia and North Carolina, deliver exceptional outcomes in high-stakes litigation and advisory matters for the nation’s most prominent employers with a practice that sets the standard for excellence in wage and hour collective and class actions, complex litigation and traditional labor law.
Specialty Practice Personal Injury: Conley Griggs Partin
Conley Griggs Parton, according to the firm’s nominators, pride itself on fighting for its clients to deliver outstanding verdicts while committing to work-life balance for employees. Among recent multimillion-dollar verdicts they cited were a $17 million award in Clayton County in a case involving defective seat belts and a $6.8 million decision for a fiber-optic installer burned after striking an unmarked power line.
The runner-up in this category was Spaulding Injury Law.
Specialty Practice Products Liability: Greenberg Traurig
Often taking a leading role in mass torts with multiple co-defendants, Greenberg Traurig’s pharmaceutical, medical device and health care litigation group is highly regarded for consistently achieving victories in a field that is crucial to global public health, their nominators said. With top-tier litigators handling hundreds of cases involving billions each year, the group is also sought after for its diversity and ability to connect with clients, judges and juries from wide-ranging backgrounds.
The other finalists in the category were: King & Spalding; Lightfoot, Franklin & White; Motley Rice and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.
Specialty Practice White-Collar: King & Spalding
The winner was King & Spalding, which last year was named Daily Report’s Law Firm of the Year. Its nominators said the firm’s numerous accolades are a testament to the dedication, expertise and innovative strategies that define this firm’s practice in an intensely competitive landscape. In 2024, they said, the firm’s Special Matters and Government Investigations team saw unparalleled success.
Finalists in this category also included Bass, Berry & Sims and Womble Bond Dickinson.
In addition to the winners and finalists recognized, a select group of attorneys were honored for their long service in law and to our latest group of young lawyers designated as being “On the Rise.”
Daily Report each year recognizes several lifetime achievers—attorneys whose work and talents have contributed significantly to the Southeastern legal community and helped countless others do the absolute best for their clients and for their communities. Following are Q&As with all of this year’s honorees:
Our distinguished leaders represent some of the most successful and respected legal minds from throughout the Southeast. Following are Q&As with all of this year’s honorees:
Daily Report has presented On the Rise awards since 2002, recognizing Georgia’s—and for the past two years the Southeast’s—top lawyers 40 and under. Visit here for a slideshow featuring their photos and information about their firms, practice areas and educational backgrounds.
On the Rise in Alabama Honorees
On the Rise in Georgia Honorees
On the Rise in Mississippi Honorees
On the Rise in North Carolina Honorees
On the Rise in South Carolina Honorees
On the Rise in Tennessee Honorees
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