The Daily Report and Law.com are pleased to announce its 2024 winners and finalists for the second annual Southeastern Legal Awards . Previously known as the Georgia Legal Awards, the program was expanded to include Georgia plus North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.

The honorees will be recognized at a gala on June 20 at Flourish in Atlanta. In June, we’ll publish a special section, further highlighting these skilled attorneys and their important accomplishments. We’ll announce the winners in each finalist category, including Attorney of the Year and Law Firm of the Year, at the dinner.


Download the 2024 Southeastern Legal Awards Program


Attorney of the Year Finalists

  • Sarah Jorgensen, Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg — WINNER
  • Ted Spaulding, Spaulding Injury Law
  • Sally Yates, King & Spalding 

Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees

  • Gerald Pouncey, Morris Manning & Martin
  • Mark Wasserman, Eversheds Sutherland
  • Thurbert Baker, Dentons

Distinguished Leaders Honorees

  • Andrew T. Bayman, King & Spalding
  • Ben Barkley, Kilpatrick
  • Brent Hill, Holland & Knight
  • Catherine Budzynski, Ohmium International
  • Charles E. Peeler, Troutman Pepper
  • Eric Tresh, Eversheds Sutherland
  • James Crumlin, Spencer Fane
  • Matthew C. Gaudet, Duane Morris
  • Rik Tozzi, Burr & Forman
  • Samuel Olens, Dentons
  • Tiana Mykkeltvedt, Bondurant Mixson & Elmore
  • Victoria Dye, Morgan & Morgan

Law Firm of the Year Finalists

  • Eversheds
  • Greenberg Traurig
  • King & Spalding — WINNER
  • Troutman Pepper

Best Mentors Finalists

  • Alicia Jones, Kilpatrick
  • David King, Polsinelli
  • Drew Beal, Beal Sutherland Berlin & Brown
  • Greg Parent, Miles Mediation & Arbitration
  • Keshia Tiemann, Greenberg Traurig
  • Seslee Smith, Morris Manning & Martin — WINNER

Diversity Initiative Finalists

  • Bullock Ward Mason — WINNER
  • McGuireWoods
  • Moore & Van Allen
  • Smith Anderson Law Firm
  • Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers

In-House Counsel of the Year Finalists

  • Catherine Budzynski, Ohmium International
  • Erin Henderson, U.S. Bank
  • Dale Pearson, Keller Group
  • Keith McGahan, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals
  • Natasha Walwyn Robinson, Splunk, Inc. — WINNER
  • Erica Zinkie, OneDigital

Legal Innovators Finalists

  • Jaime L. Theriot, Troutman Pepper — WINNER
  • Jill Huse, Society 54 + Society Tech
  • Julie Heine, Seyfarth Shaw
  • Kevin Miner, Fragoman
  • Rose Jones, King & Spalding
  • Stephen Bittinger, K&L Gates

Litigation Department of the Year, General Litigation Finalists

  • Alston & Bird — WINNER
  • Beal Sutherland Berlin & Brown
  • Burr & Forman
  • Greenberg Traurig
  • King & Spalding

Litigation Department of the Year, Product Liability Finalists

  • Greenberg Traurig
  • Nelson Mullins — WINNER

Litigation Department of the Year, Appellate Winner

  • Bondurant Mixson & Elmore

Litigation Department of the Year, Personal Injury Winner

  • Harris Lowry Manton

Litigation Department of the Year, Securities Winner

  • Motley Rice

Managing Partner of the Year Finalists

  • Diandra Debrosse, DiCello Levitt — WINNER
  • Gif Thornton, Adams and Reese
  • Greg Bosseler, Morgan & Morgan
  • Henry Walker, Kilpatrick
  • Matt Burnstein, Holland & Knight
  • Sidney Welch, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
  • Stu Goldstein, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
  • Ted Blum, Greenberg Traurig
  • Tina Bullock, Bullock Ward Mason

Most Innovative Law Firm Finalists

  • Bell Law Firm
  • Lightfoot, Franklin & White — WINNER
  • McGuireWoods
  • Ogletree Deakins
  • Troutman Pepper

On the Rise Honorees

  • Adrian D. Boddie, Troutman Pepper
  • Aigner Kolom, Beasley Allen Law Firm
  • Alison LeVasseur, Alston & Bird
  • Allison Pryor, Troutman Pepper
  • Alyssa Baskam, Beasley Allen Law Firm
  • Amanda Waide, Alston & Bird
  • Amelia C. Stevens, Oliver Maner
  • Andrew Hatchett, Alston & Bird
  • Andrew Kaufman, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
  • Ben Keen, Beasley Allen Law Firm
  • Courtney Lutz Creal, Spencer Fane
  • Daniel Peterson, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein
  • Grace Chandler, Motley Rice
  • J. Thomas Clarkson, Griffin Durham Tanner & Clarkson
  • Joseph VanZandt, Beasley Allen Law Firm
  • Matt Kahn, Butler Kahn
  • Milinda Brown, Beal Sutherland Berlin & Brown
  • Stephanie Nullman Eban, Thrift McLemore
  • Will Keyes, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Georgia

Young Lawyer of the Year Winner

  • Milinda Brown, Beal Sutherland Berlin & Brown