Download the 2025 New Jersey Legal Awards Program

Download the Awards Program

Attorney of the Year Finalists

Adeel Mangi, Linklaters — WINNER
Jennifer Scullion, Seeger Weiss
Michael Sirota, Cole Schotz

Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

  • Cheryl Burstein, Mandelbaum Barrett
  • Joseph A. Hayden Jr., Pashman Stein Walder Hayden
  • Joseph J. Russo, New Jersey Office of the Public Defender
  • Christopher Seeger, Seeger Weiss
  • Philip Sellinger, Greenberg Traurig

Law Firm of the Year Finalists

  • Barnes & Thornburg
  • Brach Eichler
  • Cole Schotz — WINNER
  • Fox Rothschild
  • Mandelbaum Barrett
  • Pashman Stein Walder Hayden
  • Sills Cummis & Gross

Presented by:  

Banking and Financial Firm of the Year Finalists

  • Mandelbaum Barrett
  • Riker Danzig — WINNER

Cannabis Law Practice of the Year Finalists

  • Cole Schotz
  • Mandelbaum Barrett — WINNER
  • Sills Cummis & Gross

Dealmakers Finalists

  • John Fanburg, Brach Eichler
  • Deborah Hays, Archer & Greiner
  • Leo Leyva, Cole Schotz
  • Lawrence Metelitsa, Lucosky Brookman
  • Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi’s Corporate Group — WINNER
  • Jason Navarino, Riker Danzig
  • Timothy Norton, Frier Levitt
  • Robert Schiappacasse, Sills Cummis & Gross
  • Kim Uva, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated

Gaming Law Practice of the Year Finalists

  • Duane Morris
  • Fox Rothschild — WINNER
  • Saiber

In-House Impact Finalists

  • Amneal Legal Department — WINNER
  • Brother International
  • Stefanie Birbrower Greer, PGIM Private Capital Law
  • Michael Chong, MKC Law Group
  • DSM-Firmenich North America Legal Team
  • Karen Gally, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc.

Innovators Finalists

  • Rahat Chatha, New Jersey Reentry Corporation
  • Morris Sabbagh, Vishnick McGovern Milizio
  • Christopher Seelinger, Weiner Law Group — WINNER
  • Evan Shenkman, Fisher Phillips
  • Valerie Zammitti, Zammitti Law

Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year Finalists

  • Joel MacMull, Mandelbaum Barrett
  • Joshua Sanders, Amneal — WINNER

Litigation Departments of the Year - Appellate Winner

  • Pashman Stein Walder Hayden

Litigation Departments of the Year - Class Action Winner

  • Seeger Weiss

Litigation Departments of the Year - General Litigation Finalists

  • Brach Eichler
  • Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi
  • Connell Foley
  • McCarter & English
  • Pashman Stein Walder Hayden
  • Riker Danzig — WINNER
  • Sills Cummis & Gross

Litigation Departments of the Year - Insurance Winner

  • Methfessel & Werbel

Litigation Departments of the Year - Labor and Employment Finalists

  • Day Pitney
  • Jackson Lewis — WINNER
  • Sills Cummis & Gross

Litigation Departments of the Year - Products Liability/Mass Torts Finalists

  • Barnes & Thornburg — WINNER
  • Tanenbaum Keale

Best Mentor Finalists

  • Tara Phelan Carver, Saul Ewing
  • Jhanice V. Domingo, Pashman Stein Walder Hayden
  • Raj Gadhok, Mandelbaum Barrett
  • Brandon Jonas, Gang & Associates
  • Brian Klein, Weinstein + Klein
  • Monica Kostrzewa, New Jersey Economic Development Authority
  • Margaret Miller, Weiner Law Group
  • Esther Omoloyin, Goldberg Segalla
  • Anthony Rainone, Brach Eichler
  • Michael Shortt, Saiber — WINNER
  • Kaitlyn Stone, Barnes & Thornburg
  • Helen Tuttle, Faegre Drinker

New Leaders of the Bar Winners

  • Heather Aguilar-Sposato, New Jersey Office of the Public Defender
  • Doris Cheung, Brach Eichler
  • Jaclyn DeMais, Greenberg Traurig
  • David Disler, Porzio, Bromberg & Newman
  • Alexandra Freed, SeidenFreed
  • Shari Lee Genser, Ross & Calandrillo
  • Qing Guo, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
  • Jonathan Keller, Faegre Drinker
  • Cristal Lambert, ETS
  • Andrew Macurdy, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight
  • Mark Makhail, McCarter & English
  • Joseph Natale, Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis
  • Michael Rolek, Special Counsel to the Executive Vice President and General Counsel
  • Victoria Salami, Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna
  • Deenah Sirota, Stradley Ronon
  • Bridget Sykes, Fox Rothschild
  • Paul Szypiotko, Laddey Clark & Ryan
  • Melissa Thevenot, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
  • Christopher Weidman, Stark & Stark
  • Liza Weisberg, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
  • Richard Wille, U.S. Courts
  • Thomas A. Zelante, Jr., Barnes & Thornburg

Office Managing Partner of the Year Finalists

  • Diane Bettino, Reed Smith
  • Jonathan Petro, Carluccio Leone Dimon Doyle Gutman & Petro
  • Michael S. Stein, Pashman Stein Walder Hayden — WINNER
  • Mark Tabakin, Weiner Law Group
  • Warren Usatine, Cole Schotz
  • Catherine Youngman, Fox Rothschild

 Presented by:  

Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Finalists

  • Kevin Gilmore, Gibbons — WINNER
  • Matthew Karmel, Offit Kurman
  • Michelle Nicholson, Barnes & Thornburg

Real Estate Firm of the Year Finalists

  • Cole Schotz
  • Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi's Real Estate Groups — WINNER
  • Fox Rothschild
  • Riker Danzig
  • Sills Cummis & Gross
  • Stevens & Lee

Talent Management Initiative Finalists

  • iCIMS, Inc.
  • Weinstein + Klein — WINNER

Unsung Heroes Winners

  • Darcy Baboulis-Gyscek, Pashman Stein Walder Hayden
  • Melody Block, Mandelbaum Barrett
  • Lisa Chrystal, Brach Eichler
  • David Edelstein, Archer & Greiner
  • Clara N. Constable, Johnson & Johnson
  • Glenn Kazlow, Cole Schotz
  • Valerie McCarthy, Pashman Stein Walder Hayden
  • Lawrence Metelitsa, Lucosky Brookman
  • Alexis Pollock, New Jersey Office of the Public Defender
  • Edward Stevenson, Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi