The legal technology company Litera today announced the winners of The Changing Lawyer awards for 2021, which recognize individuals, firms, and companies in the legal industry for their role in embracing and driving change through new technology, service models, or behavior across five different categories.

The awards were announced during The Changing Lawyer Virtual Summit, a full-day conference focused on discussion of disruptive ideas and groundbreaking insights.

For the first time, this year’s awards included a special recognition for work-from-home creativity.

Congratulations to all.

[Disclosure: I was one of the judges for the awards, together with Nicole Bradick, founder and CEO of Theory and Principle; Jeffrey Brandt, chief information officer at Jackson Kelly; and Emma Elliott, CEO at the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association.] 

Winners and runners up are (text provided by Litera):

Legal Innovator of the Year

 

 1.     Farrah Pepper drives innovation with a measurable impact on her organization.

2.     Peter Geovanes

3.     Kerry Westland

 
Law Firm of the Year

 

 1.     Honigman was able to adopt new technologies that involved a combination of people, processes, and technology.

2.     Troutman Pepper

3.     Goodwin

 
Disruptor of the Year

 

 1.     Priori clients use the streamlined RFP process to engage lawyers at law firms of all sizes, whether for flexible, scalable legal support, local counsel, niche expertise, to reduce outside counsel spending, or to drive diversity in their outside counsel bench.

2.     TurnSignl

3.     MedBrief

 
WFH Creative Award

 

 1.     Eversheds Sutherland – the development of the Open House app was a rapid and creative response to WFH. The app was highly successful in negating the impacts (isolation and disconnection) of WFH and, in fact, brought people together.

2.     Taft Law

3.     Anand and Anand

 
Lifetime Achievement Award

 

 Jack Newton – As the CEO and Co-founder of Clio and a pioneer in cloud-based legal technology, Jack Newton has spearheaded efforts to educate the legal community on the security, ethics, and privacy issues surrounding cloud computing. He has become a nationally-recognized author and speaker on these topics. Jack has set a mission for himself to transform the practice of law for good, and for over a decade, his commitment has been unwavering. Jack’s tremendous vision has already made a profound impact on one of the world’s oldest professions.
Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.