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It is now an annual tradition around this time of year: Fastcase’s announcement of its Fastcase 50, recognizing 50 of the smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries, and leaders in the law. With this being the sixth year of the awards, the Fastcase 50 adds up to the Fastcase 300.

And if you think they might be running low on innovators and visionaries, think again. As I looked over this year’s selections, I was at once surprised to see that some of these people were not already on the list and also glad to see up-and-comers who were barely starting their careers in 2011, the first year of the awards. (I am proud to say I was among that first year’s class.)

This year’s honorees are:

  • Ray Abadin, Partner, Sedgwick LLP
  • Janet Howe Accardo, Library Director (Retired), Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  • Marvin Ammori, General Counsel, Hyperloop One
  • Peter Aprile, Founder, Counter Tax Lawyers
  • Andrew Arruda, CEO and Co-Founder, ROSS Intelligence
  • Alma Asay, Founder and CEO, Allegory
  • Shelby Austin, Manager of Legal Project Solutions, Deloitte
  • Tim Baran, Content Director, Rocket Matter
  • Cathryn Bowie, State Law Librarian, Oregon Judicial Department
  • Mark Cohen, CEO and Founder, Legal Mosaic
  • David Colarusso, Data Scientist, Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services
  • Vincent Cordo, Global Sourcing Officer, Shell
  • Jameson Dempsey, Co-Founder, DC Legal Hackers; Associate, Kelley Drye
  • Lyle Denniston, Dean Emeritus of the Supreme Court Press Corps
  • Randy Dryer, Professor of Law, University of Utah
  • Mark Edwards, Professor, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
  • Zev Eigen, Global Director of Data Analytics, Littler Mendelson
  • Michael Genesereth, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Stanford
  • Karen Gifford, Author; COO, Ripple Labs
  • Risa Goluboff, Dean, University of Virginia School of Law
  • Ross Guberman, President, Legal Writing Pro
  • Kirsten Gullickson, Senior Systems Analyst for the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
  • Vanita Gupta, U.S. Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice
  • Jack Harkness, Executive Director, The Florida Bar
  • Eric Holder, Former U.S. Attorney General; Partner, Covington and Burling
  • Hudson Hollister, Executive Director, Data Coalition
  • Mary Juetten, Founder and CEO, Traklight; Co-Founder of Evolve Law
  • Kristine Knab, Executive Director, Legal Services of Northern Florida; Author
  • Nehal Madhani, CEO and Founder, Alt Legal
  • Katherine Mazzaferri, CEO, District of Columbia Bar
  • Jack Metzler, Attorney, Federal Trade Commission
  • Jules Miller, Co-founder and COO, Hire an Esquire; Co-Founder, Evolve Law
  • Tammie Nelson, Senior Project Manager; Library of Congress
  • Robert (Bob) Oaks, Chief Library and Records Officer (Retired), Latham & Watkins
  • Kevin O’Keefe, CEO and Founder, LexBlog
  • Michelle Olsen, Creator, @AppellateDaily
  • Kimball Parker, Founder, CO/COUNSEL
  • Donna Payne, Author; CEO, Payne Group
  • Michael Sander, CEO, Docket Alarm
  • Daniel Schuman, Policy Director, Demand Progress; Creator, OpenGov Jobs list
  • Julia Shapiro, Co-founder and CEO, Hire an Esquire
  • Wallace E. “Gene” Shipp Jr., Disciplinary Counsel, District of Columbia Office of Disciplinary Counsel
  • John Simek, Vice President, Sensei Enterprises
  • Jason Steed, Associate, Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP
  • John Stewart, Partner, Rossway Swan Tierney Barry Lacey & Oliver
  • Gabriel (Gabe) Teninbaum, Professor, Suffolk University Law School
  • Mark Unger, Founder, The Unger Law Firm
  • Robert Van Nest, Partner, Keker & Van Nest
  • Corry van Zeeland, Head of Justice Innovation Law, Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law; Senior Researcher and Managing Director, Tisco Research Institute at Tilburg University
  • Roland Vogl, Executive Director, Stanford CodeX

Congratulations to all.

Past years’ honorees are here:

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.