We’re excited to launch the 2022 edition of “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40,” our Bloomberg Law award recognizing the accomplishments of stellar young lawyers nationwide.
Following last year’s launch, our 2022 call for nominations produced a new robust field of contenders, as law firms and companies across the country seized the opportunity to nominate their best and brightest for the second year of our special report.
During the review process, our team of editors and reporters closely read nominee submissions, examining their biggest wins for clients and how they achieved those successes; how they’re executing in the leadership roles they’ve undertaken; how they balance their firm work with pro bono service and more.
This year’s honorees also told us what they’re most proud of as lawyers. For Arnold & Porter’s Elisabeth Theodore, it’s her work on partisan gerrymandering lawsuits. “Those cases combined innovative legal strategy with major victories for our clients vindicating their constitutional right to vote,” she said. For his part, Quinn Emanuel’s Alexander “AJ” Merton said “I take pride in making sure I never squander an opportunity to do exceptional work for our clients.”
Our honorees discussed the lessons they learned as first-year attorneys. “Find out how you can be helpful,” Seyfarth Shaw’s Amy Hoang said. “I took every learning opportunity I could, but in the meantime I looked for needs in our practice group and tried to fill them.”
They also told us which mentors have influenced them the most. For Williams & Connolly’s Luke McCloud, it’s U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, for whom he clerked. “Of course, I learned a lot from her about crafting a persuasive opinion and identifying weaknesses in an argument. But the most important lessons Justice Sotomayor taught me came from the life she has lived and the example she sets. I was—and still am—inspired by Justice Sotomayor’s commitment to calling out injustice.”
Our 40 honorees, a talented group, and a diverse one—in every sense of the word—represent the best of the future of the legal profession. From litigators to dealmakers to intellectual property innovators and beyond, this class consistently solves issues for clients and anticipates the curves in the roads ahead. Leading by example, they’re also working to make the legal profession a better reflection of our world.
Introducing Bloomberg Law’s 2022 “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40" honorees. Read more from our class in their own words, grouped by practice areas.
Then, take a look at our honorees’ most popular practice areas, law schools and locales. And you can even listen to their summer playlist picks—in this fun companion piece. Next, want to know what key legal industry leaders said about our honorees when they nominated them? You can read a selection of their comments here.
Antitrust
Margaret Segall of Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Sabria McElroy of Boies Schiller Flexner
Creighton Macy of Baker McKenzie
Meegan Hollywood of Robins Kaplan
Megan Gerking of Morrison & Foerster
Appellate
Elisabeth Theodore of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
Z.W. Julius Chen of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Appellate & Intellectual Property
Luke McCloud of Williams & Connolly
Banking & Finance
Kamal Nesfield of Milbank
M. Shams Billah of Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Government Contracting
Amy Hoang of Seyfarth Shaw
Intellectual Property
Amy Proctor of Irell & Manella
Dustin Guzior of Sullivan & Cromwell
Alyssa Caridis of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Labor & Employment
Nakimuli Davis-Primer of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
Litigation
Benjamin Wilson of Holland & Knight
LaRue Robinson of Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Jesse Ryan Loffler of Cozen O’Connor
Lena Konanova of Selendy Gay Elsberg
Shirlethia Franklin of Jones Day
Muhammad Faridi of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler
Stephen Blake of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Mergers & Acquisitions
Alexandra Wilde of Jones Day
Laura Turano of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
John Pitts of Kirkland & Ellis
Dohyun Kim of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Aaron Gruber of Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Lauren Boehmke of Sullivan & Cromwell
Mark Bekheit of Latham & Watkins
Products Liability
Michelle Ramirez of Sidley Austin
Public Finance
Jade Turner-Bond of Nixon Peabody
Real Estate
Whitney Salinas of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Kris Ferranti of Shearman & Sterling
Michael Davis of Greenberg Traurig
Securities
Renee Zaytsev of Thompson Hine
Sheila Ramesh of Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Jennifer Caringal of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd
Tax
Rachel Reisberg of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
White Collar & Government Investigations
Abena Mainoo of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
White Collar, Government Investigations & Tax
Alexander “AJ” Merton of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
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