30 Under 30: The Top Young Lawyers And Policymakers (2015)

Know anyone on this august list? If so, congratulate them!

onJanuary 7, 2015 at 7:04 PMJanuary 5, 2016 at 4:01 PM

Here are ten legal eagles deserving of shout-outs (in alphabetical order; click on each person’s name to access the Forbes write-up):

Jay Greenberg. He’s not a lawyer, but he spends a lot of time with them — and hopes to make money from them. The former investment banker is a co-founder of LexShares, a website that lets accredited investors crowdfund commercial litigation.
Pieter Gunst. There are a number of ventures out there using technology to connect lawyers and clients — Susan Cartier Liebel calls them “the bridge builders” — and Gunst, a former DLA Piper associate, is the COO and co-founder of LawGives, one of the most prominent and promising contenders in this space.
Daniel Lewis. If you’re not familiar with Ravel, you should be — it’s revolutionizing and disrupting the $10 billion legal research market. Lewis, a Stanford Law grad, is CEO and co-founder of the startup, which is making major inroads into top law firms and law schools across the land. (I’ve met Lewis in person, and yes, he really is this good-looking.)
Ali Grace Marquart. One of the few practicing lawyers on the list, Marquart is a founding partner of Marquart & Small, a boutique transactional firm focused on fashion, arts, and entertainment. As the former director of business and legal affairs for Wilhelmina Models, she has the perfect background for this practice.
Joshua Matz. Supreme Court clerks are all legal geniuses, but Matz, a current clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, stands out even within that rarefied group. He’s the co-author — with Harvard Law prof Laurence Tribe, one of his mentors — of the critically acclaimed book Uncertain Justice: The Roberts Court and the Constitution (affiliate link).
Kelli Newman. While at Stanford Law, Newman served as co-president of Building A Better Legal Profession, a national nonprofit that sought to improve diversity and pro bono work in Biglaw (as covered in these pages). She makes the Forbes list for her work as co-founder of Paradigm, a strategy firm that aims to enhance diversity within the technology industry.
Nikhil Nirmel. The Wharton grad is founder and CEO of Lawdingo, which he describes as “the fastest way to get a lawyer when you need one.” We’ve covered this innovative and exciting startup quite a bit here at ATL.
Emily Renzelli. A UVA Law grad, Renzelli is currently clerking for Judge Robert B. King (4th Cir.) and previously clerked for Judge Irene M. Keeley (N.D. W. Va.). Renzelli is an activist who has worked on such issues as HIV/AIDS legal protection and privacy rights.
James Richards. The Columbia Law grad and former Davis Polk associate is co-founder and CEO of Teleborder, which helps companies handle immigration, tax, and relocation issues for employees — surely a growth business in today’s increasingly globalized world. Teleborder has raised more than $3 million in funding from such marquee names in the VC world as Khosla Ventures and Y Combinator.
Ali Zaidi. Working in the White House as associate director for natural resources, energy, and science, Zaidi heads a team of experts handling a wide range of complex issues across multiple federal agencies. He somehow manages to juggle this impressive portfolio with legal studies at Georgetown Law (where he serves on the Georgetown Law Journal).

Congratulations to these noteworthy 10 and to all of the 30 honorees (selected by a distinguished panel consisting of Professor William Eskridge of Yale Law School, Miles Rapoport or Common Cause, and Reihan Salam of National Review). You can check out the complete “30 Under 30” list over at Forbes.