The Committee for the Gayle O’Connor Spirit Award announced the 2025 Finalists for the award today! Here are the details.

As reported by EDRM here, the 2025 Finalists are Shannon Bales, Senior Litigation Support Manager at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP; Craig Ball, Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin and General Counsel of EDRM; Bree Murphy, Senior Solutions Engineer at Exterro; and Joy Heath Rush, CEO of the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA).

Founded in 2021, the Gayle O’Connor Spirit Award celebrates e-discovery and legal technology community members whose singular energy, enthusiasm, and verve echo the spirit of the late Gayle O’Connor (1956-2020). The GO Spirit Award recipients have contributed to e-discovery, legal technology, information governance, cybersecurity, or data privacy through efforts that inspire, educate, or promote our community’s common interest and cohesion.

Recipients of the GO Spirit Award are individuals in the legal profession who best exemplify Gayle O’Connor’s spirit and work ethic by serving as an example for other individuals in the profession through attitude, collegiality, energy, and accomplishments, thereby serving as a positive example for not just those in the legal industry but all people. Each recipient’s efforts inspire, educate, or promote the common interest and cohesion of our community.

“Shannon, Craig, Bree, and Joy all exemplify the dedication, spirit, and enthusiasm Gayle brought to the practice of legal technology,” said Tom O’Connor, Director of the Gulf Coast Legal Technology Center and Gayle’s husband. “Seamus and I are proud that these consummate legal technology professionals are carrying on the kind of community spirit Gayle brought to the profession.

The 2025 Gayle O’Connor Spirit Award will be presented on December 16, 2025, at 1PM Eastern, in an awards ceremony webinar hosted by EDRM. Registration for the ceremony is available here: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/5177239/92E8BA2B87AA967AACEF12E5A74E7A41.

The Gayle O’Connor Spirit Award Committee includes Cat Casey of Technocat LLC, Sheila Grela of Buchalter, Monica Harris of the American Arbitration Association, David Horrigan of Relativity, Joy Murao of Practice Aligned Resources, Tom O’Connor of the Gulf Coast Legal Technology Center, Maribel Rivera of ACEDS, and Seamus O’Connor, Hosted Services Specialist at Platinum Intelligent Data Systems.

A terrific group of finalists to be sure! Join EDRM next Tuesday, December 16 at 1pm ET to find out who the award goes to!

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