McGuireWoods was recognized for its insightful thought leadership by JD Supra, a leading distributor of customized legal and business content, in its 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards. Three firm partners received the honor, given to 342 of the 70,000 authors who publish on the platform.
Chicago partner Sarah Wake, who co-leads the firm’s Higher Education Enforcement & Regulatory Counseling Practice Group and Sports Industry Team, was recognized for her articles on education. A former in-house attorney and senior leader at prestigious universities, Wake advises clients on faculty tenure and promotion; student and employee unionization; discrimination and harassment policy, investigations and hearings; Title IX compliance; athletics (including coaching contracts, hazing, NCAA compliance and NIL); admissions; student conduct; diversity and inclusion; the Clery Act; the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act; and physical and digital accessibility.
Chicago partner Holly Buckley, who chairs the firm’s Healthcare Department, was recognized for her articles on M&A. Buckley advises private equity funds and healthcare clients — including hospitals, health systems, medical practices, physician-owned hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers— on structuring transactions, regulatory due diligence, affiliation agreements and compliance matters. Buckley co-chairs McGuireWoods’ annual Healthcare Private Equity and Finance Conference, which will be held April 29-30, 2026, in Chicago.
Washington, D.C., partner Shannon Kasley, co-leader of the firm’s PFAS & Emerging Contaminants team, was recognized for his articles on product liability. He has nearly 30 years of experience representing multinational companies in all phases of high-stakes commercial and civil litigation and appeals. In particular, he advises heavy manufacturing, energy and oil and gas companies in multiparty and multidistrict litigation, including large PFAS and other chemical dockets; product liability, mass tort and environmental cases; commercial disputes; fraud claims; antitrust matters; and challenges to regulatory and administrative actions.
The awards recognize top authors and firms for visibility and thought leadership in 33 key cross-industry topics. In each category, JD Supra honored 10 authors for having the highest readership and engagement.