HONOREE

Elina Avakian

Senior Counsel
Snap Inc.
UCLA School of Law

Elina Avakian negotiated and closed several important deals for Snap Inc. over the last 24 months, across Snapchat, Bitmoji and Spectacles. She adds value to Snap through her subject-matter expertise and negotiation strategy, often coming up with innovative and creative solutions to close a high-volume of some of the most compelling and strategic deals and helping to ensure long-term relationships with partners. In addition to innovation in strategic commercial transactions, Avakian also lends her expertise and innovative approach to the global payments and e-commerce space, which is a constantly evolving area with new regulations and requirements. She often advises Snap on global payment trends and requirements and negotiates and closes contracts to ensure Snap's expansion into new markets. She drafted the Snap Tokens Terms for Snapchat, enabling Snap Tokens to launch in over 20 countries. Given that this was a new product for Snap, she had to review legal and regulatory issues in many countries and jurisdictions to ensure compliance with applicable requirements. She worked with outside counsel, colleagues, and the business teams to resolve remaining challenges.
In addition to her role as an attorney, Avakian is in her second year as co-lead of SnapWomen LA, Snap’s employee resource group which helps to support, empower, and advance women at Snap. She is also a member of the Snap Legal Team’s Diversity Committee (and co-leads the team’s “Law in Tech Diversity Collaborative” work); a member of the ACC’s Wellness Committee (each year she organizes a panel on Managing Attorney Burnout); and she mentors students and young professionals (including law students and recent graduates, as well as through Snap’s Design Academy and Code Talk programs). She also mentors newly qualified attorneys in order to ensure that they have a resource to turn to when they are not sure what to do. She provides both long-term mentoring to some, as well as advice on a one-off basis for others, because she believes that the best way to improve the legal profession is to contribute to the success of those who come after her.

FINALISTS

Paul Bokota

Vice President, General Counsel
The Hydrafacial Company
Indiana University

Paul Bokota earned a degree in government, with high honors, from Harvard University. He worked at a large consulting firm in Chicago. He then earned his law degree, with high honors, from Indiana University. He clerked for a federal judge and, over 20 years ago, moved to Irvine with his family. He became partner at the highly regarded Irvine firm, Payne and Feers, then moved in-house as Deputy General Counsel of a global construction products company. For over five years, Bokota was VP, GC for the hardware and home improvement division at a Lake Forest unit of Spectrum, a hardware and home improvement firm valued at nearly $2.6 billion. The unit does about $1.3 billion in revenue. Since November of 2020, Bokota has been VP, General Counsel for the HydraFacial Company in Long Beach. On top of his busy schedule as a corporate executive, Bokota also serves on the Board of the Irvine Unified School District.

Vivian I. Kim

General Counsel & Chief People Officer
Hanmi Financial
UC Berkeley School of Law

Vivian I. Kim worked at a mortgage company doing investor relations and fraud investigation before she went to law school. After that, she worked at an AmLaw 200 law firm doing complex business litigation before moving in-house with Hanmi Bank in 2015 as corporate counsel. She became general counsel in 2017. She also took over as interim chief human resources officer during the pandemic in 2020, where she headed the COVID-19 task force, navigating rapidly changing safety guidelines. She was promoted as EVP and chief people officer in 2021. She proactively partnered with various departments within the organization by providing the necessary general counsel and legal advice for the bank to offer pandemic assistance to its customers and the community, including the PPP program. She is past president of the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California and has been on its board since 2013.

Beverly See

Senior Corporate Counsel
Audible Inc.
UC Berkeley School of Law

Beverly See joined Amazon’s Audible in 2015 as one of its first attorneys dedicated to Audible’s Original Content initiative. This initiative responded to consumers’ interest in discovering original scripted and unscripted audio experiences that showcase the best in storytelling in addition to listening to Audible’s vast audiobook offerings. Since 2015, See has played a lead in-house counsel role in designing and supporting the infrastructure that has contributed to Audible’s ability to exponentially grow and scale its global Original Content business. She has also regularly advised Audible on complex and ambiguous issues of first impression as it developed relationships with key players in the entertainment, media, and publishing industries to reimagine what audio experiences canmean for audiences. Since See joined Audible, Original Content has become one of the primary pillars of Audible’s business with hundreds of new Originals offered each year across a multitude of genres.

Adam Wergeles

Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Leaf Group
University of Southern California Law School

Adam Wergeles is executive vice president and general counsel for Leaf Group, a diversified consumer internet company that builds enduring, creatordriven brands that reach passionate audiences in large and growing lifestyle categories, including fitness and wellness (Well+Good, livestrong.com and MyPlate App), and home, art and design (Saatchi Art, Society 6 and Hunker). Previously, Wergeles served as executive vice president of business and legal affairs and general counsel for Serviz, Inc., a technology start-up that connects consumers with home service professionals. Previously, he spent seven years as the chief legal officer at ReachLocal, where he was instrumental in ReachLocal’s IPO and its rapid domestic and international expansion. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College.