John Scalzo, a litigator and managing partner of the firm’s New York office, is shortlisted for the publications’ 2025 Best Mentor Award, and labor and employment litigator Mark Goldstein was named a winner of the 2025 Rising Star Award.

For more than two decades, Scalzo has served as a successful, in-demand mentor for dozens of litigators and transactional lawyers at all levels of their careers at Reed Smith and other firms. He characterizes the mentor role as “an extremely rewarding component of a profession grounded in apprenticeships.” Scalzo’s mentees characterize him as “accessible, patient, proactive, candid, respectful, and engaged for the long run.”

Goldstein represents clients in equal employment opportunity cases, wage and hour disputes, restrictive covenants, and trade secret matters. He is also a go-to employment lawyer for AI-related issues. Goldstein, who leads the firm’s Mental Health Task Force, is furthermore a high-profile champion of, and role model for, mental health and wellness advocacy in business and law.

Winner of the year’s Best Mentor Award will be announced, and Goldstein honored as a Rising Star, on Sept. 4 at the New York Legal Awards Ceremony in New York.