August 6, 2025

Jessica Lehman Receives the Corporate Counsel Section Member of the Year Award

The Virginia State Bar Corporate Counsel Section announced that Jessica Lehman, government contracts counsel for Verizon, received the first-ever Corporate Counsel Section Member of the Year Award. This new award recognizes a member who has made outstanding contributions to the section through education, networking, mentoring, and active engagement, all in support of strengthening the practice of law in Virginia.

Peter V. Hilton, vice-chair of the Corporate Counsel Section, says Lehman has been a consistent writer for the Corporate Counsel Newsletter since spring 2023 and has consistently delivered quality writing on interesting topics. "Her latest article, a retrospective on artificial intelligence from a lawyer's perspective, was not only well-written but also involved another section member as an additional voice," Hilton said. "Ms. Lehman exemplifies qualities of engagement, coaching, mentoring, and involvement in the section."

As an attorney, Lehman has been on the legal team at Verizon since February 2022, and in her current role as counsel with the wireless organization since November 2023. She has been employed as corporate counsel in Virginia continuously since 2016 in the area of government contracts. Before that, she was a lawyer in private practice in New Orleans from 2014 to 2015.

Lehman is also a board member on the VSB MCLE Committee and a Mock Trial Coach for West Springfield High School, which reached regional finals. "Ms. Lehman's work in all these areas is admirable, in addition to her engagement with the section," Hilton says. "Her involvement in these many activities does not come at the expense of her engagement with the section, the very sentiment we wish to promote."

Lehman received the Corporate Counsel Section Member of the Year Award at the 2025 VSB Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.