Steno Honored for Innovation, Co-Founder Dylan Ruga Recognized as Distinguished Leader at 2026 California Legal Awards

The 2026 California Legal Awards, presented by The Recorder and Law.com, honored Dylan Ruga, Steno Co-Founder, President, and Chief Legal Officer, as a Distinguished Leader. Additionally, Steno was nominated as a finalist for the Innovation in Tech/AI award for Transcript Genius. The awards celebrate lawyers and companies across California who are leaders in technology, innovation, and the profession. The ceremony took place June 24 at the Sheraton Grand in Los Angeles.

The Distinguished Leader category recognizes individuals whose work has meaningfully shaped the legal industry. Dylan's path to that recognition started in the courtroom. Before co-founding Steno in 2018, he built his career as a trial lawyer, serving as a partner at Steptoe LLP and later founding Stalwart Law Group, a litigation boutique recognized among California's top 20, where he focused on high-stakes intellectual property and commercial litigation.

In co-founding Steno, Dylan set out to solve challenges he experienced firsthand: deposition services that hadn't meaningfully changed in decades, discovery costs that put complex litigation out of reach for contingency firms, and transcript review that consumed time lawyers needed for strategy.

Steno Co-Founder, President, and Chief Legal Officer Dylan Ruga after accepting his Distinguished Leader honor at the 2026 California Legal Awards (photo courtesy of ALM/California Legal Awards 2026)

Ahead of the ceremony, The Recorder published a Q&A with Dylan covering his proudest achievements, his approach to leadership, and his thoughts on where the profession is heading. A few excerpts worth reading:

• On what Steno has built: "These innovations reduce hours of manual work and allow lawyers to focus more on strategy and argumentation... For many lawyers, this flexibility translates directly into greater capacity to advocate for their clients."
• On how he leads: "I consider leadership to be a process of solving real-world problems that practitioners face... This practitioner-first orientation produces cross-functional teams that move from prototype to courtroom within months, not years."
• On the future of law: "Technology should empower lawyers to advocate more effectively and expand access to legal resources, not replace the human judgment that lies at the heart of legal practice."

The Innovation in Tech/AI recognition reflects the core of Steno's product strategy. Transcript Genius, Steno's AI-powered transcript analysis platform, converts what has historically been hours of manual deposition review into structured, searchable intelligence, enabling attorneys to surface contradictions, identify strategic levers, and draft motions faster, all with page-and-line citations.

In a separate interview with The Recorder focusing on Transcript Genius’s impact, Dylan explained, "Transcript Genius reallocates lawyer time toward analysis and strategy, leading to higher-value advocacy and lower client fees... attorneys and staff have reported a minimal learning curve and rapid trust accrual because outputs are auditable and directly exportable into briefs and cross-examination outlines."

We're proud to see Dylan and Steno recognized by The Recorder and Law.com.

Ready to see how Steno can support your practice? Book a demo.