Smith Kane’s Payal Salsburg to Receive BBA’s 2026 Voice of Change Award
Smith Kane, LLP announces that Partner Payal Salsburg is the recipient of the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) 2026 Voice of Change Award.
As part of the BBA’s annual Beacon Awards, the Voice of Change Award recognizes a luminary leader in the legal community who has forged a new path and played an extensive role in advancing diversity and inclusion within the profession. Throughout her distinguished career, Salsburg has exemplified those qualities through her exceptional legal work, steadfast commitment to mentorship, and longstanding dedication to strengthening both the legal profession and the communities it serves. Salsburg will be honored at the BBA’s 16th Annual Beacon Awards Gala on November 5, 2026.
For more than 16 years, the Beacon Awards have recognized groundbreaking leaders who have forged bold paths in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. In a statement, BBA President-Elect Mark C. Fleming said, “Payal’s career has always combined outstanding professional achievement with a dedication to investing in others. Our profession is so fortunate to benefit from Payal’s mentorship, service, and unwavering commitment to our legal community, all of which have made a lasting impact on the future of our profession. We are proud to recognize her with the Voice of Change Award.”
Salsburg is a member of Smith Kane’s management team. As a business and litigation attorney, she focuses her practice in the areas of business litigation, corporate advice and counsel, and white-collar criminal defense. She represents corporations, small businesses, and individuals in contract and business disputes, False Claims Act matters, State Ethics Commission inquiries, and government and internal investigations. Salsburg also advises closely held businesses on corporate and employment matters. Prior to joining Smith Kane, Salsburg was a litigator at a large international law firm, in its Florida and Boston offices. She is a sought-after speaker on many topics, including business litigation, ethics, and lawyer well-being. Salsburg is recognized for her deep commitment to volunteerism in the community. Her pro bono experience includes several successful CORI-sealing petitions, petitions for asylum, an appeal from an inmate on Florida’s death row, litigation and appeal to assist a not-for-profit foundation, and invoking Hague Convention protection to return a child wrongfully removed to the United States by a parent. She was also a bar advocate for criminal matters at the district court level.
An active volunteer and mentor, Salsburg serves in leadership positions with the following organizations: Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, Boston CASA, Boston Bar Association, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, South Asian Bar Association of Greater Boston, Supreme
Judicial Court’s Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being, Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, Women’s Bar Foundation, and Women’s White Collar Defense Association.
About Smith Kane, LLP
Celebrating 30 years, Smith Kane, LLP has built a reputation for helping clients grow their businesses, manage risk, and resolve complex legal matters. Founded in 1996, the firm offers big-firm expertise paired with the strategic, responsive, and client-focused approach of a boutique practice. Smith Kane represents clients in business law and litigation, white collar criminal defense, government investigations, and employment law matters from its Boston office.
