With the diminishing supply of the world?s petroleum reserves and increasing environmental concerns, a heightened focus has been placed upon developing bio refineries to sustainably convert lignocellulosics to fuels, chemicals and materials. Furthermore, woody biomass represents a promising bio resource due to its abundance, renewability, and biodegradability. Lignin is an irregular polyphenolic macromolecule that typically constitutes ~15-35% of woody biomass. The pulp and paper industry produces lignin on the scale of millions of tons each year as a by-product of the pulping process. Traditionally, lignin has been viewed as a waste material that is combusted in the pulping process. But, in recent decades, there have been increased efforts devoted towards the conversion of lignin into value-added commodities, such as bio fuels, biomaterials, and bio-based chemicals. The valorization of lignin can be regarded as a necessary step for the development of lignocellulosic-based integrated bio refineries. Owing to the phenolic structure of lignin, it is possible to enzymatically graft molecules onto its surface using laccases (benzenediol: oxygen oxidoreductases, EC 1.10.3.2) to create exciting novel biomaterials. These environmentally friendly enzymes use oxygen as their only co-substrate and produce water as their sole by-product, and as a result have found compelling industrial applications. This mini-review highlights recent advances in the field of laccase-facilitated functionalization of lignin as well as promising future directions for lignin-based polymers.