Best Lawyers

From estate planning to untangling the web of labor, to securing an effective defense against a criminal charge, there are many reasons to need an attorney. We present the local edition of The Best Lawyers in America^®to help you choose representation. Read on to learn how these lawyers were selected.

This list is excerpted from the 2022 editions of The Best Lawyers in America^® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America, the pre-eminent referral guides to the legal profession in the United States. Published since 1983, Best Lawyers^® lists attorneys in 148 specialties, representing all 50 states, who have been chosen through an exhaustive survey in which thousands of the nation’s top lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The 2022 edition of Best Lawyers is based on more than 13 million evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The method used to compile Best Lawyers remains unchanged since the first edition was compiled 40 years ago. Lawyers are chosen for inclusion based solely on the vote of their peers. Listings cannot be bought, and no purchase is required to be included. In this regard, Best Lawyers remains the gold standard of reliability and integrity in lawyer ratings.

The nomination pool for the 2022 edition consisted of all lawyers whose names appeared in the previous edition of Best Lawyers, lawyers who were nominated since the previous survey and new nominees solicited from listed attorneys. In general, lawyers were asked to vote only on nominees in their own specialty in their own jurisdiction. Lawyers in closely related specialties were asked to vote across specialties, as were lawyers in smaller jurisdictions. Where specialties are national or international in nature, lawyers were asked to vote nationally as well as locally. Voting lawyers were also given an opportunity to offer more detailed comments on nominees. Each year, half of the voting pool receives fax or email ballots; the other half is polled by phone.

Voting lawyers were provided this general guideline for determining if a nominee should be listed among “the best”: “If you had a close friend or relative who needed a real estate lawyer (for example), and you could not handle the case yourself, to whom would you refer them?” All votes and comments were solicited with a guarantee of confidentiality — a critical factor in the viability and validity of Best Lawyers’ surveys. To ensure the rigor of the selection process, lawyers were urged to use only their highest standards when voting and to evaluate each nominee based only on his or her individual merits. The additional comments were used to make more accurate comparisons between voting patterns and weight votes accordingly. Best Lawyers uses various methodological tools to identify and correct for anomalies in both the nomination and voting process.

Recognition in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America is based entirely on peer review and employs the same methodology that has made Best Lawyers the gold standard for legal rankings worldwide. These awards are recognitions given to attorneys who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States. Our “Ones to Watch” recipients typically have been in practice for 5-9 years.

Ultimately, of course, a lawyer’s inclusion is based on the subjective judgments of his or her fellow attorneys. Although it is true that the lists may at times disproportionately reward visibility or popularity, the breadth of the survey, the candor of the respondents and the sophistication of the polling methodology largely correct for any biases.

For all these reasons, Best Lawyers lists continue to represent the most reliable, accurate and useful guide to the best lawyers in the United States available anywhere.

Administrative / Regulatory Law

Antitrust Law

Appellate Practice

Thomas A. Zlaket

Banking and Finance Law

Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law

Bet-the-Company Litigation

Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)

Civil Rights Law

Commercial Finance Law

Commercial Litigation

Communications Law

Construction Law

Corporate Governance Law

Corporate Law

Criminal Defense: General Practice

Criminal Defense: White-Collar

DUI / DWI Defense

Education Law

Elder Law

Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law

Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law

Employment Law – Individuals

Employment Law – Management

Energy Law

Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television

Environmental Law

Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law

Family Law

Family Law Arbitration

Family Law Mediation

Gaming Law

Health Care Law

Immigration Law

Information Technology Law

Insurance Law

International Trade and Finance Law

Labor Law – Management

Land Use and Zoning Law

Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants

Legal Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs

Litigation – Banking and Finance

Litigation – Bankruptcy

Litigation – Construction

Litigation – ERISA

Litigation – First Amendment

Litigation – Health Care

Litigation – Insurance

Litigation – Labor and Employment

Litigation – Land Use and Zoning

Litigation – Real Estate

Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)

Litigation – Securities

Litigation – Trusts and Estates

Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs

Mediation

Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants

Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs

Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Mining Law

Native American Law

Natural Resources Law

Nonprofit / Charities Law

Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants

Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs

Product Liability Litigation – Defendants

Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs

Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants

Professional Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs

Public Finance Law

Railroad Law

Real Estate Law

Sports Law

Tax Law

Technology Law

Trade Secrets Law

Trademark Law

Trusts and Estates

Venture Capital Law

Workers’ Compensation Law – Claimants

Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers