METHODOLOGY
|
Lawyers are nominated for inclusion in The Rankings by members of the Bar, Judiciary and by the senior management of large corporate and institutional clients. Only attorneys engaged in the private practice of law are eligible to be included in The Rankings. Lawyers are not allowed to nominate themselves, nor any members of their own firm. Likewise, employees of a firm, including members of their marketing departments, are not allowed to nominate any members of their firm.
|
|
The United States Lawyer Rankings was established by a consortium of United States corporations in 1867 in order to recognize those lawyers who have consistently provided the highest degree of legal representation, so that their members, as well as other businesses and individual clients, can have a degree of guidance when choosing to retain a law firm.
Lawyers are ranked based upon confidential questionnaires which are graded out of 100 points. Only attorneys with a minimum of 90 points or higher are eligible to be included in a “Top 10 List”. For that reason, in certain years, a “Top 10 List” may include only 9 or 8 attorneys, rather than include the names of attorneys who do not meet a certain minimum criteria. The questionnaires begin with broad inquiries as to an attorney’s general legal ability, and then go into specifics, including questions as to: the level of an attorney’s negotiating skills; the level of an attorney’s drafting skills; an attorney’s oral advocacy skills; an attorney’s ability to develop creative solutions when faced with a new issue; does the attorney get personally involved to the appropriate level in his/her cases; how well does the attorney staff a case or matter; how much does the attorney add to the body of knowledge in his/her practice area; would you retain this attorney to handle a matter for yourself or a close family member.
In addition, our staff performs a review as to an attorney’s ethical standing, those who have been subject to disciplinary action are automatically disqualified from inclusion in one of the “Top 10 Lists”.
Like any industry, the legal field engenders competition among its members, and lawyers are not immune to this conflict. If opinions regarding an individual attorney vary widely among different reviewers, telephone interviews may be held in order to ascertain the reasons behind any such discrepancies.
The United States Lawyer Rankings makes no bias regarding law firm size. Although lawyers from large firms dominate the “Top 10 Lists”, those lawyers are included solely based upon the number of points they receive, attorneys from all size law firms are eligible to be included on a “Top 10 List”.
Although The Rankings does wish to recognizes those lawyers who have provided the finest level of legal representation, the main purpose of the “Top 10 Lists” is to provide guidance for potential clients, not to benefit the lawyers. Therefore The Rankings does not distribute marketing materials, and has no contact with law firm marketing departments. In order to maintain the highest standards of neutrality and independence, and in order to insulate the individual Committee Members from any potential outside influences, the names and identities of the Committee Members have been held in the strictest of confidence since the Committee was first established over 150 years ago.
The United States Lawyer Rankings does not accept payments from lawyers, law firms, or third parties for advertisements, professional listings, bound volumes, subscriptions, webpage linking, or payments of any kind.
Lawyers are ranked based upon confidential questionnaires which are graded out of 100 points. Only attorneys with a minimum of 90 points or higher are eligible to be included in a “Top 10 List”. For that reason, in certain years, a “Top 10 List” may include only 9 or 8 attorneys, rather than include the names of attorneys who do not meet a certain minimum criteria. The questionnaires begin with broad inquiries as to an attorney’s general legal ability, and then go into specifics, including questions as to: the level of an attorney’s negotiating skills; the level of an attorney’s drafting skills; an attorney’s oral advocacy skills; an attorney’s ability to develop creative solutions when faced with a new issue; does the attorney get personally involved to the appropriate level in his/her cases; how well does the attorney staff a case or matter; how much does the attorney add to the body of knowledge in his/her practice area; would you retain this attorney to handle a matter for yourself or a close family member.
In addition, our staff performs a review as to an attorney’s ethical standing, those who have been subject to disciplinary action are automatically disqualified from inclusion in one of the “Top 10 Lists”.
Like any industry, the legal field engenders competition among its members, and lawyers are not immune to this conflict. If opinions regarding an individual attorney vary widely among different reviewers, telephone interviews may be held in order to ascertain the reasons behind any such discrepancies.
The United States Lawyer Rankings makes no bias regarding law firm size. Although lawyers from large firms dominate the “Top 10 Lists”, those lawyers are included solely based upon the number of points they receive, attorneys from all size law firms are eligible to be included on a “Top 10 List”.
Although The Rankings does wish to recognizes those lawyers who have provided the finest level of legal representation, the main purpose of the “Top 10 Lists” is to provide guidance for potential clients, not to benefit the lawyers. Therefore The Rankings does not distribute marketing materials, and has no contact with law firm marketing departments. In order to maintain the highest standards of neutrality and independence, and in order to insulate the individual Committee Members from any potential outside influences, the names and identities of the Committee Members have been held in the strictest of confidence since the Committee was first established over 150 years ago.
The United States Lawyer Rankings does not accept payments from lawyers, law firms, or third parties for advertisements, professional listings, bound volumes, subscriptions, webpage linking, or payments of any kind.