These rankings, which are presented in tiers both nationally and by metropolitan area or by state, showcase the largest firms in the country to hundreds of one-person and two-person law firms, providing a comprehensive view of the U.S. legal profession that is unprecedented both in the range of firms represented and in the range of qualitative and quantitative data used to develop the rankings.
Best Law Firms’ mission is to help guide referring lawyers and clients – from the country’s largest companies needing corporate legal advice to individuals needing to get a divorce or write a will – issues that have a bet-the-company implication (in the case of a corporation) or a potentially life-changing result (in the case of an individual).
In the press release at PR Newswire, Tim Smart, Executive Editor of U.S. News & World Report was quoted as saying: “U.S. News has more than two decades of experience in providing the public with the most accurate and in-depth rankings of a wide range of institutions, including our Best Law Schools rankings. This experience, coupled with our growing reputation as a leading career information resource, makes these law firm rankings a logical next step.”
Steven Naifeh, President of Best Lawyers was quoted as saying: “U.S. News is the world’s leading publisher of institutional rankings based on both objective data and peer evaluations. We are combining this expertise with Best Lawyers’ experience of providing rankings of individual lawyers based on peer reviews for almost three decades. By combining hard data with peer reviews, and client assessments, we believe that we are providing users with the most thorough, accurate, and helpful rankings of law firms ever developed.”
Major clients and leading lawyers were asked to rate the law firms they consider best in their practice area.
These reputational survey responses were combined with more than 3.1 million evaluations of individual lawyers in these firms in the most recent Best Lawyers survey of leading lawyers. Hard numbers were also used to develop the practice area rankings — data about numbers of lawyers and their previous experience, numbers of clients within different billing ranges, numbers of transactions and litigation matters at different dollar levels; pro-bono commitment, diversity, and other objective data.
The U.S. News Media Group is a multi-platform digital publisher of news and analysis, which includes the monthly U.S. News & World Report magazine, the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com, and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Money & Business, Education, and Public Service/Opinion, the U.S. News Media Group has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers.
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. For a quarter century, the company has helped lawyers and clients find legal counsel in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers lists are excerpted in a wide range of general interest, business and legal publications worldwide, reaching an audience of more than 17 million readers.