U.S. News and Best Lawyers Release 2021 “Best Law Firms” Awards

November 11, 2020

Published – Nov. 5, 2020 – U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®, for the 11th consecutive year, collaboratively announce the release of the “Best Law Firms” rankings. Firms included in the 2021 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” are recognized for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must first have a lawyer recognized in The Best Lawyers in America©, which recognizes 5% of lawyers practicing in the United States. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

"U.S. News has more than three decades of experience evaluating key institutions in society and their service to consumers," said Tim Smart, executive editor at U.S. News. "Law firms perform a vital role, and ranking them is a key extension of our overall mission to help individuals and companies alike make important decisions." The 2021 rankings are based on the highest lawyer and firm participation on record, incorporating 8.3 million evaluations of more than 110,000 individual leading lawyers from more than 22,000 firms.

“For the 2021 ‘Best Law Firms’ publication, the evaluation process has remained just as rigorous and discerning as it did when we first started 11 years ago.” says Phil Greer, CEO of Best Lawyers. “This year we reviewed 15,587 law firms throughout the United States – across 75 national practice areas – and a total of 2,179 firms received a national law firm ranking. We are proud that the ‘Best Law Firms’ rankings continue to act as an indicator of excellence throughout the legal industry.”

Ranked firms, presented in three tiers, are recognized on a national and regional-based scale. Firms that received a tier designation reflect the highest level of respect a firm can earn among other leading lawyers and clients from the same communities and practice areas. Awards were given in 75 national practice areas and 127 metropolitan practice areas. Additionally, one "Law Firm of the Year" was named in each nationally-ranked practice area.

National and metropolitan tier 1 rankings will be featured in the physical edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms”, which will be distributed to more than 30,000 in-house counsel. The 2021 “Best Law Firms” rankings can be seen in their entirety by visiting bestlawfirms.usnews.com.

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ABOUT “BEST LAW FIRMS”

The U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous

evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in the field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a 2021 ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer recognized in the 26^th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America list for that particular location and specialty.

ABOUT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. A digital news and information company focused on Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars and Civic, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

ABOUT BEST LAWYERS

Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected lawyer ranking service in the world. For almost 40 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the lawyers best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers rankings are published in leading local, regional, and national publications across the globe.

Author: Katie Morgan, Public Relations Manager, Best Lawyers