Best Lawyers® is pleased to announce the 2027 editions of The Best Lawyers in America®, now in its 33rd year, and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, now in its seventh year. Each edition reflects a commitment to recognizing attorneys whose professional excellence and peer-reviewed standing distinguish them within the legal community.
Beyond honoring this year's recipients, the release offers a window into how the legal profession is evolving across the country, building on patterns identified in our 2026 analysis and reinforcing several trends that have held steady across recent editions.
The Standard Behind Every Honor
Every recognized lawyer is selected through our Purely Peer Review® methodology, starting with a nomination submitted by someone other than the attorney under consideration. Currently recognized lawyers in the same practice area and region then complete confidential evaluations. Responses are reviewed to narrow the field to final candidates, each confirmed to be in good standing with their local bar association before recognition is finalized. Once finalized, firms and honorees receive notification and the results appear across both print and digital editions. Within each practice area and metropolitan area, the attorney with the strongest peer feedback also earns the "Lawyer of the Year" honor.
This year's awards reflect the highest level of selectivity in the award's history.
A Closer Look: The Best Lawyers in America 2027
The 33rd edition recognizes 81,620 lawyers across 151 practice areas and 203 metropolitan and geographic areas, spanning 17,004 participating firms. Only about 5% of practicing attorneys in the market earn this distinction.
This year's awardees were determined through 3.8 million evaluations submitted during the current cycle, adding to a cumulative total of more than 30 million historical evaluations, with more than 32,000 lawyers voting. Among this year's honorees, 4,915 also earned the additional "Lawyer of the Year" honor.
A Numbers Snapshot: Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America 2027
The seventh edition recognizes 25,052 lawyers across 79 practice areas and 198 metropolitan and geographic regions, spanning 5,768 participating firms, including 2,409 firms represented solely by the Ones to Watch cohort. Only about 2% of early-career attorneys in the United States receive this honor.
This year's awardees were determined through 1.3 million evaluations submitted during the current cycle, adding to a cumulative total of more than 6.7 million historical evaluations, with more than 16,000 lawyers voting.
Attorneys typically five to nine years into their careers earn recognition through Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America for distinguishing themselves in private practice.
Where the 2027 Honorees Practice: A Metro Breakdown
Attorneys honored in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America span jurisdictions nationwide, though several major metro areas continue to lead the pack. Washington, D.C. again tops the directory with 4,119 recognized lawyers, followed by New York City at 3,834. Rounding out the top five, Chicago counts 2,731 recognized attorneys, while Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles follow closely behind with 2,595 and 2,483, respectively.
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America shows a similar geographic footprint, drawing from the same five metro areas, though the order shifts slightly, with New York City leading the early-career group rather than Washington, D.C.
Gender Representation Across Practice Areas
The 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America demonstrates strong representation by women across several practice areas, with the highest concentrations remaining in family law-related specialties.
Collaborative Law: Family Law has the highest share of women among recognized lawyers at 71%, followed by Family Law Mediation at 61%. Women also hold slight majorities in Family Law (55%) and Immigration Law (55%), while Elder Law (51%) and Family Law Arbitration (52%) reflect some of the most balanced representation between men and women.
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America highlights an even broader distribution of women across practice areas. Family Law: Arbitration and Mediation leads with women representing 78% of recognized lawyers, followed by Family Law (75%), Immigration Law (71%), Education Law (68%) and Health Care Law (65%). Women also hold majorities across several additional specialties, suggesting broader representation among lawyers earlier in their careers.
Collectively, these findings indicate that while family law-related specialties continue to have the highest representation of women, recognition among lawyers earlier in their careers is becoming more evenly distributed across a wider range of practice areas.
The Practice Areas Leading the 2027 Edition
The 33rd edition of The Best Lawyers in America highlights the long-term stability of the profession's largest practice areas. Commercial Litigation remains the largest practice area with 12,824 recognized lawyers, followed by Real Estate Law (7,302), Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (5,782), Corporate Law (5,280) and Litigation – Labor and Employment (5,264). Together, these five practice areas have remained the most-represented across the past five editions, underscoring their enduring prominence within the U.S. legal market.
A similar pattern appears in the 2027 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America, where Commercial Litigation also remains the largest practice area. The remaining top practice areas closely mirror those in The Best Lawyers in America, reinforcing the prominence of these core areas of legal practice.
Surging High-Stakes Disputes Drive Commercial Litigation Growth
Mass arbitration trends are expanding into workplace disputes, with once consumer-focused tactics scaling rapidly and tens of thousands of employment claims moving to the merits stage. Artificial intelligence is also reshaping commercial litigation, with cases such as Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence highlighting the growing complexity of disputes involving intellectual property, while broader AI-related litigation continues to expand across privacy, data protection and workplace discrimination.
These honorees have achieved the "Lawyer of the Year" honor within Commercial Litigation/ Bet-the-Company Litigation in the top metro areas:
- Scott A. Edelman, Milbank LLP — New York City
- Mark Filip, Kirkland & Ellis — Chicago
- Nicola T. Hanna, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP — Los Angeles
- Brian M. Heberlig, Steptoe LLP — Washington, D.C.
- Eric W. Pinker, Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann LLP — Dallas/Fort Worth
Navigating Shifting Capital and Housing Market Dynamics
Real Estate Law remains prominent as lawyers advise clients through shifting residential and commercial market dynamics. Current market analyses from the National Association of Realtors highlight how elevated borrowing costs and economic uncertainty affect commercial investment, while expanding housing inventory and shifting mortgage rate expectations create new opportunities across the residential sector.
In Real Estate Law, the "Lawyer of the Year" in the top metro areas distinction was presented to:
- Peter E. Fisch, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison — New York City
- Michael D. Goodwin, Arnold & Porter — Washington, D.C.
- M. Christine Graff, Winston Taylor LLP — Chicago
- Daniel B. Guggenheim, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC — Los Angeles
- Thomas M. Whelan, Thalheimer, Cipione, Whelan & Morgan PLLC — Dallas/Fort Worth
Plaintiff Strategies Shift Toward Consumer Class Actions and High-Value Torts
Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs remains a cornerstone of civil trial practice, increasingly shaped by evolving plaintiff funding and case valuation strategies. Evolving research on nuclear verdict dynamics and trial benchmarks highlights how damages exceeding $10 million and even $100 million are resetting baseline settlement expectations in bodily injury and product liability cases. Concurrently, plaintiff firms are expanding beyond individual injury claims, driving a near 50% surge in consumer protection class actions that target product safety, data privacy and corporate accountability.
As litigation strategies and technologies continue to evolve, practitioners are also considering the role of AI in trial advocacy. As Joseph Balesteri, who received the Best Lawyers 2027 Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs “Lawyer of the Year” award in Chicago, notes, "As artificial intelligence becomes more prominent, lawyers need to remember that REAL Intelligence and hard work cannot be replaced by anything ARTIFICIALLY available to all. REAL lawyering is required to advocate and convince humans: our judges and juries. Always think for yourself ... don't be overly reliant on A.I."
The "Lawyer of the Year" award for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs in the top metro areas was presented to:
- Joseph Balesteri, Power Rogers LLP — Chicago
- Robert S. Glassman, Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP — Los Angeles
- Charles J. Zauzig III, Nichols Zauzig — Washington, D.C.
- Clay Miller, Miller Weisbrod Olesky LLP — Dallas/Fort Worth
- Richard M. Steigman, Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf — New York City
M&A Momentum and Rising Shareholder Activism Shape Corporate Strategy
Corporate Law remains central as companies pursue strategic transactions while managing heightened governance, financing and technology risks. Analyses on strategic dealmaking and market momentum reveal sustained transaction activity despite economic uncertainty, even as corporate boards navigate surging shareholder activism and M&A demands. Furthermore, corporate counsel are increasingly tasked with steering complex deal structures, managing heightened regulatory due diligence and embedding artificial intelligence oversight into enterprise risk management.
The following practitioners have been awarded the "Lawyer of the Year" honor in the top metro areas for their work in Corporate Law:
- Andrew M. Apfelberg, Greenberg Glusker — Los Angeles
- Peter Allan Atkins, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP — New York City
- Samantha Hale Crispin, Baker Botts LLP — Dallas/Fort Worth
- Michael R. Lincoln, Cooley LLP — Washington, D.C.
- Ron E. Meisler, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP — Chicago
Rising Federal Trials and Algorithmic Scrutiny Redefine Workplace Litigation
Federal employment litigation data indicates a 15% increase in trials alongside a notable rise in plaintiff success rates from 47% to 60%, prompting employers to recalibrate defense and settlement strategies in high-stakes cases. Concurrently, the Supreme Court precedent in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis lowered the harm threshold required for Title VII discrimination claims, further amplifying federal trial growth. Regulatory focus from the EEOC on automated employment tools emphasizes ongoing scrutiny around AI implementation, algorithmic selection procedures and workplace discrimination.
In Litigation - Labor and Employment, the "Lawyer of the Year" award was presented to:
- Keith A. Clouse, Clouse Brown PLLC — Dallas/Fort Worth
- Edward Lee Isler, IslerDare — Washington, D.C.
- Jeffrey S. Nowak, Littler — Chicago
- Patrick W. Shea, Paul Hastings LLP — New York City
- Kenneth D. Sulzer, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLC — Los Angeles
Emerging Areas of Growth
Several smaller practice areas experienced notable year-over-year growth in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. While some reflect relatively small recognition pools, others point to evolving areas of legal practice.
Juvenile Practice recorded the largest percentage increase, followed by Artificial Intelligence Law, Energy Regulatory Law and Government Contracts. Privacy and Data Security Law also expanded, reflecting growing attention to issues surrounding technology, cybersecurity and regulatory compliance.
Although these practice areas remain smaller than the profession's most-established specialties, their recent growth highlights the evolving nature of legal practice and the emergence of new areas of focus.
The U.S. Legal Market in Global Context
The 2027 Best Lawyers editions across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region highlight how legal markets reflect the economic, regulatory and business priorities of their respective jurisdictions. While each country has its own legal landscape, several themes emerge across regions, including sustained demand for corporate, commercial and dispute resolution practices.
The 2027 editions in Austria, Germany and Switzerland reflect ongoing strength in corporate, tax and intellectual property law, alongside practices shaped by evolving European regulations. Meanwhile, Australia, Japan and Singapore demonstrate growing recognition in areas influenced by technology, infrastructure, environmental policy and cross-border commerce.
Together, these countries illustrate how legal practice evolves in response to regional priorities while remaining connected through the global demand for experienced legal counsel.
Growing Community of Legal Excellence
Behind every name in the 2027 editions is a lawyer who has earned the respect of colleagues in the same courts, markets and practice areas. That web of professional relationships, renewed and re-evaluated each year, is what keeps the awards current and grounded in real experience. As more countries and practice areas join the Best Lawyers network, that community only grows, linking legal talent across borders while keeping the same standard intact.
To discover who was honored in the 2027 edition, explore our Find a Lawyer in America page. Visit Best Lawyers Directory to discover legal guidance worldwide.
Disclaimer: Best Lawyers recognitions undergo continuous review to maintain accuracy. Because of this, the number of honored attorneys may be adjusted if relevant circumstances change, such as a shift in a lawyer's practice status. This ongoing review helps keep our records as accurate as possible.
