History

For more than four decades, Best Lawyers publications have earned the respect of the legal profession, the media and the public as reliable, unbiased sources of legal referrals.

Our lists of outstanding lawyers are compiled through an extensive peer-review process in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. To be recognized by Best Lawyers, a lawyer must receive sufficient positive feedback and continue to maintain that support in subsequent surveys to remain listed in each edition. Lawyers are not permitted to pay a fee to participate in the research process or receive recognition from Best Lawyers.

Best Lawyers has published peer-reviewed listings in 76 countries, establishing a significant presence within the international legal community. The 32ⁿᵈ edition of The Best Lawyers in America^® (2026) includes 77,781 lawyers across 151 practice areas, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Inclusion is based on more than 18 million detailed, historical evaluations submitted by lawyers about their professional peers.

Because of Best Lawyers’ longstanding credibility, our awards reach a broad and influential audience. Best Lawyers partners with leading business and general-interest publications around the world, including the Australian Financial Review and Handelsblatt in Germany.

In 2010, Best Lawyers introduced the inaugural Best Law Firms^® rankings. Now in its 16ᵗʰ edition, Best Law Firms uses quantitative data and client feedback to evaluate and rank firms, producing a comprehensive guide to leading legal representation. Together, Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms remain definitive resources for identifying top legal talent, building on the transparent, Purely Peer Review^® methodology established more than four decades ago.

In 2020, Best Lawyers expanded its awards to recognize an emerging generation of legal talent with the inaugural Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch^® in America awards. Using the same peer-review methodology that has guided Best Lawyers for more than four decades, the awards recognize lawyers earlier in their private-practice careers. Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch has since expanded to nine regions, with plans for continued growth.

In 2018, Best Lawyers co-founder Steven Naifeh retired from the organization, and Best Lawyers partnered with Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. Three years later, the organization began a new partnership with Abry Partners.