Best Lawyers® - Purely Peer Review™
"Lawyer of the Year" Honorees in the United States
Jay A. Thompson has considerable experience in both regulatory and legislative issues involving the business of insurance. He regularly participates in regulatory proceedings involving contested case hearings, contested rate hearings, policy form approvals, rulemaking, licensing, mergers, acquisition and dissolution of insurance companies and other regulatory matters before the Texas Department of Insurance. As a registered lobbyist, Jay has represented both the property/casualty and life, ac...
Susan Roney is a member of NP Trial. Her practice is focused on the representation of railroads and other businesses, including the news industry and hospitals and other health care providers, in commercial, labor and employment and personal injury litigation. What do you focus on? I focus my practice on the representation of railroads and other self insured businesses in commercial disputes, personal injury litigation, government and administrative investigations and hearings and labor and e...
Steve is a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department, where he represents clients in complex civil litigation matters before state and federal courts throughout the country. He has considerable experience with commercial disputes, constitutional challenges, statutory interpretation issues, and defamation and invasion of privacy suits. He is skilled at representing municipalities in cases involving so-called “locally undesirable land uses” such as airports, music amphitheat...
William F. Ray was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1986. His experience spans from commercial litigation, complex litigation and banking, securities and financial services to life, health and disability insurance and ERISA and employee benefit claims. His cases of note include Raines v. Bottrell Ins. Agency, Inc., 992 So.2d 642, 2008 WL 1869290, 2008 Miss. App. LEXIS 274; 27 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1350 (Miss. App. 2008); Estate of Bratton v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 215 F.3d 516, 2000 U.S....
Suzanne focuses her practice on municipal and project finance, particularly in the areas of economic development, transportation, public works, education, senior living, and housing. She is co-chair of Cozen O'Connor's Public & Project Finance Practice Group, and also serves as the vice chair of the firm's Business Law Department. Suzanne served two terms on the firm's board of directors.Suzanne serves as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, borrower’s counsel, and disclosure ...
Bob Kirkland is the Founding Partner of the law firm of Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP, which has offices in Liberty, Missouri, Springfield, Missouri and Overland Park, Kansas. He is licensed to practice law in Missouri and Kansas. He works with a variety of individual clients, handling the preparation of Wills, Living Trusts, Durable Powers of Attorney, Irrevocable Trusts, Charitable Trusts and Minor’s Trusts, and counseling clients in the areas of gifting techniques, asset protect...
Chris Phillips is a partner in the Savannah office of the Firm. His practice areas include medical malpractice defense , construction law , products liability , insurance law, and general litigation . Chris focuses his practice on defense of hospitals, physicians, nurses, and other health care related professionals in medical malpractice matters. He has successfully defended numerous wrongful death and permanent injury cases for various health care providers. Chris also concentrates in the ar...
Explore the 2026 Best Law Firms™ – Australia and inaugural Best Law Firms™ – Spain.
Lawyers in the United States
Jon Pearson is a partner in the firm's Columbia office. His practice emphasizes employment litigation of all types before state and federal courts, as well as traditional labor law. He has handled lawsuits and administrative charges involving wrongful discharge, Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as well as many other types of employment-based claims. Jon has al...
Michael Goodman is a founding member of the law firm of Goodman Allen Donnelly. He specializes in the representation of health care providers before their respective Professional regulatory boards and in hospital credentialing matters. Mr. Goodman has represented hundreds of health care providers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia in medical malpractice claims and state board inquiries, giving him a unique depth and breadth of experience. American Association of Health Lawyers certified ...
Kent Collins has extensive tax planning experience counseling high net worth clients and small to mid-sized businesses. Mr. Collins is also experienced in the area of aviation law, having worked as in-house General Counsel for Morris Air. He is currently counsel for SkyWest, Inc. Mr. Collins has taught classes at the Brigham Young University Law School on Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning, is a past Chair of the Tax Section of the Utah State Bar, and is admitted to practice before the Unite...
Partner Brad Hightower has been practicing law since 2002, and focuses his practice on commercial and bankruptcy litigation. He routinely handles complex issues that arise in business reorganization, restructuring and liquidations. Prior to joining the firm, Brad interned with the Executive Office of the President in Washington, D.C. He was responsible for supplying science and technology articles to the White House website. Brad also completed a two year clerkship with the Honorable Margaret...
Paula Calimafde chairs the firm’s Retirement Plans , Employee Benefits and Government Relations practice groups and is also a senior member of the Estate Planning , Tax and Nonprofit groups. She has more than 35 years of experience advising companies and tax-exempt organizations on qualified and non-qualified retirement plans and employee benefits, including non-qualified deferred compensation, welfare benefit and cafeteria plans. She is a nationally recognized leader in the field of cr...
Yossi Subar’s clients regularly confront critical leasing requirements, often under dire time constraints. They turn to Yossi, not just for his legal insight, but also for his confidence in deftly navigating the high-priced, high-speed complexities of the New York and national real estate markets. They value his ability to explain complex legal and business concepts and find practical ways to resolve issues and avoid costly mistakes. They feel the empathy — how he walks in their s...
For forty years, Hubert has handled the Front Range’s most complicated infrastructure issues and disputes, and it would be hard to name a large infrastructure project in the region where Hubert did not play a role. He draws on his lengthy experience to provide shrewd counsel to clients on construction, regulatory, and natural resource regulatory matters that are pre-suit and in litigation, so that clients can focus on what is paramount—seeing their projects through to timely compl...
Latest Insights
US Commercial Litigation Trends for 2025
by Bryan Driscoll
As Business Priorities Evolve, So Too Does the Role of Litigation in the Corporate Playbook.
Do Backlinks Still Help Law Firm SEO?
by Nancy Lippincott
How trusted, ethical backlinks influence rankings as algorithms change.
Understanding Divorce Rights in NY
by Bryan Driscoll
A practical guide to divorce rights, procedures and legal protections in New York.
AI Tools for Lawyers: How Smithy AI Solves Key Challenges
by Jamilla Tabbara
Understand the features and benefits within the Best Lawyers Digital Marketing Platform.
