Best Lawyers in America for Alternative Dispute Resolution
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Mrs. Ramo was elected President of the American Bar Association in 1995-96, the first woman in history. Mrs. Ramo became the President of The American Law Institute in May 2008. Mrs. Ramo is a member of an ABA Commission reviewing the Rules of Professional Responsibility. The United States Senate appointed her to co-chair the committee to review the United States Olympic Committee. She serves on Panels for the American Arbitration Association, the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution's Nation...
Ken Carlson is a senior litigator who has successfully defended companies in virtually every aspect of employment law. He also has a strong practice in drafting employment contracts, independent contractor agreements, and noncompetition agreements, combined with a significant amount of work involving trade secret and noncompetition law. In addition to his litigation practice, Ken regularly advises employers on how to avoid problems before they occur, and helps companies protect their intellec...
Serving as Office Managing Partner of Akerman’s Houston office, Scott Marrs is a formidable trial lawyer litigating high profile matters in state and federal courts as well as arbitrations in the United States, South America, the Middle East, and Europe. Scott focuses on legal issues in virtually all aspects of the energy sector, including oil and gas exploration, production, transportation, storage, power, chemical, petrochemical, energy marketing, and well service. He also litigates i...
Richard Smith, one of the founding partners of Christian & Small and a partner with its predecessor, Rives & Peterson, has been an integral member of the firm’s litigation group for his entire legal career. He served as the firm’s Managing Partner for five years. Richard’s practice focuses primarily on complex and corporate litigation for clients in the financial services, health care and construction industries, as well as corporate entities in other industries. His...
Based in our Houston office, Paul Clote has been a litigation attorney handling trials and appeals for more than four decades. His cases involve commercial and business disputes across a variety of industries. He has tried to verdict in both state and federal courts, cases entailing fiduciary duties; partnership termination and windup; letters of credit; business fraud and civil theft; trust account funds; broker commissions; ERISA disability benefits; child abuse; minimum wage and overtime c...
Cole B. Ramey is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Arbitration, Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Intellectual Property. Cole B., who practices law in Dallas, Texas, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Cole B. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Matt Evans is a Director of Damon Key and practices in the firm’s Business & Commercial Law, Real Estate, Construction Law, Creditors’ Rights, Insurance, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, and Appeals practice groups. With a primary focus on commercial disputes, Matt aims to provide legal services in a manner that places his clients’ goals at the center, with a mind toward helping them prevent disputes before they occur and, when necessary, resolve disputes by finding ...
Margaret J. McKinney is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Family Law and Mediation. Margaret J., who practices law in Bethesda, Maryland, has been recognized since 2005. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Margaret J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Bar Admissions: New Jersey New York District of Columbia U.S. District Court U.S. Supreme Court Jerry S. D’Aniello, a member of the firm, devotes his practice exclusively to all aspects of divorce and family law. Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, he has worked with clients whose needs lie in all areas of matrimonial and family law, including divorce litigation, mediation, and arbitration; post-judgment litigation; custody and parenting time issu...
Mr. Seale has 45 years of experience and represents the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, boards of education, including five as general counsel, construction companies, contractors and architects, in a variety of legal matters including labor employment/Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), business contracts, and civil rights matters. Additionally, he regularly serves as an arbitrator and mediator, representing clients in arbitration and mediation disputes. He is admitted to practice in all St...
John Bulman has more than 30 years of experience in construction and commercial trial matters in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and other states. He has served as either a neutral or counsel in trials, mediations, and arbitrations in Massachusetts, Florida, Rhode Island, New York, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Ohio, Missouri, Texas, and Washington D.C. John has argued cases before the Rhode Island Supreme Court and the First and Eleventh Circuit Courts...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.