Best Lawyers Near You in Syracuse, New York
New York City is one of the most active and complex legal markets in the world. With a dense network of courts, regulations and high-stakes legal matters across every industry, navigating the legal system here requires more than just any attorney—it requires the right one.
Whether you're dealing with a corporate dispute, a criminal charge, or a personal legal issue, experience matters. So does reputation. That’s why this directory exists.
The Best Lawyers New York directory offers a streamlined, trustworthy way to start your search. Every attorney in New York listed has been recognized by their peers for professional excellence and the platform is designed to help you filter by legal need, review credentials and take the next step with confidence.
How the Directory Works
This page serves as a targeted directory for users looking to find a lawyer in New York. Each attorney listed has been recognized in the most recent edition of Best Lawyers—a distinction based entirely on peer nominations and evaluations.
You won’t find ads or sponsored listings here. Instead, you can search by:
- Practice area: filter by the type of legal help you need
- Location: narrow results to your borough or region
- Attorney name: if you’re looking to verify someone you’ve already heard of
Each attorney profile includes a clear summary of their experience, focus areas and credentials—giving you the information you need to make a confident decision.
Legal Help by Practice Area
New York City residents’ and visitors’ legal needs are wide-ranging and so are the attorneys listed in this directory. You can quickly narrow your search by legal focus. This directory includes attorneys who concentrate on some of the most in-demand areas of law in New York, such as:
- Business and commercial law
- Criminal defense and investigations
- Employment and labor disputes
- Real estate and construction law
- Divorce, custody and family matters
- Immigration issues
- Personal injury and malpractice
- Estate planning and probate
Why These Attorneys Are Listed
Every attorney on this page has earned a place through Best Lawyers’ rigorous annual peer-review process—one of the most trusted selection methods in the legal profession.
It’s recognition by fellow attorneys who know the work and understand what excellence looks like. Attorneys are nominated by peers and then evaluated on legal skill, professional conduct and client outcomes. Thousands of lawyers participate each year, providing confidential assessments within their specific practice areas.
To be listed, an attorney must:
- Be nominated by another legal professional
- Receive consistently high marks from peers in their practice area
- Maintain a strong track record of ethical behavior and client success
Only those who stand out among their peers are selected. And only those chosen in the most recent edition of the Best Lawyers awards appear in this directory, ensuring that every listing reflects current, active recognition.
Attorneys also manage their own profiles, so the information you’re reviewing is not only credible, but current. You’ll find clear details about each attorney’s practice focus, background and achievements—everything you need to make an informed decision.
This page is built to support your search—not get in the way of it. Whether you're starting from scratch or narrowing down a list of top attorneys in New York, this directory is a practical, no-frills tool to help you move forward.
Start Your Search
If you're trying to find a lawyer in New York, this directory offers a trusted, peer-reviewed way to start. Whether you're hiring for the first time or looking to verify someone's standing, the attorneys listed here have been selected for a reason.
Begin your search by selecting your legal focus. Then explore profiles, compare qualifications and connect with an attorney in New York who’s already earned the trust of the legal community.
Select a practice area from the list below to find the best legal talent for your needs.
Practice Areas
Mike Bersani joined the personal injury firm of Michaels & Smolak in 1995, coming from the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, where he had clerked for 2 years after graduating Magna Cum Laude (top 5% of his class) from Syracuse University College of Law in 1993. He was a law review editor at the College of Law, and was inducted, for his outstanding legal scholarship, into the Order of the Coif and the Justinian Society, and was honored with the "Scribe Award" for outstanding legal wri...
Mr. Bottar is one of upstate New York's most experienced and accomplished trial lawyers, with a track record of extraordinary recoveries for his clients. As the founder and managing member of Bottar Law, PLLC, he brings more than 40 years of experience to the pursuit of cases involving birth injuries, brain and nerve injuries, amputation, paralysis, and wrongful death due to medical negligence, complex accidents, workplace injuries and defective products. Mr. Bottar has been continuously list...
Mr. Bottar brings more than 20 years of experience to the pursuit of medical malpractice, wrongful death, and complex personal injury actions throughout New York and the northeastern United States, with a focus on claims for birth injuries, neonatal/pediatric negligence, heart attack, stroke, brain damage, nerve injuries, cancer misdiagnosis, and liability under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Mr. Bottar is a graduate of Colgate University and is a summa cum laude (top 2%) graduate of Syracuse U...
Dartmouth College AB 1982 cum laude with distinction in Gov't Boston University JD 1986 I began my career in the litigation dept at Palmer and Dodge in Boston, Massachusetts until I returned home to Syracuse in 1989 to work trying cases at Smith Sovik. I became a partner in 1992 and Managing Partner in 2005. I have tried over 100 cases to verdict in many different practice areas including medical and professional malpractice, legal malpractice, labor law/personal injury, product liability, co...
John Powers has represented the interests of catastrophically injured individuals for over 50 years. For more than 35 consecutive years, he has been selected by a nationwide vote as one of "The Best Lawyers in America" for his representation of plaintiffs in three separate areas of practice: “medical malpractice law”; “product liability litigation”; and “personal injury litigation.” In 2013, John was named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in...
Upon graduating from law school, where he received the Most Outstanding Advocate Award, Steve became a member of the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG Corps). He served as a prosecutor and later became the lead prosecutor at Mayport Naval Station in Mayport, Florida, which involved his supervising other attorneys and their support staff in addition to trying cases. As a prosecutor, he handled some of the Navy's most high profile cases and tried over seventy cases to verdict. He ...
