Best Lawyers® and U.S. News & World Report announced the release of the “Best Law Firms” rankings for 2022 earlier this month. For the 12th consecutive year, Best Lawyers and U.S. News collaboratively released the results of peer-reviewed and ranked firms presented in three tiers and organized by state and practice area.
“For over three decades, U.S. News has provided the public with accurate and in-depth rankings on key institutions in society from higher education to hospitals and health systems,” said Morgan Felchner, executive editor at U.S. News, in a Nov. 4 press release. “Law firms serve a critical role in American life and ranking them is a key extension of our overall mission to help individuals make important life decisions.”
Firms included in the 2022 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” are recognized for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers, according to the release. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must first have a lawyer recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®, which recognizes 6% of lawyers practicing in the U.S.
“We are proud that ‘Best Law Firms’ rankings continuously act as a top marker of distinction throughout the legal industry,” said Phil Greer, CEO of Best Lawyers, in the Nov. 4 news release. “The evaluation process for the 2022 ‘Best Law Firms’ publication has remained just as rigorous and discerning as it was when we created the publication 12 years ago.”
Ranked firms are recognized on a national and regional-based scale. Firms that received a tier designation reflect the highest level of respect a firm can earn among other leading lawyers and clients from the same communities and practice areas. One “Law Firm of the Year” was named in each nationally ranked practice area.
The Nov. 4 release noted the 2022 rankings incorporate more than 8.2 million evaluations of more than 115,000 individual leading lawyers from more than 22,000 firms. More than 2,000 firms received a national law firm ranking this year.
More than 30,000 in-house counsels will get a physical copy of the U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” edition featuring the national and metropolitan Tier 1 rankings.