A 40-year peer-vote lawyer directory where inclusion is free, but the same listed attorneys are then sold $650-$775 badges and marketing to publicize it.
What it's really for A legal recognition publisher; attorneys are ranked by confidential peer evaluations.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its peer-reviewed attorney rankings, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
Revenue comes from the ranked lawyers and firms themselves, who pay to license badges/logos and buy marketing services; the company states no fees are accepted for inclusion or consideration, so paying does not buy a place on the list but does buy the right to advertise it.
Source →- Operating since
- 1981 (45 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- Attorneys are ranked entirely by confidential peer evaluations from already-recognized lawyers in the same region and practice area, then sold logos, badges, and marketing services to publicize the recognition.
- What they do
- Best Lawyers compiles peer-reviewed rankings of attorneys (and law firms) across practice areas and geographies, publishing "Best Lawyers in America" and similar lists in 76 countries based on millions of confidential lawyer-on-lawyer evaluations.
- What to watch for
- By its own guidelines the ranking itself is free, but recognized lawyers must buy a license (reported at roughly $650-$775 per badge) to display the logo, so the people honored are also the paying customers.
- Composite score
- 2.50 / 5.00 → grade C
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith founded Best Lawyers in 1981; the first edition of The Best Lawyers in America was published in 1983. Co-founder Naifeh retired in 2018 and the firm partnered with Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, then transitioned to Abry Partners in late 2021. Source: Best Lawyers - History (official) →
- Recognition is based on confidential peer evaluations: lawyers can be nominated by anyone including themselves, currently recognized lawyers provide feedback on the candidate's work, candidates are confirmed in good standing with their bar, and recognized lawyers appear at no cost in the publications. The page does not disclose minimum vote thresholds or weighting. Source: Best Lawyers - Methodology (official) →
- Per industry reporting, Best Lawyers links winners to a logo-and-badge store charging roughly $650 to $775 per badge, and sends notices to attorneys who display the badge without a current license; lawyers do not pay to be ranked, but must pay to display the logo. Source: Paper Street - Should Companies Charge for Law Firm Awards? →