For the third consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers joined forces to rank the law firms in the country. The rankings are based on evaluations submitted by clients and lawyers. The ratings are also based on reviews of added information provided by the law firms. There were over 11,000 eligible law firms that could be ranked and 10,300 of them did receive a ranking.
There are 80 practice areas that firms are ranked in but there are as many as 118 practice areas represented by law firms in the rankings and are arranged in metropolitan areas. The majority of the 80 practice areas had a law firm in it named as the “Law Firm of the Year.” Firms were evaluated based on their responsiveness, expertise, civility and cost-effectiveness. The firms were also evaluated on whether or not they should be recommended for work.
The rankings show that three specific practice areas rose to prominence over the past year in the industry. Those three practice areas include healthcare, energy and financial industry regulation. All three of them have succeeded because of brand new government initiatives. Check out the 2013 “Best Law Firm” Rankings with U.S. News & World Report to see for yourself where the law firms around the country hit the charts.