U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers have released the 2016 “Best Law Firms” rankings, providing a comprehensive view of the U.S. legal profession that is unprecedented both in the range of firms represented and in the range of qualitative and quantitative data used to develop the rankings.
The Maine law firm of Eaton Peabody achieved top tier rankings in both metropolitan Bangor and Portland, Maine: Tier 1 Rankings in Bangor for Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, Trusts and Estates Law, Land Use and Zoning Law, and Tier 1 Rankings in Portland for Real Estate Law and Construction Law. Eaton Peabody also received recognition in the following practice areas:
- Banking and Finance Law
- Commercial Litigation
- Copyright Law
- Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Employment Law - Management
- Financial Services Regulation Law
- Insurance Law
- Labor Law – Management
- Litigation - Construction
- Litigation - Intellectual Property
- Litigation - Land Use & Zoning
- Litigation – Patent
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- Trademark Law
Firms included in the 2016 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique
combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.
The 2016 rankings are based on the highest number of participating firms and highest number of client ballots on record. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must have a lawyer listed in The Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the top 4 percent of practicing attorneys in the US. Over 21,000 attorneys provided almost 700,000 law firm assessments, and over 8,000 clients provided more than 47,000 evaluations.
“We have been ranking law firms for six years now,” says Steven Naifeh, CEO and Co-Founder of Best Lawyers. “We are proud that we have undertaken this challenging and important task so diligently and with such care that the legal profession has come to view our tens of thousands of rankings each year with widespread respect.”
Ranked firms, presented in tiers, are listed on a national and/or metropolitan scale. Receiving a tier designation reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity.
Awards were given in 74 national practice areas and 122 metropolitan practice areas. One "Law Firm of the Year" is named in each of the 74 nationally ranked practice areas.
The 2016 “Best Law Firms” list will be featured in two publications. The national first-tier rankings will be featured in the third edition of the “Best Law Firms” Legal Issue, which will be distributed in January to more than 35,000 C-level executives. National and metropolitan first-tier rankings will be featured in the “Best Law Firms” General Counsel Publication, which will be distributed in December to more than 30,000 in-house counsel and in digital format to more than 60,000 private practice lawyers worldwide.
The 2016 “Best Law Firms” rankings can be seen in their entirety by visiting bestlawfirms.usnews.com.
