Super Lawyers Selection Process
Super Lawyers is developed as a resource to assist attorneys and sophisticated consumers in the search for legal counsel.
No other legal publisher uses a multi-step process to identify qualified candidates that incorporates peer recognition and professional achievement. Our system of balloting, peer evaluation, and internal research acts as a system of checks and balances that produces a diverse and comprehensive listing of outstanding lawyers.
The Super Lawyers process includes the following:
Step One: Creation of the Candidate Pool
Statewide survey of lawyers
Each year, we conduct a statewide survey of lawyers (except in California, Washington, D.C. and New York where we survey by region). We send ballots to lawyers who’ve been in practice at least five years.
This year, we will send out over 800,000 ballots nationwide.
We ask the lawyers to nominate the best attorneys they’ve personally observed in action.
Nominees need not be in private practice. Lawyers may nominate legal aid attorneys, prosecutors and in-house counsels.
Lawyers may nominate attorneys in their own firm, but these nominations count only if each in-firm nomination is matched by at least one out-firm nomination.
Each nomination carries a point value. An out-firm vote has substantially greater point value than an in-firm vote.
Lawyers cannot vote for themselves.
With our database, we are able to keep track of who votes for whom. This helps us detect any excessive “back-scratching” (lawyers voting for each other) and “block voting” (where members of the same law firm all cast identical ballots.)
Step Two: Evaluation of Lawyers in Candidate Pool
Our research department examines the background and experience of each candidate, searching for evidence of peer recognition and professional achievement.
Factors considered in evaluating and awarding points to candidates:
Verdicts and settlements
Transactions
Representative clients
Experience
Honors and awards
Special licenses and certifications
Position within law firm
Bar and or other professional activity
Pro bono and community service
Scholarly lectures and writings
Education and employment background
Other outstanding achievement
Step Three: Peer Evaluation by Practice Area
We call this our “Blue Ribbon” review process.
We divide candidates into their primary areas of practice.
Those with high point totals from the balloting and qualitative evaluation steps are asked to be on a blue ribbon panel for their practice area.
Panelists review and score a list of candidates from their practice area.
Panelists may add names to the list. These are passed along to research for evaluation.
Final Selection
We divide candidates according to their firm size: large, medium and small (size categories vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction). We select those with the highest point totals from each category. Only 5 percent of the total lawyers in the state are named Super Lawyers.
Before Publishing
We check each candidate’s standing with the local licensing authority.
We ask each candidate to aver that they have never been subject to disciplinary or criminal proceedings.
We perform internet searches on each Super Lawyer before publication to ensure there are no outstanding matters that would reflect adversely on the lawyer.
We contact each lawyer to ensure accuracy of all published information.
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