Clients and peers awarded 26 Chattanooga area law firms 87 Tier 1 rankings for the 2019 edition of Best Law Firms.
Best Law Firms recognizes each firm for its professional excellence. “Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise,” reads a press release from Best Lawyers.
“Law firms perform a vital role in American life, and ranking them is a key extension of our mission to help individuals and companies alike make important life decisions,” says Tim Smart, executive editor at U.S. News & World Report, which publishes the Best Lawyers lists.
The 2019 rankings are based on the highest number of participating firms and highest number of client votes received on record, according to U.S. News.
To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must have a lawyer recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the top five percent of practicing attorneys in the U.S.
More than 16,000 lawyers provided more than 1.1 million law firm assessments, and over 12,000 clients provided more than 107,000 evaluations.
“For the 2019 ‘Best Law Firms’ publication, the evaluation process has remained just as rigorous and discerning as it did when we first started almost 10 years ago,” says Phil Greer, CEO of Best Lawyers. “This year, we reviewed 14,643 law firms throughout the United States, and 2,118 firms received a national law firm ranking.”
Ranked firms, presented in three tiers, are listed on a national- and regional-based scale. Firms that received a tier designation reflect the high level of respect a firm can earn among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities and practice areas, says U.S. News.
Awards were given in 75 national practice areas and 122 metropolitan practice areas.
The 2019 Tier 1 national and metropolitan rankings will be featured in the “Best Law Firms” General Counsel Publication, which will be distributed in November to more than 30,000 in-house counsel, and in digital format to more than 60,000 private practice lawyers worldwide.
The 2019 “Best Law Firms” rankings can be seen at www.bestlawfirms.usnews.com.
Chattanooga firms and their Tier 1-3 rankings include:
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
Tier 1: Banking and Finance Law; Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Copyright Law; Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law; Energy Law; Litigation-Construction; Litigation-Intellectual Property; Litigation-Patent; Litigation-Real Estate; Litigation-Tax; Medical Malpractice Law-Defendants; Mergers & Acquisitions Law; Product Liability Litigation-Defendants; Public Finance Law; Real Estate Law; Securitization and Structured Finance Law; Tax Law; Transportation Law; Trusts & Estates Law
Tier 2: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Corporate Law; Labor Law-Management; Litigation-Bankruptcy; Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions-Defendants; Non–Profit/Charities Law; Patent Law; Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants; Trademark Law
Tier 3: Employment Law-Management; Litigation-Labor & Employment
Burnette, Dobson & Pinchak
Tier 1: Employment Law-Management; Labor Law-Management
Tier 2: Litigation-Labor & Employment
Campbell & Campbell
Tier 1: Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants
Tier 2: Commercial Litigation
Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel
Tier 1: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Copyright Law; Corporate Law; Employment Law-Management; Energy Law; Health Care Law; Litigation-Antitrust; Litigation-Labor & Employment; Mergers & Acquisitions Law; Non–Profit/Charities Law; Patent Law; Real Estate Law; Trademark Law; Trusts & Estates Law
Tier 2: Arbitration; Banking and Finance Law; Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Litigation-Intellectual Property; Litigation-Municipal; Litigation-Patent; Mediation; Product Liability Litigation-Defendants; Securitization and Structured Finance Law
Tier 3: Labor Law-Management
Evans Harrison Hackett
Tier 1: Employment Law-Management; Labor Law-Management; Litigation-Labor & Employment
Franklin, Cooper & Marcus
Tier 1: Arbitration; Mediation
Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott & Cannon
Tier 1: Litigation-Municipal; Tax Law
Tier 2: Commercial Litigation; Litigation-Real Estate; Litigation-Tax; Litigation-Trusts & Estates; Trusts & Estates Law
Tier 3: Real Estate Law
Husch Blackwell
Tier 1: Litigation-Trusts & Estates; Non–Profit/Charities Law; Trusts & Estates Law
Tier 2: Real Estate Law
Lawrence & Lawrence
Tier 1: Family Law
Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan
Tier 1: Construction Law; Medical Malpractice Law-Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants
Tier 2: Transportation Law
Tier 3: Mediation; Product Liability Litigation-Defendants
Miller & Martin
Tier 1: Arbitration; Banking and Finance Law; Commercial Litigation; Corporate Law; Criminal Defense-General Practice; Criminal Defense-White Collar; ERISA Law; Employment Law-Management; Health Care Law; Labor Law-Management; Litigation-Construction; Litigation-Intellectual Property; Litigation-Labor & Employment; Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions-Defendants; Mediation; Mergers & Acquisitions Law; Patent Law; Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants; Product Liability Litigation-Defendants; Real Estate Law; Securitization and Structured Finance Law; Trademark Law
Tier 2: Copyright Law; Energy Law; Litigation-Antitrust; Public Finance Law; Tax Law; Trusts & Estates Law
Tier 3: Medical Malpractice Law-Defendants
Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway
Tier 1: Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs
Tier 3: Personal Injury Litigation-Defendants
Paty, Rymer, Ulin, & Larramore
Tier 1: Railroad Law
Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary
Tier 1: Transportation Law
Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams
Tier 1: Medical Malpractice Law-Defendants; Trusts & Estates Law
Tier 2: ERISA Law; Health Care Law
Tier 3: Commercial Litigation
Summers, Rufolo & Rodgers
Tier 1: Criminal Defense-General Practice; Criminal Defense-White Collar; Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs
The Kendall Law Firm
Tier 1: Trusts & Estates Law
Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis
Tier 3: Banking and Finance Law; Corporate Law; Mergers & Acquisitions Law
Weems & Ronan
Tier 1: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation-Bankruptcy
Law Offices of Morgan Adams
Tier 2: Railroad Law
O’Neal & Walker
Tier 2: Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs
Ramer & Hedrick
Tier 2: Family Law
Van Dolson Law Firm
Tier 2: Trusts & Estates Law
William G. Colvin
Tier 2: Litigation-Construction
Farinash & Stofan
Tier 3: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Pierce & Huisman
Tier 3: Trusts & Estates Law
Source: U.S. News