The legal field has many honors, lists, best ofs, and more from local and statewide publications. Some are more high profile than others, but none can match the prestige of Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters. In this article, we will discuss what Super Lawyers is and what makes it so prestigious. We will also introduce you to the RMWBH attorneys who have received this honor.
What is Super Lawyers?
Super Lawyers is a nationwide rating service for attorneys owned by Thompson Reuters. The service rates attorneys in over 70 practices areas who “have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.” The rankings and designations are broken out by state. The attorneys are classified into the following areas:
- Super Lawyers – The highest rating given to attorneys via Super Lawyers selection process.
- Rising Star – Given to attorneys who fall just short of Super Lawyer status. To be eligible for the Rising Star designation, the attorney must be 40 years old or younger, or be practicing law 10 years or less.
- Top Rated Attorney – This designation is given to attorneys who stand out in their area of practice.
The listings for each designation are published annually on Super Lawyers website and their magazines for each state.
The Selection Process
Attorneys who receive the Super Lawyer designation truly stand out from the pack due to the rigorous selection process Super Lawyers institutes in selecting attorneys for the designation. Each year, attorneys from every state have the opportunity to nominate fellow attorneys they’ve seen in action. While attorneys can nominate other attorneys in their own firm, that nomination must be followed by a second nomination from an attorney of another law firm. The Super Lawyers attorney-led research team also searches for attorneys who stand out in their field and might have been overlooked in the nominating process. They achieve this by looking for attorneys who have attained peer recognition from other organizations, are a specialist in their area of practice, or have obtained admission into a prestigious college or academy.
The selection process continues with Super Lawyers research department evaluating each lawyer in the candidate pool based on their 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. The attorneys are awarded points based on the below indicators:
- Verdicts/Settlements
- Transactions
- Representative Clients
- Experience
- Honors/Awards
- Special licenses/certifications
- Position within the law firm
- Bar and/or professional activity
- Pro bono and community service
- Scholarly lectures/writings
- Education/employment background
- Other outstanding achievements
The selection process continues with what Super Lawyers calls the ‘blue ribbon review’. This step involves the candidates in each practice area who received the highest points from the verdicts/settlements and transactions indicators reviewing a list of candidates from their practice area and rating them on a scale of one to five.
The process concludes by grouping the candidates into four firm size categories meaning solo practitioners and small firms are compared with each other and not competing against the larger firms. The attorneys with the highest point totals are selected, and only up to five percent of attorneys in each state are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers.
The attorneys who achieve the Rising Stars designation follow the same selection process as the Super Lawyers except for the above listed requirements. Those who meet the above requirements but are not named as Super Lawyers then go through the Rising Stars selection process. No more than 2.5 percent of attorneys in each state are named Rising Stars.
Who are RMWBH’s Super Lawyers?
At RMWBH, we are privileged to have several of our attorneys achieve Super Lawyer, Rising Star and Top Rated Attorneys designations. These designations show the commitment our attorneys have in succeeding for their clients and what that success means to their colleagues in the legal field. Each fall, we look forward to receiving notification of the attorneys that have been named a Super Lawyer. For Fall 2020, RMWBH’s Super Lawyers are:
Each spring, we also look forward to unveiling our attorneys who have named Rising Stars for the year. We are proud to announce for 2021 our attorneys who have been named Rising Stars are:
- Rick Anderson
- Clint Brown
- Erren Chen
- Dustin Fessler
- Teddy Holtz
- Rahila Sultanali
- Sarah Vida
Other RMWBH attorneys have been recognized in prior years by Super Lawyers and are considered Top Rated Attorneys in their practice area. Those attorneys include:
- Sipra Boyd
- Rick Butler
- Greg Godkin
- Clayton Hearn
- Brady Ortego
In the legal industry, the Super Lawyer designation is seen as a high mark of achievement by attorneys. It shows to clients and potential clients the level of respect they carry from their colleagues, success in their area of practice and achievements throughout the legal industry. With no more than five percent of attorneys in each state chosen, it shows these attorneys are truly at the top of their class.
