Best Lawyers "One to Watch" Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyone got any idea about the legitimacy of this ranking/methodology for selecting lawyers? My firm did well, but I am scratching my head at some of the people selected/left off.

[Iowahawk]

The only rankings service that isn't garbage is Chambers imo. Lots of them are pay to play. Don't know much about this one but someone I know hasn't argued an appeal this year won their "Lawyer of the Year" for appellate law... Little if any correlation to Chambers/reputation/book of business/etc. and the vast majority of the picks come from the same few firms, some of which are relatively obscure in the market, so I would say not legit at all and likely pay to play in some form.

[Anonymous User]

The only rankings service that isn't garbage is Chambers imo. Lots of them are pay to play. Don't know much about this one but someone I know hasn't argued an appeal this year won their "Lawyer of the Year" for appellate law and some truly random lawyers/firms were recognized in my jurisdiction... Little if any correlation to Chambers/reputation/book of business/etc. that I can tell and certain firms seem bizarrely heavily represented which is suspicious.

OP here. I hear you. The people that I know on the list didn't even know they were on it.

[Wild Card]

The only rankings service that isn't garbage is Chambers imo. Lots of them are pay to play.

Chambers isn't pay to play?

[2013]

I only pay attention to Chambers and Legal 500.

[Definitely Not North]

damn and I was just about to pull the trigger on a sick plaque from my LAWYERS OF DISTINCTION nomination

[12YrsAnAssociate]

damn and I was just about to pull the trigger on a sick plaque from my LAWYERS OF DISTINCTION nomination

Me too actually. Not because I want it. But because I'm not above a little pay to play if there's a chance it'll advance my mediocre career. But if TLS is on to it, I'll just sit tight.

[nealric]

The only rankings service that isn't garbage is Chambers imo. Lots of them are pay to play.

Chambers isn't pay to play?

Not as directly. There's some mutual backscratching that goes on, but the firm can't pay to sponsor into its attorneys for awards like some publications. They actually interview clients of the lawyers identified, and their practice area bands usually are usually pretty close to the general reputation of the firm's practice. I've actually been interviewed by Chambers as a client.


Superlawyers and Bestlawyers kind of reminds me of those "who's who in American high school students" thing I was solicited for back in the day. I remember people putting that on their college resumes

[2013]

The only rankings service that isn't garbage is Chambers imo. Lots of them are pay to play.

Chambers isn't pay to play?

Not as directly. There's some mutual backscratching that goes on, but the firm can't pay to sponsor into its attorneys for awards like some publications. They actually interview clients of the lawyers identified, and their practice area bands usually are usually pretty close to the general reputation of the firm's practice. I've actually been interviewed by Chambers as a client.


Superlawyers and Bestlawyers kind of reminds me of those "who's who in American high school students" thing I was solicited for back in the day. I remember people putting that on their college resumes

I cringe when attorneys have The Who’s who for college students or some crap on their profiles.

[Anonymous User]

Chambers isn't pay to play. Their rankings really do tend to reflect who the top players are in a given practice area.

Best Lawyers "One to Watch" is basically Chambers/Vault for regional/smaller shops that wouldn't get ranked in Chambers/Vault (and even a lot of those get ranked in Chambers). That's why you're seeing tons of people at regional biglaw get the ranking.

Anecdotally, I know a 3rd year (maybe 4th year now? who knows) at another shop who has been on maybe 3 of my deals and that person's role has been limited purely to the most ministerial of documentation (subsidiary board resolutions, signature page packets, etc.), with no substantive work whatsoever/silent on calls, and they got "One to Watch".

Check the bios of 4th-8th years at v10 firms and you'll realize none of them have "One to Watch" (cue TLS joke about v10s never allowing associates to do well), and it's because those shops don't pay for their associates to have a gold star next to their names.

[nealric]

The only rankings service that isn't garbage is Chambers imo. Lots of them are pay to play.

Chambers isn't pay to play?

Not as directly. There's some mutual backscratching that goes on, but the firm can't pay to sponsor into its attorneys for awards like some publications. They actually interview clients of the lawyers identified, and their practice area bands usually are usually pretty close to the general reputation of the firm's practice. I've actually been interviewed by Chambers as a client.


Superlawyers and Bestlawyers kind of reminds me of those "who's who in American high school students" thing I was solicited for back in the day. I remember people putting that on their college resumes

I cringe when attorneys have The Who’s who for college students or some crap on their profiles.

Never seen that one. Not as bad as a resume I once received that had the applicant's entire salary history down to their minimum wage high school job.

[Anonymous User]

As "One to Watch," the award is pay to play. I didn't even realize it existed until someone in my marketing department told me I had "won" it. I'm not sure what the fee is to apply for it, but once you "win" they send you a bunch of stuff about website listings and e-mail signature logos--which cost hundreds of dollars.

I assume these awards, like Super Lawyers, are more useful in mid-markets where your clients are lay people who hire directly. If your clients are Fortune 100 companies whose in-house team includes a bunch of former Big Law lawyers, they don't care.

[nahumya]

I agree that the award is pretty arbitrary. That said, it's a nice bullet point to have on your partnership memo. C&P is probably the most merit-based, but it's not foolproof. I know some folks from my V20 firm who are ranked as band 2 on C&P and are very mediocre, and also a few rainmakers who are not ranked at all.

[gregfootball2001]

I think there are three general categories of these types of awards.

The pay to play (if you pay $ you get named): Lawyers of Distinction
The popularity contest (if enough lawyers nominate and vote for you, you get it): Super Lawyers
The (mostly) merit based: Chambers, Legal 500

I'm not sure where Best Lawyers falls on this list.

[basketofbread]

This sounds kind of hilarious and I’m tempted to do it. I’ll put it on my resume alongside “owner of a star.”

[nealric]

I agree that the award is pretty arbitrary. That said, it's a nice bullet point to have on your partnership memo. C&P is probably the most merit-based, but it's not foolproof. I know some folks from my V20 firm who are ranked as band 2 on C&P and are very mediocre, and also a few rainmakers who are not ranked at all.

It's not foolproof, and does require someone to bother to nominate you. Also, the bands tend to correlate more with prominence, not necessarily quality. A firm that gets nothing but AAA work in a practice area due to reputation but actually does a pretty mediocre job of it will still get ranked highly. In many practice areas, a mediocre job may not be all that apparent to a client, even if opposing counsel thinks they are sloppy.

[UnfrozenCaveman]

I agree that the award is pretty arbitrary. That said, it's a nice bullet point to have on your partnership memo. C&P is probably the most merit-based, but it's not foolproof. I know some folks from my V20 firm who are ranked as band 2 on C&P and are very mediocre, and also a few rainmakers who are not ranked at all.

It's not foolproof, and does require someone to bother to nominate you. Also, the bands tend to correlate more with prominence, not necessarily quality. A firm that gets nothing but AAA work in a practice area due to reputation but actually does a pretty mediocre job of it will still get ranked highly. In many practice areas, a mediocre job may not be all that apparent to a client, even if opposing counsel thinks they are sloppy.

This is exactly how I feel about C&P.

[Anonymous User]

As "One to Watch," the award is pay to play. I didn't even realize it existed until someone in my marketing department told me I had "won" it. I'm not sure what the fee is to apply for it, but once you "win" they send you a bunch of stuff about website listings and e-mail signature logos--which cost hundreds of dollars.

I assume these awards, like Super Lawyers, are more useful in mid-markets where your clients are lay people who hire directly. If your clients are Fortune 100 companies whose in-house team includes a bunch of former Big Law lawyers, they don't care.

Hm... I also "won" it, but my marketing department (nor anyone at my firm) told me. I head from someone I graduated from law school with. I also haven't received any of the "stuff" you're talking about, but that could be a function of WFH and the fact that I haven't got into the office for 4 months.