Super Lawyers Selection Process: How Lawyers Make the Cut
There are approximately 19,581 licensed attorneys in the Kentucky Bar Association.
How do you find the most reliable of the lot?
Sure, you could read testimonials on client review websites to find the best of the best. But with case studies revealing that almost 40% of them are fake, finding a trusted lawyer who can help you navigate the legal environment can be difficult.
That’s why Super Lawyers exist.
Learn what it is, what the Super Lawyers selection process is like, and how it can help you find great lawyers with a solid track record. Bahe Cook Cantley & Nefzger explains it all.
About Super Lawyers
Super Lawyers, owned by multinational information conglomerate Thomson Reuters, is a well-respected, merit-based, and peer-rating service. Its objective is to create a credible listing of attorneys with high degrees of professional achievement and peer recognition. It is a valuable resource for those in need of legal counsel.
Selection is made annually using a patented multiphase process that combs through lawyers from over 70 practice areas. This ensures credit is given for excellence and expertise, and not just reputation.
What’s the Super Lawyers Selection Process Like?
Super Lawyers has a rigorous selection process to ensure that the best and only the best find their way into its annual directory. As the New Jersey Supreme Court recently stated, their “process is a comprehensive, good-faith and detailed attempt to produce a list of lawyers who have attained high peer recognition, meet ethical standards, and have demonstrated some degree of achievement in their fields.”
Here’s a step-by-step look into the selection process.
Step 1: Nominations
Super Lawyers gathers prospects for its candidate pool through:
Formal Nominations
Super Lawyers sends a ballot to active lawyers who have been working for 5 or more years. They are invited to nominate the top attorneys they have worked with, worked against, or observed in action. They are not allowed to nominate themselves.
It uses a point system to determine eligibility. The weight of the nominations differs. For example, candidates nominated by attorneys from their own firms are assigned a lower point value and only count if they’re matched with an equal or greater number of out-firm nominations, which holds more weight.
Each lawyer can nominate 21 lawyers, however, the system tracks who nominates whom. This minimizes the possibility of rigging the system via the exchange of nominations between lawyers. Block nominations—where members of the same law firm vote for a single candidate—are also done away with. Moreover, you can’t campaign for or solicit nominations. Doing so can lead to disqualification.
Informal Nominations
Super Lawyers also allows non-legal professionals to nominate outstanding lawyers. Non-lawyers who are eligible to nominate someone include:
- Readers
- Directory users
- Marketing directors
- Present and past clients
Attorneys from other states can also send in names that will be considered for inclusion. These candidates are added to the pool for evaluation, but points are not awarded.
Research Process
Super Lawyers prides itself on having an attorney-led research staff that performs its own research to find the best of the best in the legal biz. They meticulously go through several databases, online sources, directories, and publications to identify the top attorneys who may have been overlooked during the nomination process.
This could be because the lawyers are:
- Working in small firms
- From smaller communities
- Practicing in less visible areas
- Practicing in highly specialized areas
Super Lawyers then looks for prospects who have made the most impact in their industry and have advanced their professional expertise by:
- Giving or attending scholarly lectures
- Attaining specific credentials or licenses
- Getting certifications as a specialist in specific practice areas
- Obtaining admission to prestigious organizations like The American College of Trial Lawyers
These highly qualified professionals are then added to the existing pool of candidates.
Step 2: Evaluation by Super Lawyers
Nominated lawyers are evaluated across 12 indicators of varying point values to gauge their expertise and professional competence. These include:
- Experience
- Transactions
- Honors/awards
- Verdicts/settlements
- Representative clients
- Scholarly lectures/writings
- Position within the law firm
- Special licenses/certifications
- Bar and/or professional activity
- Other outstanding achievements
- Pro bono and community service
- Education/employment background
As you can see, working for the greater good can improve your chances of appearing on their list.
Step 3: Peer Evaluation by Practice Area
Candidates who received the highest point totals so far from each state and practice area are asked to serve on a “blue ribbon panel.” They’re given a list of candidates within their primary practice areas. These nominees are then asked to provide recommendations based on a self-evaluation that requires them to rate their experience and expertise using a 5-point scale.
Step 4: Final Selection
Candidates are grouped into four categories based on the size of their firms.
This ensures they’re compared against their peers and not against someone who has better access to resources, social media clout, and competitive capacity.
What this means is that solo lawyers will be compared to other independent lawyers. Lawyers in small firms will go against other small firms. Those in mid-sized firms will be compared to other similar-sized firms. And so on. The top 5% are selected from each category.
Step 5: Data Verification
Before the results are published, Super Lawyers’ research staff carries out a final check to verify the accuracy of the information. This also helps ensure that the candidates are in good standing with their respective licensing authorities and have never been subject to disciplinary or criminal proceedings. Once this is done, the results are published.
Step 6: Marketing Outreach
The list is released online and in print. It’s a huge opportunity for lawyers who make the cut. If selected, they can appear in:
- State and regional editions of Super Lawyers’ digital magazines
- Inserts and special advertising sections in leading print publications
The list is also shared on the Super Lawyers website. It doesn’t cost anything to have one’s name included.
Bahe Cook Cantley & Nefzger:
Nathan D. Williams, a partner and attorney for Bahe Cook Cantley & Nefzger, is honored to be selected for inclusion in the prestigious Super Lawyers magazine. The achievement highlights our firm’s commitment to excellence and our dedication to serving and protecting the rights of our clients whether it be personal injury, auto accident cases, product liability, medical malpractice, toxic exposure, trusts and estates planning, business law, criminal law, and insurance law cases. We’re also members of the Kentucky Justice Association so we’re empowered to improve the legal representation of Kentucky citizens.
To learn more about how we can help you, contact us for a free consultation. You can also call us at (270) 789-0088 or drop by our office at 1510 East Broadway Street, Campbellsville, Kentucky.
