About Us
Best Lawyers® provides trusted, peer-reviewed recognition of top legal professionals and helps clients find credible, experienced counsel with confidence.
For more than 40 years, our Purely Peer Review® process has set the standard for merit-based legal distinction. It is respected by lawyers and firms worldwide, with more than 13 million confidential evaluations submitted annually.
The process is highly selective, with only 5% of U.S. lawyers and 3% globally earning this honor. Rigorous bias-filtering ensures integrity and fairness.
We combine this credibility with powerful digital tools built for the realities of modern legal marketing. These tools increase the visibility of recognized lawyers and help clients identify proven legal talent. Our partnerships with more than 50 local, national and international media outlets extend our influence globally.
Our goal is to bring clarity to legal selection and build lasting trust between lawyers and those seeking legal counsel.
Best Law Firms®
In 2010, we launched Best Law Firms to recognize exceptional law firm performance. Today, Best Law Firms operates in six global markets, delivering firm-level distinction alongside individual recognition.
Leadership
“The legal profession serves a critical purpose. As the leader of a company, I rely on that counsel constantly to help us make business decisions. Lawyers have become consultants as well as providers of sound legal advice, and their growth continues to parallel that of Best Lawyers.”
“My goal is for Best Lawyers to be a brand recognized beyond the legal industry. I want people to know who we are and the value we can bring to their lives and businesses. They should come to us as the true resource for finding what they need.”
Brett leads sales and client success at Best Lawyers, driving revenue through client relationships and strategic partnerships. With over 20 years in the legal industry he has held leadership roles across Fortune 500 and early-stage firms, bringing deep expertise in legal marketing, SaaS, data, and AI.
“Though Best Lawyers has been the leader in our space for over 40 years, we still operate with the energy of a much younger company. Writing this next chapter of our company history with the same team is extremely inspiring and I am grateful to continue to work with my colleagues.”
“I am proud to lead many of our partnerships. I think what sets Best Lawyers apart as an organization is that we really do take care of our own. That extends to all employees at all levels and I am living proof.”
“Best Lawyers recognizes legal professionals for reasons beyond multimillion-dollar resolutions or high-profile verdicts. What makes them shine is their tenacity and willingness to be the voice of their client. Telling each story is at the heart of what we do – it is challenging, but also a lot of fun.” ...
“This is one of the most wholesome organizations that I've worked for. There are high levels of candor, compassion, and communication company wide. This allows everyone to feel like they've got a stake in the work they do for the company. I feel that these values have been instrumental to our success.” ...
Advisory Board Spotlight
Rafael E. Cañas is a founding partner at Sfera Legal, one of Costa Rica’s leading firms. His 20-year legal career focuses on advising U.S. clients in investment and development activities, mainly in complex real estate transactions and development. Rafael is also a trusted corporate counsel to multinational and free trade zone companies based in Costa Rica. He complements his legal practice with leadership roles in several professional, business, and educational organizations.
Sietze Hepkema joined SBM as Chief Governance and Compliance Officer in May 2012. Prior to joining SBM, he was a partner of Allen & Overy, a prestigious international law firm, from 1987 to 2011 and before that of Graham & James . Sietze has decades of experience advising companies on matters of coporate governance and corporate finance.
Philippe Thomas focuses his practice on employment matters. He has extensive experience in the transfer of personnel and other employment law aspects of national and international mergers and acquisitions. He regularly advises on restructuring issues with or without reductions in headcount. He assists clients on works councils consultations, harmonization of employee status as well as senior employee terminations. He litigates regularly on post-termination issues.
Panayotis has been the Managing Partner of the Firm since 1984 and is Head of the Land & Property Development Department. He has an active, broad-based commercial practice and is particularly well known for his EU & Competition practice, having represented a number of high profile clients in alleged cartel cases heard before the Hellenic Competition Commission. Panayotis has extensive experience in all types of Dispute Resolution, representing his clients in civil and administrative a...
Tom Frantz currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Board for Williams Mullen. Drawing on his tax background, he also maintains a robust corporate legal practice as a Partner representing multi-national corporations, handling major mergers and acquisitions, and advising corporations on a variety of legal matters.
Creighton Condon is the firm’s Senior Partner. Formerly European Managing Partner and co-head of the firm’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Group, he represents multinational corporations in acquisitions and sales of public and private companies and in joint ventures and regularly provides advice regarding issues of corporate governance and control and shareholder activism. Mr. Condon also represents the mergers and acquisitions groups of a number of investment banks. Mr. Condon joined the ...
Rajesh Bagga is responsible for steering corporate restructuring, mergers and amalgamations, managing legal issues, reputation and regulatory risk in group corporations, and developing systems and resources for driving compliance, as well as developing resources and processes to manage risk. Previously, Rajesh Bagga was with Tata Motors Limited as the Vice President of Legal and Global General Counsel.
Maura Abeln Smith is the founder of Maura A. Smith Law Offices LLC, a boutique law firm that opened in 2016. Offices are located in New Canaan, CT, and New York City, NY. Previously, Ms. Smith was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and General Secretary of Delhaize Group before she left the firm in 2013 to start her own practice.
Larry D. Thompson has served on the University of Georgia School of Law’s faculty as the holder of the John A. Sibley Chair of Corporate and Business Law since 2011, noting he was on a leave of absence from June 2012 through 2014. He is presently a member of the Faculty Division of the law school's Dean Rusk International Law Center Council. From 1982 to 1986, he served as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia where he led major political corruption and drug trafficking prosecuti...
From 2009 to 2015, he was Chief Corporate Governance Counsel and member of the Management Board and the Executive Committee of Royal Ahold. At Ahold, his portfolio of responsibilities included legal, governance and compliance; M&A; corporate responsibility and product integrity. He rejoined De Brauw in January 2016. Lodewijk joined De Brauw in 1988, and was a partner from 1994 to 2009. He was resident partner at De Brauw London from 1994 to 1998. From 2005, he was a member of De Brauw’s m...
Michel advises many public, state-owned and private corporations in various sectors, including institutional fund management, energy, manufacturing, commercial, financial services and brokerage. He also advises foreign companies on their establishment or acquisition projects in Canada. He has developed special expertise in regulatory compliance, advising corporate executives and directors, take-over bids, underwritings, private placements, stock exchange listings, offering memoranda, broker r...
Press Releases
2025 Mid-Year Canadian Legal Market Survey Reveals Legal Sector Perspectives on AI, Pressures Shaping Practices from The Best Lawyers in Canada Honorees Survey results accompany release of 2026 editions of the Best Lawyers awards
For Immediate Release
2025 Mid-Year U.S. Legal Market Survey Reveals Practice Outlook, AI Impact from The Best Lawyers in America Honorees Survey results accompany release of 2026 editions of the Best Lawyers awards
For Immediate Release
Spanish Law Firms Embrace Billing Flexibility, Yet Fall Behind on Diversity New Legal Market Report Reveals 63% of firms now offer alternative fee arrangements challenging the tradition of billable hours
For Immediate Release
Best Law Firms in Germany Announces 2nd Edition Rankings Comprehensive survey of 1,278 firms reveals shift toward domestic focus as German legal market adapts to changing business landscape
For Immediate Release
2026 Best Lawyers® in France Honours Legal Talent, Reflects Corporate Sustainability Demands Ahead Data-backed rankings reveal top lawyers across France and the highest voter engagement in research history
For Immediate Release
Final nail in the coffin for billable hours? Alternative billing goes mainstream, new legal market report reveals 87% of top Australian law firms offer clients billing choice, including fixed or task fees
For Immediate Release
Best Lawyers® Establishes CMO Advisory Board to Guide Innovation in the Legal Marketing Industry
For Immediate Release
Latest Insights
Best Lawyers Introduces Smithy AI
by Jamilla Tabbara
Transforming legal content creation for attorneys and firms.
Best Lawyers Launches CMO Advisory Board
by Jamilla Tabbara
Strategic counsel from legal marketing’s most experienced voices.
Best Lawyers Expands With New Artificial Intelligence Practice Area
by Best Lawyers
Best Lawyers introduces Artificial Intelligence Law to recognize attorneys leading the way in AI-related legal issues and innovation.
Best Lawyers’ Purely Peer Voting: Authenticity and Trust Through Decades of Tradition
by Best Lawyers
Larry A. Campagna of Chamberlain Hrdlicka met with Best Lawyers CEO Phillip Greer to discuss how trust and peer-review feedback are pivotal to building authentic relationships with colleagues in the legal industry.
