Voting for the 2025 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America is officially underway. With custom-curated ballots specifically designed to present lawyers within the same practice areas and geographic regions as the voting lawyers, voting is an exclusive and completely confidential way to vet and honor peers for inclusion in the oldest and most trusted legal guide, Best Lawyers.
Best Lawyers® is currently in its fifth decade of producing the top source of legal talent. While advances in technology and resources like artificial intelligence are influencing the legal world at an unprecedented pace, Best Lawyers has maintained a structured balance between innovation and tradition. We’ve made it easier than ever to access and complete your ballot, showcase awards and highlight accomplishments through our websites, but one fact remains the same: our awards have and will remain Purely Peer Reviewed. As ever, the value and impact lawyers make on our awards through the voting process are paramount to the integrity and scrupulousness of each year’s honorifics.
“The importance of lawyers actively participating in the selection of the best candidates through peer review cannot be overstated,” said Best Lawyers’ Director of Research and Development Elizabeth Petit. “As legal professionals, lawyers possess a nuanced understanding of the complexities and demands of the legal field, making them uniquely qualified to assess the competence, integrity and overall excellence of their peers. Our process not only reinforces the credibility of the legal profession but also fosters a sense of trust among clients and the public.”
Voting for the 2025 editions matters more now than ever before to capture the outstanding and commendable work of the top lawyers during the most challenging years in recent history.
Who Votes for Best Lawyers?
Beginning in January, we invite attorneys to offer their weigh-in on who deserves recognition in the upcoming edition.
Who can vote:
- The Best Lawyers in America: Voting is open to all currently recognized honorees in The Best Lawyers in America. Lawyers who are recognized in the most recent edition receive their custom ballots directly from Best Lawyers via email. Ballots are also accessible through lawyer administrator pages.
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America: Voting is open to all currently recognized honorees and all current nominees for Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America. All eligible voters will receive their custom ballots directly from Best Lawyers via email.
Lawyers cannot vote for themselves, and every lawyer (voter included) is re-evaluated for inclusion in the upcoming release.
How Does Voting Work?
Using an algorithm, our platform curates a selection of both nominated and recognized lawyers who practice in the same specialty and locale as the voter. Ballots are uniquely created for each voter based on a series of internal data points.
We ask voting lawyers the same question: “If you were unable to take a case yourself, how likely would you be to refer it to this lawyer?”
Voters are given the option to rate their answers 1-5 based on the likelihood that they would recommend the nominee. Voters can also offer comments regarding their answers, as well as indicate if they do not know the nominee.
Once open, ballots remain accessible to lawyers for the entirety of the voting period. For the 2025 edition, voting is open starting January 29, 2024, until March 29, 2024. You can read more about the Best Lawyers timeline here.
How to Access Your Ballot
Ballots are emailed directly to all eligible candidates. After the initial email is sent, we will continue to send regular follow-up voting reminders only to lawyers who have not yet voted.
Why Voting Matters
Voting for Best Lawyers is an exclusive opportunity for the nation’s top 6% of practicing attorneys to offer their personal commendations of their peers. In order for Best Lawyers to provide the most thorough and accurate awards each year, it is vital that lawyers who are already honored take the time to offer their feedback.
Petit explains what sets Best Lawyers apart in the world of legal rankings, noting: “We stand alone as an unbiased third-party validation of a lawyer’s excellence in practice. Participation is vital every year. Our awards are not a guarantee, and each candidate must be voted on each year. But by reevaluating the landscape annually, we ensure our awards are a current reflection of the industry.”
Indeed, our process is validated by consistently increased participation and engagement from the industry. For the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, nearly 25,000 senior-level attorneys voted, and collectively, they provided almost three million evaluations of their peers.
To learn more about the Best Lawyers methodology, find out your eligibility status or have your ballot resent, please reach out to us at info@bestlawyers.com.
