(Memphis, TN / November 4, 2015) Baker Donelson has garnered 170 first-tier metropolitan rankings in the 2016 U.S. News – Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" list, the sixth edition of an annual analysis that includes more than 12,000 U.S. law firms. These Tier 1 rankings across 10 metropolitan markets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C., earned Baker Donelson a spot among the top 20 firms nationally with the most first-tier metropolitan rankings.
In addition to its outstanding metropolitan rankings, Baker Donelson ranked nationally in 28 practice areas, including earning a Tier 1 national ranking in seven practice areas:
- Construction Law
- Employment Law – Management
- Litigation – Construction
- Litigation – Labor and Employment
- Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
- Railroad Law
- Real Estate Law
The Firm was also named "Law Firm of the Year" in Railroad Law for the second consecutive year. Only one law firm in each of the nationally ranked legal practice areas receives this recognition, making this award a particularly significant achievement.
The 2016 "Best Law Firms" rankings, produced by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers®, are presented in tiers both nationally and by metropolitan area or state. These rankings showcase more than 12,000 different law firms ranked nationally in one or more of 74 legal practice areas, and in metropolitan or state rankings in one or more of 120 major legal practice areas, providing a comprehensive view of the U.S. legal profession that is unprecedented both in the range of firms represented and in the range of qualitative and quantitative data used to develop the rankings.
To determine the "Best Law Firms" rankings, U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers conducted national surveys in which major clients and leading lawyers were asked to rate the law firms they consider best in their practice area. These reputational survey responses were combined with more than 6.7 million evaluations of individual lawyers in these firms in the most recent Best Lawyers survey of leading lawyers.
More information about the methodology and the full list of rankings are available online at http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/.