Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America

The Lawdragon selection process has been created over 35 years of researching and reporting on the legal profession and creating guides to the most effective legal professionals. Our team brings more than 100 years in the lawyer reporting and information business.

The foundation of our selection is in journalism. We research each guide extensively, studying which lawyers and law practices have had significant impact, including an emphasis on recent matters handled. We accept submissions and review them alongside thousands of candidates we identify and consider for each guide. We also work with editorial advisors in each substantive area to develop the focus of the guide and identify talent.

Selection for the annual Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America guide typically requires a lawyer to have shown outstanding skills for at least 15 years in practice, with extremely rare exceptions. Similarly, virtually all will be partners in their law practice or hold a designation that indicates the regard of those with whom they practice. Leadership within their practice in a firm and or in relevant bar organizations is considered.

Our flagship, the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, was established in 2005, the year we launched our business. It seeks to highlight the 500 lawyers whose recent cases, deals and other contributions captured the most important legal matters of the prior year. We are advocates of a new view of leadership in the legal profession, one that is more inclusive and focused on current contributions more than historical ones. We aim to recognize the great breadth of the U.S. legal profession, from personal injury plaintiff advocates to those who sue for financial misconduct. At the same time, we hold up those who advise corporate America on paths forward for tricky financings and difficulties that spill into court. 

We are asked often what differentiates us. A Lawdragon 500 recognition is the product of a passion for legal professionals and those who aspire to new levels of excellence, bearing in mind always that people and justice are at the heart of what it is to be a lawyer.

The nomination deadline for 2024 is December 15, 2023. Click here to nominate!