Bar associations and courts in New Jersey and across the country have recognized the legitimacy of the Super Lawyers selection process. Most recently, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the findings of a Special Master assigned by the court to, among other things, examine the details of our process. In his July 2008 report, the Special Master lauded our lawyer-rating process, stating:

“[The Super Lawyers selection process] is a comprehensive, good-faith and detailed attempt to produce a list of lawyers that have attained high peer recognition, meet ethical standards, and have demonstrated some degree of achievement in their field.”

“Suffice to say, the selection procedures employed by [Super Lawyers] are very sophisticated, comprehensive and complex.”

“It is absolutely clear from this record that [Super Lawyers does] not permit a lawyer to buy one’s way onto the list, nor is there any requirement for the purchase of any product for inclusion in the lists or any quid pro quo of any kind or nature associated with the evaluation and listing of an attorney or in the subsequent advertising of one’s inclusion in the lists.”

Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a rigorous, multiphase rating process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with third party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis.

The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel. Since Super Lawyers is intended to be used as an aid in selecting a lawyer, we limit the lawyer ratings to those who can be hired and retained by the public, i.e., lawyers in private practice and Legal Aid attorneys.

The Super Lawyers selection process involves three basic steps:

The top New Jersey car accident and medical malpractice lawyers enter the candidate pool by being formally nominated by a peer or if identified by the research department during the research process.

Formal nominations

Once a year, we invite lawyers in each state to nominate the top attorneys they’ve personally observed in action. Lawyers may nominate attorneys in their own firm, but these nominations count only if each in-firm nomination is matched by at least one out-firm nomination.

Each nomination carries a point value. An out-firm nomination has substantially greater point value than an in-firm nomination. The best New Jersey car accident and medical malpractice attorneys cannot nominate themselves, and must limit their nominations to others who practice in the same state.

Our procedures and database have several safeguards that prevent lawyers from “gaming” the system. For example, we track who nominates whom. This helps us detect any excessive “back-scratch” nominations (lawyers nominating each other) and “block nominations” (where members of the same law firm all cast identical nominations). We also prohibit lawyers from engaging in “campaigning” or solicitation of nominations from other lawyers.

While important, the nomination phase is simply the first step in our process. It puts lawyers on our radar for further research and evaluation, and awards points in our rating system. But we limit the value of those points so that no matter how many nominations one receives, it will not guarantee selection.

Research process

Our attorney-led research staff searches for lawyers who have attained certain honors, results or credentials, which indicate a high degree of peer recognition or professional competence. For example, certification as a specialist in a particular area of practice, or admission to prestigious colleges or academies, e.g., The American College of Trial Lawyers. The staff identifies these credentials by reviewing a proprietary list of database and online sources, including national and local legal trade publications.

Most of the top New Jersey attorneys we identify in this process have also been nominated by their peers. Occasionally, however, we find outstanding lawyers who have been overlooked in the nomination process. These may include: lawyers with national litigation practices who rarely appear in the courts of their home jurisdiction; lawyers in smaller firms or from smaller communities; and lawyers practicing in less visible or highly specialized practice areas.  Super Lawyers then lists its top lawyers list, including its top New Jersey medical malpractice and automobile accident attorneys.

Informal nominations

Throughout the year, readers, clients and attorneys who are not eligible to formally nominate (that is, actively licensed to practice in the same state as the nominee) send us names of lawyers we should consider for inclusion. Though no points are awarded, we add these lawyers to the candidate pool for further research and evaluation.

Our research department evaluates each candidate based on these 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement: verdicts and settlements; transactions; representative clients; experience; honors and awards; special licenses and certifications; position within law firm; bar and or other professional activity; pro bono and community service as a lawyer; scholarly lectures and writings; education and employment background; and other outstanding achievements.

These indicators are not treated equally; some have a higher maximum point value than others.

In this step, also known as the “blue ribbon review,” candidates are grouped according to their primary areas of practice. The candidates in each practice area with the highest point totals from steps one and two above are asked to serve on a blue ribbon panel. The panelists are then provided a list of candidates from their practice areas to review, rating them on a scale of one to ten.

Candidates are grouped into four firm-size categories. Those with the highest point totals from each category are selected. This means solo and small firm lawyers are compared with other solo and small firm attorneys, and large firm lawyers compete with other large firm lawyers. Five percent of the total lawyers in the state are selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers.  These attorneys are listed by Super Lawyers as the best in New Jersey.  Mazie Slater attorneys are always in the top of the Super Lawyers lists, including being listed in the top ten of the best lawyers in New Jersey.

The research staff checks each candidate’s standing with the local licensing authority. Each candidate is asked to aver that they have never been subject to disciplinary or criminal proceedings.

Final Internet searches are performed on each candidate to ensure there are no outstanding matters that would reflect adversely on the lawyer. We also contact each top New Jersey lawyer to ensure accuracy of all published information.

The final published list represents no more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state. The lists are published annually in state and regional editions of Super Lawyers magazines and in inserts and special advertising sections in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers. All of the top NJ attorneys selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers, regardless of year, can be found on superlawyers.com.

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2014: The National Law Journal based their selection of America’s Elite Trial Lawyers on a number of factors, including the firm’s willingness to take on large cases and persevere in the face of adversity, as well as the impact that the litigation results had on government or business practices. Firms must have had at least one significant win between Jan. 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014, with “significant win” being defined as “prevailing in a bench or jury trial or in a major settlement where the stakes were high.” Additionally, firms must have devoted at least half of their efforts to plaintiffs’ litigation and activities.

For more information, go to The National Law Journal and Law.com.  

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This is the New Jersey Law Journal‘s first magazine devoted to ranking the top personal injury recoveries of the year. We combed the verdicts and settlements reported in our weekly Suits & Deals column throughout 2013 to find the highest and second-highest awards in six categories: automobile injury, medical malpractice, premises liability, products liability, public liability and workplace injuries. They are featured in these pages, along with short profiles of the plaintiff lawyers who achieved them.  The awards were chosen solely by the amounts reported at the time, not taking into account that they may have been or might still be altered. For more information, go to https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/almID/1202644771387.  

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Benchmark Litigation

The results of Benchmark Litigation, Benchmark Canada, and Benchmark Mexico stem from the culmination of a research period (lasting from four to six months, depending on region) where researchers conduct extensive interviews with litigators and their clients to identify the leading litigators and firms. During these interviews, researchers examine recent casework handled by law firms and ask individual litigators to offer their professional opinions on peers. Firms cannot pay to be recommended for the guide. Instead, firms have been independently offered the opportunity to take a professional listing regardless of editorial content. Recommendations are based on interviews with the nation’s leading private practice lawyers and in-house counsel.

For more information, go to https://www.benchmarklitigation.com/general/research.

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The Lawdragon 3000 represents less than one percent of the legal profession and is the most elite group of legal professionals compiled in the country. Lawdragon creates its guides to the best lawyers in the United States through a unique combination of online balloting and independent research. Its reporters and editors interview thousands of lawyers to get their input on the top ‘Dragons’ in any region or practice field. They also collect votes through their online ballot, which democratizes such lists, allowing lawyers who might be overlooked through traditional surveying techniques, to be identified. Those submissions are then researched and vetted by their editorial staff. To select their guide, they survey the quality of the votes an individual receives (more weight, for instance, to the vote of a corporate counsel than to a partner in the nominee’s firm) while acknowledging the quantity of votes. Based on that combination as well as vetting of recent cases and activity, they assemble a guide that reflects geographic and practice diversity while always underscoring excellence.

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Corporate INTL’s annual awards mark excellence for the world’s leading advisers and financiers globally.

The nomination phase involves confidential forms being returned to us by individuals that are deemed as qualified by our research team.

Our research department conducts extensive reviews, draws insight from business leaders throughout the world and takes suggestions over the preceding 6 months to produce a shortlist of firms for each category. In particular, we spend the last few months leading up to the award announcements working through tens of thousands of nomination forms that we receive back from the following sources: nesses

For more information, go to http://www.corp-intl.com/awards

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The ACQ Law Awards are one of the most respected legal rating programs of their kind in the market.

Since 2008, the ACQ LAW AWARDS (now celebrating their 11th Anniversary) have been celebrating achievement, innovation and brilliance in their annual awards. Anybody can make that claim, but ACQ really is different. We boast a legitimately independent nomination process, most importantly, our award winners, are chosen by the industry itself.

We rely on reader insight and experience to provide nominations and we relish hearing about new experts and burgeoning markets. Every year, we seek their assistance in recognizing industry leaders, eminent individuals, exemplary teams and distinguished legal businesses, which we believe represent the benchmark of achievement and best practice in a variety of fields – and every year, our readers help as we strive to recognize an ever-widening spectrum of services, markets, industries and organizations that serve our global market place.

Our awards rise above the status of participation certificate and actually represent an endorsement of outstanding work.

We recognize smaller market participants as well as larger firms adapting international models to unique geographies. Whether it’s businesses large or small, individuals in niche sectors or a category you think we might be overlooking, we’d love to hear from you.

Entry into all awards programs is free of charge. This includes Submission, Nomination and Selection of winners.

The ACQ Law Awards set out to recognize the achievements of those who are responding most successfully to the demands being placed on them in the on-going post-recession business environment.

Our awards are the only industry honors given purely on the basis of voter participation, and as always, we welcome and consider any and all submissions to our nomination process.

Guided by the poll results those businesses and individuals that have had the greatest impact on the industry during 2017 will be duly honored. In judging these awards we will study the nominations made by our voters and recognize the leaders in their fields with exceptional performance and recognition. 

For more information regarding ACQ 5, go to https://awards.acq5.com/27. 

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