U.S. News & World Report: Whiteford, Taylor & Preston Highest Ranked Maryland Firm
Baltimore - Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP is very gratified to announce that the firm has received exemplary ratings in the second annual U.S. News & World Report rankings of law firms. In Maryland, WTP was rated highly in 34 practice areas, more than any other firm in the state.
Martin Fletcher, the firm’s Managing Partner, commented, “To be ranked in 34 different practices speaks to the broad-based strengths of the firm. Our goal is to be our clients’ most trusted advisors, no matter what industry they are in, no matter what kind of legal issues they face. Based on the U.S. News & World Report research, we seem to be succeeding.”
Moreover, the firm was recognized not just in Maryland, but with seven different practices ranked at the National level and four in Washington, D.C.
The evaluation process conducted by the researchers is explained in further detail in the attached statement from U.S. News & World Report. Interviewee comments can be read at http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/firms/whiteford-taylor-preston-llp/Testimonials/2700/.
The specific areas of law and the cities in which WTP received its rankings are summarized below.
National Tier 1
- Technology Law
National Tier 2
- Construction Law
- Litigation - Trusts & Estates
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
National Tier 3
- Admiralty & Maritime Law
- Land Use & Zoning Law
- Patent Law
Baltimore Tier 1
- Arbitration
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
- Commercial Litigation
- Construction Law
- Copyright Law
- Corporate Law
- Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Information Technology Law
- Insurance Law
- Land Use & Zoning Law
- Litigation - Bankruptcy
- Litigation - Construction
- Litigation - Eminent Domain & Condemnation
- Litigation - Intellectual Property
- Litigation - Land Use & Zoning
- Litigation - Patent
- Litigation - Tax
- Litigation - Trusts & Estates
- Mediation
- Mergers & Acquisitions Law
- Non-Profit/Charities Law
- Patent Law
- Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- Public Finance Law
- Real Estate Law
- Tax Law
- Technology Law
- Trademark Law
- Trusts & Estates Law
- Venture Capital Law
Baltimore Tier 2
- Health Care Law
- Litigation - Securities
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
Washington DC Tier 1
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
- Litigation - Bankruptcy
Washington DC Tier 2
- Litigation - Real Estate
- Real Estate Law
_______________________________________________________________________
FROM U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Methodology for 2011-2012 U.S.News - Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" The U.S.News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. An unprecedented amount of data was collected in the project’s second year, and this combined data resulted in the 2011-2012 “Best Law Firms” rankings. To be eligible for a ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer who is included in Best Lawyers as part of the annual peer review assessment. For more information on Best Lawyers®, please visit http://www.bestlawyers.com/.
Clients were asked to provide feedback on firm practice groups, using a scale of 1 (weakest) to 5 (strongest), addressing expertise, responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost-effectiveness, civility, and whether they would refer another client to the firm. Clients also had the option to write-in the names of law firms they’ve worked with on other matters and within practice areas beyond those they were asked to comment on by the submitting firm. Some clients chose to write a comment about their experience with the law firm. These comments are for reference only and were not used as data points in the formal evaluation process.
Lawyers voted on expertise, responsiveness, integrity, cost-effectiveness, whether they would refer a matter to a firm, and whether they consider a firm a worthy competitor. A principal enhancement to the methodology used to compile this year’s national rankings included a national ballot in addition to the metropolitan ballots. The national ballot was sent to a distinct, geographically diverse group of attorneys listed in Best Lawyers who have received consistently high peer review over the course of several years. We asked this group to vote on law firms that have a preeminent national presence within specified legal practice area(s) they know well. In addition to information from these surveys, the rankings incorporate the 3.9 million evaluations of 41,284 individual leading lawyers collected by Best Lawyers® in its most recent annual survey.
In addition to lawyer and client feedback, law firms were asked to provide us with general demographic and background information on the law firm and attorneys. This survey also gave firms an opportunity to share information on client profile, the significance of major legal matters they’ve undertaken, monetary and transactional values (where meaningful and applicable), and other data that speaks to the strengths of a law firms’ practice areas.
All of the quantitative and qualitative data were combined into an overall “Best Law Firms” score for each firm. This data was then compared to other firms within the same metropolitan area and at the national level. Because firms were often separated by small or insignificant differences in overall score, we use a tiering system rather than ranking law firms sequentially. The first tier includes those firms that scored within a certain percentage of the highest-scoring firm(s); the second tier, those firms that scored within a certain percentage of the next highest scoring firm(s), and so on.