“Best Lawyers” List Appears to be Biased

2 min read

In the March issue of Louisville Magazine, they list the 245 best lawyers in Louisville. I’m sorry, but I have to take serious issue with this list. This is not to say that the list does not contain several of the best lawyers in Louisville; however, in my opinion, the list is severly biased towards including people who practice in large firms. To be fair, Louisville Magazine did not do any independent research to determine who the best lawyers in louisville are, they simply reproduced the list from The Best Lawyers in America © 2007 published by Woodward/White Inc., of Aiken, S.C. While inclusion is based on peer recommendations, I suspect that members of larger firms choose to nominate members of their own firms as opposed to lawyers in other firms who compete for the same business, or small firm practioners. As an example, under medical malpractice, of the 18 lawyers listed, only 3 represent victims of medical negligence (known as plaintiff’s lawyers) as opposed to representing the healthcare provider (defense lawyers). I personally know every lawyer listed in this category and while they are all very good, this list does NOT contain the “best” medical malpractice lawyers in Louisville. Several of the best lawyers in medical malpractice represent injured people, not healthcare providers. Why are they so underrepresented on this list? The same is true with the personal injury category. Only 10 out of the 33 lawyers represent the injured person. Again, I probably know every lawyer on the list. Again, all very good lawyers; however this list does not represent the “best” personal injury lawyers in Louisville. Another example is criminal defense lawyers. There are only 3 lawyers listed. Under criminal law. The likely reason? Almost all criminal lawyers practice in 1 or 2 person firms. Not the mega-firms. So, the whole criminal law section gets overlooked. Louisville Magazine should choose the best lawyers in Louisville the same way it chooses its Top Docs list. They should do an actual survey of Louisville lawyers. If they did, I’m certain the list would look a lot differently. “Who are the best lawyers in Louisville?” you ask. Well, I can’t answer that, all I can tell you is that this list is not accurate.