Best Lawyers president Steven Naifeh is among the speakers on a forthcoming American Bar Association webinar discussing the impact of lawyer rankings and ratings on professional ethics.
Named “Lawyer Rankings and Ratings: The Impact on Ethics and the Profession”, the session takes place on October 21 2013 at 1pm Eastern.
The organizers describe the program:
“There may not be a bigger “industry” in law firm marketing and business development circles than the continued growth and proliferation of rankings and ratings. The Rules of Professional Conduct and ethics opinions have tried in vain to develop workable ethics barriers and parameters, however, the impact on the profession is significant—from the time and money spent to the permissible uses for promotion. Learn about ratings and their methodologies, and the ethical considerations voiced by various state and national bar associations. From long-time services by Martindale, American Lawyer Media, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers; to relative newcomers such as Chambers USA and Avvo; and the thousands of other companies that have recognized there is a lot of money to be made in the business of lawyer rankings. Are they helping buyers of legal services make more informed decisions or hindering the profession as a whole?”
The other panelists are Elizabeth Tarbert, Ethics Counsel, The Florida Bar; and moderator Micah Buchdahl from HTMLawyers.
For more details and to sign up, click here.
Rankings are oftentimes not the best way to determine who is a great lawyer. Having said this, trying to get recognition through the various organizations that rank lawyers is a must for any attorney marketing his practice. The average consumer seems to place importance on these types of “pedigrees.”
Lawyer rankings are by and large manipulable by large firms. Its easy enough to get recommendations from partners or your equivalent in another large firm. There is an entire industry developing those arrangements. Is not so easy when you are in a small firm, niche practice, or a solo who may not have the knowledge of how to arrange things and how to be recognized. We all think it matters to the public — but do we really know — that is except for those who work with inside counsel in corporations, all of whom seem to be only able to hire large firms no matter the cost or the level (or lack thereof) of expertise that the large firms may have. I don’t do corporate work although I have access to GC, I have been “recognized”, and my intended client base doesn’t care but I wonder whether these rankings actually advance the credibility and reputation of lawyers as a profession..
Thanks for your comment, Ann.