I have not looked back to see how many years in a row our firm has made this top ranking, but it’s been quite a few. Sometimes I wonder whether the folks at “Best Lawyers” even bother checking on us. Maybe they just assume we have not declined in skill, talent or experience and therefore just “rubberstamp” our “Tier 1” ranking year after year?
But that’s not the way it works, at least according to them. A firm must have at least one attorney who is recognized in the current edition of Best Lawyers in order to qualify for being ranked as a “Best Law Firm” in their publication. (All four of our lawyers are listed). After that first condition is met, Best Lawyers says they then dig deeper, collecting data from the firms’ clients, and eliciting “votes” from other lawyers in the area. (And no we can’t vote for ourselves.) According to Best Lawyers, “all of the quantitative and qualitative data is then combined into an overall ‘Best Law Firms’ score for each firm.”
Somehow this process always seems to make us land in the top tier. Good for us!
By the way, this year yours truly was named “Personal Injury Lawyer of the Year” in the Syracuse metropolitan area.
Best Lawyers names only one of those for each metropolitan area in each field of practice. According to the folks at Best Lawyers, I landed the “Lawyer of the Year” title because other lawyers in my field (personal injury) ranked me higher than any other lawyer in the Syracuse metropolitan area.
I agree with their opinion of me! Just kidding. There are several very fine personal injury lawyers in the Syracuse area, especially my three partners (David Kalabanka, Jan Smolak and Lee Michaels). I expect each of them to receive the same in future years, or at least they should.
Please don’t think this post is just a “brag”. Maybe it is a little bit, but I think it’s important for our clients to understand that having a law firm represent them who is considered “the best” by other lawyers and by judges in the area is a real plus for them. Our clients’ cases are more likely to settle at a higher number when the defense knows they are up against the best. And if the case does not settle and goes to trial, our clients can rest assured they will have top-notch representation in court.
Keep safe!
Mike Bersani
Email me at: bersani@mbk-law.com I’d love to hear from you!
mbk-law.com
Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels Bersani Kalabanka
315-253-3293