Best Lawyers lists are compiled by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. If the votes for an attorney are positive enough for inclusion in Best Lawyers, that attorney must maintain those votes in subsequent polls to remain on the list for each edition. Lawyers are not permitted to pay any fee to participate in or be included on their lists.
The Florida Trend’s Florida Legal Elite is a prestigious roster of attorneys chosen for recognition by their peers. All in-state members of the Florida Bar are asked to name attorneys whom they hold in the highest regard or would recommend to others.
This award is presented annually by the chapter’s president to a member who has performed an outstanding service for the chapter.
An Avvo rating is a 1 to 10 score used by Avvo.com—an online directory of lawyers–to rate individual attorneys based on the contents of their Avvo profile.
This honor is awarded to a criminal defense attorney who has chosen to represent an especially difficult or unpopular client or cause, and while doing so, epitomizes the heart and spirit of criminal defense, which is the courage to stand apart as the last champion of Liberty.
Selection for this award is based on a thorough multi-phase objective and uniformly applied process which includes peer nominations combined with third-party research. Membership is extended only to the select few of the most qualified attorneys from each state or region who demonstrate superior qualifications of leadership, reputation, influence, stature and public profile measured by objective and uniformly applied standards in compliance with state bar and national Rule 4-7.