Stites & Harbison earns high placement in U.S. law firm survey

In the most comprehensive evaluation ever of U.S. law firms, U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers have released their inaugural Best Law Firm rankings. Only 25 law firms finished ahead of Stites & Harbison in first tier ratings in this survey.

In the rankings, approximately 9,000 law firms in 81 specific practice areas were evaluated and ranked through a combination of hard data, peer reviews and client assessments. A total of 9,154 clients provided over 194,000 practice-area evaluations and 8,842 lawyers provided over 594,000 practice-area evaluations. These responses were then combined with more than 3.1 million individual attorney evaluations from the 2010 Best Lawyers survey.

“By combining hard data with peer reviews and client assessments, we believe we are providing users with the most thorough, accurate and helpful rankings of law firms ever developed,” stated Steve Naifeh, President of Best Lawyers. Achieving a high ranking is a special distinction that signals a unique combination of excellence and breadth of experience.

“We are very impressed with the level of detail U.S. News and Best Lawyers applied to develop these initial rankings,” said Kennedy Helm III, Chairman of Stites & Harbison. “In reviewing the results, our ranking could not have been possible without the support of our clients whose comments had great influence on the final results. For that we are indeed grateful. It reinforces our long-standing, firm-wide commitment to client service.”

The national first-tier rankings were featured in the October print issue of U.S. News & World Report. The rankings are also available online at www.usnews.com/bestlawfirms.

Best Law Firms Rankings - 2010

Frankfort Tier 1

• Administrative / Regulatory Law
• Communications Law
• Corporate Law
• Energy Law
• Tax Law

Lexington Tier 1

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Banking and Finance Law
• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor
• Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Construction Law
• Corporate Law
• Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
• Energy Law
• Environmental Law
• Franchise Law
• General Commercial Litigation
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law
• Mining Law
• Natural Resources Law
• Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
• Real Estate Law
• Tax Law
• Trusts & Estates Law

Louisville Tier 1

• Banking and Finance Law
• Construction Law
• Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
• Environmental Law
• General Commercial Litigation
• Information Technology Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• Land Use & Zoning Law
• Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
• Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
• Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
• Public Finance Law
• Real Estate Law
• Securities / Capital Markets Law
• Tax Law

Nashville Tier 1

• Administrative / Regulatory Law
• Banking and Finance Law
• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Equipment Finance Law
• Family Law
• Land Use & Zoning Law
• Real Estate Law
• Water Law

Atlanta Tier 2

• Construction Law

Lexington Tier 2

• Health Care Law
• Land Use & Zoning Law
• Water Law

Louisville Tier 2

• Corporate Law
• Health Care Law

Nashville Tier 2

• Corporate Law
• Environmental Law

Washington Tier 2

• General Commercial Litigation
• Intellectual Property Law

Nashville Tier 3

• General Commercial Litigation

Client Comments:

Administrative / Regulatory Law

Stites & Harbison is extremely knowledgeable and up-to-date in regulatory law. Their understanding of regulations is complete and thorough.

- Kerry Mattox, Egyptian Lacquer Manufacturing Company, Inc.

Banking and Finance Law

We work with a number of national law firms in our structured finance practice and have found Stites & Harbison to be on par with anyone from a technical perspective and to exceed others in terms of responsiveness and cost.

Commercial Litigation

We have found Stites & Harbison responsiveand diligent in all matters.

- Ken Berscht, Bluegrass Energy, Inc.

Intellectual Property Law

Stites Harbison represented our company in a matter in the Atlanta, Georgia market involving an architectural design dispute arising out of a competitor's improper use of our company's product plans. The firm, and Jack Wheat specifically, provided excellent advice and counsel to our company. I recommend the firm and Mr. Wheat.

- Jeff Berger, McBride & Son Homes

Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants

Stites & Harbison lawyers do outstanding trial work for us on all types of litigation.

Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants

I have received excellent service and value with Stites & Harbison. They compete well with much larger firms that have much higher prices. They are adept at handling a variety of matters for business. Skip the coast and give Stites a try instead .

- Don Becker, Yum Brands, Inc.