WATCH OUT FOR “BEST OF” CLAIMS

Michael Sean Quinn*

Virtually all lawyer and law firms now have websites.  Virtually all websites have actually, pseudo-, and quasi-resumes for the lawyers. These are often entitled “Best of ________,” though often it is an equivalent title.  

Many of these are actually books of lists.  Often the lawyers listed in them are required to pay a fee to be listed. Sometimes those listed are nominated by other lawyers; sometimes not.  Sometimes the publisher of the book does some sort of research to find lawyer who might want to be listed.  (Did this person give a speech somewhere sometime?)

Sometimes in some professions or occupations paying to be listed in a “List and Reputation Book”  is said to make one certified or en- dorsed for something. This is not usually the case for lawyers. If Larry Lawyer has been classified as a “specialist” by a state bar, then he probably has been and is one.   Then again, the publishers hand out plaques and posters of various sorts, and they get put on visible shelves or framed and nailed to this or that wall.  

So, client-to-be, after you’ve seen and been impressed by a candidate’s credentials, try to see what the credential means. Who says she is the “best of X”? And why is this said? 


This is only one of many facts to consider, but it can be an important one.



 *Michael Sean Quinn, Ph.D., J.D.
The Law Firm[s] of Michael Sean Quinn and
Quinn and Quinn
                                 1300 West Lynn Street, Suite 208
                                             Austin, Texas 78703
                                                 (512) 296-2594
                                            (512) 344-9466 – Fax
                                E-mail:  mquinn@msquinnlaw.com