U.S. News and Best Lawyers® Announce 2011-2012 "Best Law Firms" Rankings

Phoenix, Arizona and Denver, Colo. - U. S News and Best Lawyers® today announced the 2011-2012 "Best Law Firms" rankings, giving 18 of Ryley Carlock & Applewhite's practice areas a "Best Law Firm" score.  The rankings are achieved by combining quantitative and qualitative research including client assessments and peer reviews, and are presented in tiers in major legal practice areas by metropolitan area.
Tier 1
   Phoenix

Banking and Finance Law
Employment Law - Management
Environmental Law
Labor Law - Management
Litigation - Labor & Employment
Natural Resources Law
Water Law

Tier 2
   Colorado

Real Estate Law
Water Law

Phoenix

Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights 
Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Commercial Litigation
Corporate Law
Information Technology Law
Litigation - Bankruptcy
Public Finance Law
Trusts & Estates Law

In addition, Ryley Carlock achieved an important Tier 2 national ranking in Transportation Law.

According to U.S. News and Best Lawyers®, achieving a high ranking is a "special distinction that signals a unique combination of excellence and breadth of expertise."  In the extensive survey, lawyers evaluated their peers on expertise, responsiveness, integrity, cost-effectiveness, whether they would refer a matter to a firm, and whether they would consider a firm a worthy competitor. Clients were asked to address expertise, responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost-effectiveness, civility, whether they would refer a matter to a firm, and whether they would refer a another client to the firm.

In addition to information from these surveys, the rankings incorporated the 3.9 million evaluations of 41,284 individual leading lawyers collected by Best Lawyers® in its most recent annual survey. All of the quantitative and qualitative data were combined into an overall "Best Law Firms" score for each firm. This data was then compared to other firms within the same metropolitan area and at the national level.

Best Lawyers in America®, one of the oldest and most respected peer review publications in the legal profession. Earlier this year, 18 attorneys from Ryley Carlock were chosen for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America® 2012.  U.S News & World Report has more than two decades of experience in providing the public with the most accurate and in-depth rankings of a wide range of institutions.

Ryley Carlock & Applewhite is a full service law firm of more than 120 lawyers with offices in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Sun City, Arizona; and Denver, Colorado. The firm has provided legal services to the Southwest for more than 60 years with practices in the areas of corporate and business; real estate; lending, tax and finance; bankruptcy; litigation; environmental and water law; employment law; estate planning; and intellectual property.