The 2026 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, now in their 32nd and sixth years, proudly continue our tradition at Best Lawyers® of honoring attorneys whose dedication and skill set the standard for excellence in the legal profession.
This year’s release not only celebrates individual achievements but also reveals important trends shaping law across the United States, with several patterns from past editions remaining strong and informed by insights from our 2025 analysis.
The Peer Evaluation Process Explained
Selection for Best Lawyers honors is guided by our Purely Peer Review® methodology. The process begins with nominations from anyone other than the nominee, followed by confidential evaluations from presently recognized lawyers in the same practice area and region.
Feedback is collected and reviewed to identify top candidates, who are then confirmed to be in good standing with their local bar associations.
Once results are finalized, firms and honorees are notified and the new recognitions are published in print and online. In each practice and metro area, one attorney also earns the title of “Lawyer of the Year,” awarded to the individual with the highest overall peer feedback.
By the Numbers: The Best Lawyers in America 2026
Only about 5% of practicing U.S. attorneys earn a Best Lawyer distinction, underscoring the award’s exclusivity. Nearly 30,000 lawyers participated in the voting process, providing, this year alone, more than 3.4 million confidential evaluations to assess roughly 130,000 vetted nominees.
This year’s honorees include 81,420 lawyers across 151 practice areas and over 200 geographic regions. Among them, 5,068 also received the distinguished “Lawyer of the Year” title, marking exceptional achievement in their fields.
Key Figures: Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America 2026
Tailored to attorneys with fewer than 10 years in practice, Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America spotlights rising legal talent demonstrating excellence in private practice.
The 2026 cohort includes 27,241 lawyers from 2,488 firms across 79 practice areas and 199 geographic regions. Only about 2% of early-career attorneys in the United States receive this honor.
Each honoree exemplifies strong discipline, reputation and professional respect, marking a key milestone early in their careers.
Distribution of Honorees by Metro Areas
Attorneys recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America represent jurisdictions across the country, with notable concentrations in major metropolitan areas.
Washington, D.C., leads with 4,148 honorees, followed closely by New York City at 3,889. Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles also stand out, each with between 2,500 and 2,800 awarded attorneys.
This distribution underscores the awards’ reach across diverse legal markets and the prominence of established urban centers within the U.S. legal profession.
The 2026 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America shows similar breadth. New York City leads with the highest number of early-career lawyers, followed by Washington, D.C. Chicago and Los Angeles come next, while Dallas/Fort Worth also includes a significant group of recognized attorneys.
Gender Representation Trends
The 32nd edition of The Best Lawyers in America continue to reflect near gender parity or a majority of women in several specialties.
In Collaborative Law: Family Law, women make up 71% of honored lawyers. Family Law Mediation follows with 58%. Family Law and Immigration Law both show slight majorities at 53%. Elder Law remains nearly evenly split, with women representing 49%.
These patterns are consistent with long-term demographic shifts in the legal profession and suggest a steady rise in gender balance within client-facing specialties.
Gender representation shifts more noticeably in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America cohort, where early-career acknowledgment highlights a more balanced professional pipeline.
Women account for 69% of distinguished attorneys in Immigration Law and 70% in Education Law. Technical fields also show strong representation, including Health Care Law and Medical Malpractice.
This emerging distribution reflects generational shifts in legal career trajectories and points to a more diverse future across both service-oriented and technical fields.
Most-Represented Practice Areas in the 2026 Edition
The 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America indicates a five-year growth trend shaping the U.S. legal market.
Commercial Litigation leads in both volume and momentum, growing by nearly 37% since Edition 28 to reach 12,762 recognized lawyers. Real Estate Law, now at 7,279, follows with a 28% increase, mirroring demand driven by complex transactional markets.
Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs has climbed to 5,893, a 33% gain. Corporate Law increased 28% to reach 5,212. Litigation – Labor and Employment rounds out the top five with 5,066 lawyers, up 37% since Edition 28.
These figures reflect both the scale and sustained relevance of these fields in a shifting legal environment.
Commercial Litigation: Central to U.S. Legal Practice
Leading both the Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch awards, Commercial Litigation reflects the growing complexity of disputes faced by clients. It also underscores the critical expertise required to navigate them.
The following sections outline recent legal, economic and regulatory events that may have contributed to this area’s continued growth:
Mass Litigation and MDL growth
Multidistrict litigation (MDL) now accounts for more than 70% of all federal civil cases, emphasizing its influence on the modern litigation docket. Lawsuits like the 3M earplug litigation, which prompted responses to more than 99,000 claims, highlight how MDLs concentrate legal strategy and amplify risk.
Arbitration under pressure
Beyond the courtroom, commercial litigators are increasingly tasked with addressing mass arbitration filings, coordinated efforts by claimants’ counsel to challenge corporate terms of service.
These cases often include hundreds or thousands of low dollar claims that, collectively, carry high financial and reputational stakes. In-house teams and outside counsel alike are rethinking arbitration clauses and defense strategy to adapt to these developments.
Supreme Court shifts in 2025
The 2025 U.S. Supreme Court term brought decisions that directly impact commercial litigators, particularly in the areas of administrative law and contract enforcement.
The Court’s overruling of the Chevron doctrine, for example, limits deference to federal agencies and may shift how regulatory disputes play out in commercial contexts. Litigators advising corporate entities now face a legal landscape with less predictability and greater exposure.
Commercial Litigation and its expanding influence
Commercial Litigation remains central to rapidly evolving sectors such as class actions, product liability and consumer protection. Corporate, healthcare and real estate clients are navigating shifting economic and regulatory conditions. Demand for legal services in these areas continues to increase, according to the latest litigation trends.
Fast-Growing Niche Specialties Over Five Years
Since 2021, several specialized practice areas have experienced rapid growth in Best Lawyers recognitions. These increases reflect evolving client needs shaped by legal, economic and social change:
- Cannabis Law: Grew by more than 500%, tied to ongoing state-level legalization and regulatory complexity.
- Agriculture Law: Nearly tripled as legal issues in land use, food production and agribusiness intensified.
- Consumer Protection Law: More than doubled, driven by increased litigation in privacy, marketing and liability.
- Military Law: Expanded significantly as more firms focus on the unique legal needs of service members and veterans.
- Community Association Law: Gained steadily with rising disputes and governance matters in shared property communities.
While smaller in scale than long-established practice areas, these specialties point to emerging priorities within the legal profession.
Rising Practice Areas in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America
Commercial Litigation is the top practice area among early-career attorneys in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch group, consistent with the trend among veteran honorees, while Labor and Employment Law – Management ranks more prominently in this group.
Privacy and Data Security Law honorees surged 108% and Life Sciences Practice expanded 182%. These sharp increases respond to evolving regulatory demands and technological developments shaping legal needs. They signal emerging priorities for early-career lawyers preparing to meet future challenges.
The U.S. Legal Market in International Perspective
The American legal profession stands out for the wide range of practice areas it encompasses. While countries such as Germany, France and Switzerland focus on traditional disciplines like tax, real estate and corporate law, the U.S. legal field demonstrates broader engagement in areas such as litigation, labor law and civil rights.
Across the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in markets like Australia and Singapore, legal focus is shifting toward emerging sectors such as health care regulation, environmental compliance and technology law. These international differences reflect the societal priorities and regulatory structures that shape the legal sector in each jurisdiction.
Professional Acknowledgment with Client Impact
Recognition in The Best Lawyers in America and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America reflects the judgment of professional peers and confirms a lawyer’s standing within a select group known for consistent excellence.
For attorneys, this honor supports long-term career growth, enhances visibility and signals authority to peers, clients and the broader legal community.
For clients, it offers a trusted, research-based way to identify respected counsel, removing the uncertainty that often comes with online reviews or unverified directories.
Best Lawyers’ respected reputation spans continents, linking clients to leading legal professionals through a broad global network. This worldwide presence gives those seeking counsel reliable access to distinguished lawyers across jurisdictions.
To explore who was awarded, visit our Find a Lawyer in America page.
Disclaimer: The Best Lawyers awards are subject to ongoing review to ensure accuracy. As a result, the number of recognized attorneys may change if circumstances evolve, such as changes in an attorney’s practice status. This helps us keep our records as up-to-date as possible.
