Law firm LeClairRyan has been named to the second edition of U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers Best Law Firms 2012 listing. Roanoke’s LeClairRyan firm was given tier 1 and tier 2 rankings. Tiers are based on data including client and peer review surveys.

Here is the press release from LeClairRyan.

ROANOKE, Va. – LeClairRyan is pleased to announce that forty-seven (47) of the firm’s practice areas have been selected for inclusion in the second edition of U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers listing of Best Law Firms for 2012.  Firms were ranked in tiers, both nationally and by metropolitan area, based on specific data including client and peer review surveys.  

LeClairRyan’s selected practices by ranking nationally and in Roanoke include:

National Rankings

Tier 2
Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Construction Law
Corporate Law
Litigation – Bankruptcy

Tier 3
Communications Law
Energy Law
Information Technology Law
Litigation – Construction
Litigation – Environmental
Litigation – Intellectual Property
Litigation – Labor & Employment
Litigation – Real Estate
Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
Private Equity Law
Private Funds / Hedge Funds Law
Securities / Capital Markets Law
Securities Regulation
Venture Capital Law

Metropolitan Rankings

Roanoke, Va.
Tier 1
Banking and Finance Law
Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Biotechnology Law
Commercial Litigation
Corporate Law
Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
Litigation – Banking & Finance
Litigation – Bankruptcy
Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
Mergers & Acquisitions Law
Personal Injury Law – Defendants
Technology Law
Trademark Law

Tier 2
Employment Law – Management
Financial Services Regulation Law
Information Technology Law
Labor Law – Management
Tax Law
Venture Capital Law

About the ranking
The Best Law Firms lists, representing specialties, tiered both nationally and by metropolitan areas, are compiled through national surveys, in which major clients and leading lawyers were asked to rate the law firms they consider best in their practice area.  In the end, clients – including every Fortune 100 company and more than half of the Fortune 1000 companies – provided firm practice-area evaluations; clients provided comments about law firm practice areas and individual lawyers; and lawyers provided firm practice-area evaluations.

The survey responses were then combined with more than three million evaluations of individual lawyers in these firms in the most recent Best Lawyers survey of leading lawyers.  Hard numbers were also used to develop the practice area rankings — data about numbers of lawyers and their previous experience, numbers of clients within different billing ranges, numbers of transactions and litigation matters at different dollar levels; pro-bono commitment, diversity, and other objective data.

About LeClairRyan
As a trusted advisor, LeClairRyan provides business counsel and client representation in corporate law and litigation. In this role, the firm applies its knowledge, insight and skill to help clients achieve their business objectives while managing and minimizing their legal risks, difficulties and expenses.  With offices in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., the firm has approximately 350 attorneys representing a wide variety of clients throughout the nation.  For more information about LeClairRyan, visit www.leclairryan.com.

About the U.S. News Media Group
The U.S. News Media Group is a multi-platform digital publisher of news and analysis, which includes the monthly U.S. News & World Report magazine, the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com, and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Money & Business, Education, and Public Service/Opinion, the U.S. News Media Group has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. The U.S. News Media Group’s signature franchises include its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its “America’s Best” series of consumer guides that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, health plans, and more.

About Best Lawyers
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. For over a quarter century, the company has helped lawyers and clients find legal counsel in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. The 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America includes over 40,000 lawyers covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia and is based on more than 3 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers. At www.BestLawyers.com, Best Lawyers also publishes peer-reviewed listings of lawyers in most of the world’s major legal markets. Best Lawyers lists are excerpted in a wide range of general interest, business and legal publications worldwide, reaching an audience of more than 17 million readers.