Today, I learned while searching on the website medical malpractice lawyers that I was selected by this website "As one of The Top 1% Trial Counsel for Medical Malpractice - 2012 in the State of New York." That's really cool.
At first I was hesitant and guarded thinking this was a company that created awards solely for the purpose of enticing the recipient to buying advertising space. There are quite a few of those companies out there. There are others who truly try to create great information for injured consumers who are trying to find the right attorney for them. Initially, I couldn't tell what this was about.
There is one company who promotes itself to lawyers who achieve great trial verdicts. They encourage the lawyer to pay a membership fee for the 'privilege' of getting a lucite and engraved plaque they can proudly put on their desk and promote on their website. While there's nothing wrong with that, there are other companies who tout lawyers as being great and then solicit the attorneys to pay to be promoted even further.
Reading this website, here's what I found:
"Selectees were chosen through a multi-phase process that includes both third-party surveys and a heavy emphasis on candidates individual courtroom performance during the 24 months preceding the selection deadline."
Although they did not identify with specificity how many 3rd party surveys they used and which legal contributions they relied on, going through the list of fellow lawyers who were also selected, I could see many that I knew were great trial attorneys. They list not only the top 1% of plaintiff's lawyers, but also the top 1% of defense lawyers and medical experts as well.
Personally, I don't know how one can judge a top-tier expert in this style of ranking, but I assume it had to do with the successes the expert was able to help the attorney achieve.
Overall, it's really cool to be selected. So cool that I'm going to post the 'badge' on my site here. FYI- the badge is a link back to this website. Obviously they do it gain views and to promote the attorney and their website. They don't ask for advertising. They don't ask the attorney for a fee. Nothing. I'm putting it up to show you.