The Best Lawyers in San Diego

Concrete slab in your condo just cracked—and left your family room in the slow lane on I-8? All those loans to your brother-in-law, the human slug, finally bankrupted you? Husband’s been working late with his executive assistant every night—for the past six months? IRS found out your 12-year-old son Myron is really your 12-year-old parrot Myron? Look no further. These are the lawyers other San Diego lawyers say are most likely to make it all better.

This is Woodward/White’s annual list of best lawyers—2001-2002. It’s the ninth time the firm has compiled its list, and the first time we’ve passed it on to you. Actually, we’re just giving you a portion of the list—the part that should interest you most. The part that covers San Diego– area lawyers. Woodward/White surveys attorneys across the country for its list of The Best Lawyers in America, and publishes the list in book form. The methodology is pretty simple.

The more than 14,000 lawyers listed in the previous edition of The Best Lawyers in America are asked a rather basic question: “If you had a close friend or relative who needed a lawyer in your specialty, and you couldn’t handle the case yourself, to whom would you refer them?” More than 350,000 individual, confidential responses are processed nationally.

The list, Woodward/White says, “is designed to be acurrent reference work—a picture of the legal profession at a given moment—not a monument to reputations.” But we suspect more than a few lawyers who made the cut will begin erecting monuments forthwith.

The 2001-2002 edition lists more than 100 attorneys in the San Diego region. Some are new this year; some have dropped off the list; and many are holdovers from earlier editions. The ranks cover 19 legal specialties, from corporate to criminal defense, immigration to employee benefits.

Often, the lawyers who turn up on these lists are the ones who’ve gained high visibility in a community or are personally popular with colleagues. Sometimes, a good lawyer can be offensive to other lawyers but eminently satisfying to his clients. If you have a good working relationship with a particular attorney, and his or her name doesn’t show up on this list, stick with what works for you.

And if you’re a lawyer and you don’t find your name on the list, don’t sue us. We know a lawyer. In fact, we know a lot of lawyers. A lot of good lawyers, if you believe lawyers. Their names are right here. Well, most of them. As a matter of fact, a few of our best lawyer/friends’ names didn’t make the cut this year. We expect to hear from them.

—Editor

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