U.S. News and Best Lawyers® have released the 2013 "Best Law Firms" rankings, providing a comprehensive view of the U.S. legal profession that is unprecedented both in the range of firms represented and in the range of qualitative and quantitative data used to develop the rankings. Once again, Ward and Smith, P.A. received the highest metropolitan tier rankings in multiple categories.
The third edition of these rankings features law firms that have been given consistently impressive performance ratings by clients and peers. Achieving a high ranking is a special distinction that signals a unique combination of excellence and breadth of expertise.
Firms with offices in the identified "metropolitan areas" and with the highest overall scores are included on the metropolitan area lists. For ranking purposes, U.S. News and Best Lawyers® incorporated Greenville into the Raleigh metropolitan area and New Bern into the Wilmington metropolitan area. Ward and Smith's metropolitan area offices include Asheville, Raleigh, and Wilmington. The Firm's First-Tier rankings in each metropolitan area are:
Asheville Metropolitan Area
Litigation – Land Use & Zoning
Raleigh Metropolitan Area (includes Greenville)
Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law
Commercial Litigation
Employment Law – Management
Labor Law – Management
Litigation – Bankruptcy
Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs
Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
Trusts & Estates Law
Wilmington Metropolitan Area (includes New Bern)
Commercial Litigation
Corporate Law
Environmental Law
Health Care Law
International Trade and Finance Law
Land Use & Zoning Law
Litigation – Construction
Litigation – Eminent Domain & Condemnation
Litigation – Environmental
Litigation – Intellectual Property
Litigation – Trusts & Estates
Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
Real Estate Law
Trusts & Estates Law
