Knights of the Bar

The Profession's Best Lawyers

Knights of the Bar is an elite membership of the very best lawyers in the profession. Membership is by invitation only, based on recommendation or application, and attorneys are selected after a careful review of their leadership, excellence and achievement in the practice of law. The selection criteria are rigorous and less than 3% of all attorneys in practice will qualify.

Knights of the Bar differs from other best lawyer distinctions in that it is not strictly peer review. Selection to Knights of the Bar is based upon objective measures of leadership, excellence and achievement, which assures that only the very best attorneys are selected. Knights of the Bar emphasizes not only practice accomplishments, but also leadership in county, state and national bar associations and other legal organizations. Each lawyer's background is carefully reviewed before being invited.

When a lawyer is selected for Knights of the Bar, it is a high honor and you can be confident that he or she is among the most prominent attorneys in the profession. If you are looking for a top attorney, please use our Lawyer Search Tool to find a Knight among the attorney listings for your state.

Knights of the Bar accepts the best lawyers from all areas of concentration including, but not limited to, corporate, estate planning, real estate, commercial litigation, civil litigation, family law, criminal defense, plaintiffs' personal injury, workers compensation, personal injury defense, and immigration. Knights membership is an honor reserved for individual attorneys only. Law firms cannot become members.

Qualifying to be a Knight

There are a number of key areas where top attorneys must qualify to be considered for membership in Knights of the Bar:

• Experience - An attorney must be active in the practice of law for at least 10 years before he or she can be considered for membership.
• Leadership - Knights must demonstrate pre-eminence through leadership in bar associations and other professional organizations. They also present frequent lectures, seminars and publications that consistently indicate that they are at the forefront of their profession.
• Excellence - To qualify to be Knights, lawyers must have been recognized by their peers as being outstanding attorneys. They must also have demonstrated superior knowledge and ability in their areas of law.
• Achievement - Knights must have compiled records of success through superlative legal outcomes, and have shown consistent abilities to attract business to their firms based upon outstanding reputations in their areas of practice.

Levels of Excellence in the Practice of Law

There are three types of memberships that recognize outstanding lawyers based upon the extent of their experience, reputation and prominence.

• Associate - This is a highly reputable attorney with at least 10 years experience who is well respected in his/her profession locally, displaying leadership in local bar associations and having a variety of articles and lectures.
• Fellow - To be considered for fellowship, a lawyer must have been in active practice for at least 15 years, achieved statewide prominence, published and lectured extensively on a statewide or regional basis, shown leadership in state bar associations and have an excellent reputation for quality legal work.
• Diplomat - Attorneys who earn the distinction of being diplomats must be in practice at least 20 years, have displayed bar association leadership on a regional or national level, lectured frequently outside their home state, published books or scholarly articles and have established exceptional prominence and outstanding reputations as gifted attorneys in their areas of law.

Sources of Knights Candidates

Candidates for selection come from three sources.

• Research - The Knights of the Bar staff is constantly reviewing the backgrounds of prominent attorneys to invite the best lawyers in the profession.
• Recommendation - We ask existing Knights and others to recommend attorneys that they feel would be excellent candidates capable of qualifying under the Knights of the Bar selection criteria.
• Application - Knights of the Bar reviews applications from attorneys who believe they might qualify and wish to be considered for membership.

If you are interested in applying to be invited to join Knights of the Bar, or if you know a top lawyer you would like to recommend, please select the appropriate link and submit the application or recommendation to Knights of the Bar.