A total of 42 Huntsville lawyers have been included in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

The publication provided by legal rating service Best Lawyers has been one of the most prized recognitions a lawyer can receive from his or her peers. Readers have turned to the list annually for reliable and free information about their region’s leading attorneys since the first edition in 1981.

Of those recognized in Huntsville, David Vance Lucas of the firm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP was the only participant making his first appearance. Leading the way with 16 inclusions was Lanier Ford Shaver and Payne P.C.

Attorneys are selected for the list through an extensive set of surveys of prominent lawyers who assess the legal abilities of their peers.

Every lawyer who makes the list does so entirely on peer review as no one is permitted to pay for participation.

The 2022 edition factored in more than 10.8 million votes and recognizes more than 66,000 lawyers that meet the high standards. This equates to approximately 5% of practicing lawyers in the United States earning the distinction.

Additional recognitions are also awarded to individual lawyers with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is recognized as the Lawyer of the Year in each field for every metro.

Here are the 10 Huntsville attorneys awarded Lawyer of the Year for their specific practice:

Scott Arnston (Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne) – Personal Injury Litigation: Defendants

Hall Bryant III (Bradley Arrant Boult Cummings) – Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law

Frank Caprio (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings) – Litigation: Patent

David Hodge (Morris, King & Hodge) – Product Liability Litigation: Plaintiffs

David Holt (Loftin Holt) – Litigation: Intellectual Property

Joe King, Jr. (Morris, King & Hodge) – Litigation: Insurance

Paul Seeley (Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne) – Real Estate Law

Scott Burnett Smith (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings) – Appellate Practice

George Smith II (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings) – Corporate Law

Harold Stephens (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings) – Medical Malpractice Law

In addition to the main list, Best Lawyers also recognizes attorneys who are earlier in their careers with a separate list.

Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch recipients have typically been in practice for 5-9 years and are chosen on the same peer-review system.

The six Huntsville lawyers who made that list were Sarah Shepard of Sarah Shepard LLC and Logan Chaney Abernathy of Dentons Sirote, making their first respective appearances.

Other firms represented in the Huntsville selections include Siniard, Timberlake, & League.

The full list can be found online at https://www.bestlawyers.com/ along with information about nominating a lawyer for the 2023 edition and the methodology used for selection.