Nelson Hardiman, LLP has been ranked in the first tier for administrative and regulatory law firms by U.S. News & World Report–Best Lawyers rankings of “Best Law Firms,” available online at www.usnews.com/bestlawfirms. In receiving this distinction for its administrative and regulatory practice, Nelson Hardiman was one of only seven law firms statewide. Notably, the other six California firms receiving a “top tier” ranking are signficantly larger firms, including (in order of size), DLA Piper (>3,000 attorneys), McDermott Will & Emery (>1,000 attorneys), Davis Wright Tremaine (>350 attorneys), Stoel Rives (>300 attorneys), Nossaman (>125 attorneys), and Theodora Orringher (>40 attorneys). With 12 attorneys (as of this award), Nelson Hardiman may be the smallest firm on the list, but cherishes that role. “We appreciate the confidence of our colleagues and our clients,” said managing partner Harry Nelson. “As a small firm, we don’t always attract as much attention as bigger firms. But we take pride in having our work recognized as among the very best work in health care law today — and we continue to look for innovative ways to deliver better and more cost-effective advice to clients.”
Based on surveys of nearly 9,000 lawyers and more than 9,500 clients throughout the United States, including representatives of every Fortune 100 and more than half of Fortune 1000 companies, the report includes rankings of law firms in almost 40 national practice areas across the country. “We are gratified to be so highly rated. We are especially glad to have the firm itself recognized for our work on behalf of physicians and other health care providers,” said Nelson.
Criteria on which clients and peers were asked to evaluate firms through the surveys included areas such as responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost-effectiveness, integrity, and civility, as well as whether they would refer a matter to the firm and/or consider the firm a worthy competitor.