AV® Peer Review Rating - An AV is a significant accomplishment  - a testament to the fact that a lawyer's peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence. A lawyer must be admitted to the bar for 10 years or more to receive an AV rating.

Buyers of legal services, as well as those making referrals, consider Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings invaluable when evaluating a lawyer. Whether choosing between two equally qualified candidates or looking for counsel in another jurisdiction, lawyers and consumers need to have confidence in the individual under consideration. Using ratings, they can select counsel with superior ethics, as well as the desired level of professional experience.

An objective way to assess a lawyer
A Martindale-Hubbell rating guides buyers of legal services and those referring business in making faster, smarter decisions. A rating's third party validation of ethics and legal ability provides that extra level of confidence that the right lawyer or firm has been selected. By combining a rating with a review of other data in a lawyer's Professional Biography - such as practice areas, bar memberships, professional affiliations, education and clients - a person can be certain he or she has made the right choice for that particular legal matter.

A cooperative effort with the legal profession
Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings are established by lawyers. The legal community respects the accuracy of ratings because it knows that its own members — the people best suited to assess their peers — are directly involved in the process.

* CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies."

Click here for more information about Martindale's Peer Ratiing system.