New York, April 23, 2004. Piper Rudnick LLP and 39 of the firm’s lawyers are
ranked by their peers as leaders in their fields in the second annual Chambers USA:
America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2004). The guide was released in New York
on April 16, 2004.
The selections were based on research conducted by Chambers and Partners Legal
Publishers, a well-regarded English company that has published similar research on
lawyers in the United Kingdom and globally. Unlike other publishers that allow firms
to purchase a mention or ranking, Chambers’ listings are based solely on outside
evaluations of merit. They investigate law firms and lawyers in each U.S. state
through an exhaustive process of interviewing clients and competitors in all major
areas of business law.
In the areas of real estate, construction and zoning in particular, the results
show, the firm has the top national position, with 19 ranked lawyers selected by
Chambers, seven of whom were ranked in the highest tier in their markets, and four
states where the real estate practice was ranked in the top tier, more than any
other firm. In addition, only two real estate lawyers in the entire country
received the starred “exceptional” rating, one of whom was Piper Rudnick’s Jay
Epstien, Chairman of the firm’s National Real Estate Department. Finally, our
partner, Charles Edwards, was named one of ten “Senior Statesmen” nationally in
the real estate field.
Other areas of strength include:
the Maryland practices, where we ranked in the first tier in every category;
corporate, where our partner Robert W. Smith, Jr., received an “Exceptional”
rating; and
our Illinois office, where 12 lawyers received rankings in five separate
practice areas.
Further details of the rankings are provided below.
“We are delighted with this strong showing,” said Francis B. Burch, Jr., and Lee I.
Miller, co-chairs of Piper Rudnick, in a statement. “The number of lawyers and
spread of practice areas ranked by Chambers illustrate the depth and breadth of
talent at our firm across the nation. And the outstanding showing of our real estate
group confirms that Piper Rudnick has the premier real estate group in the United
States.”
Details of the rankings
The Chambers USA guide ranks individual lawyers and practice areas on a
state-by-state basis; firm rankings are determined by the number of individual
lawyers selected from each firm.
Practice Areas
Across six states, the firm is highly ranked in nine separate practice areas and in
the first tier in several areas, as noted:
District of Columbia: Construction; Real Estate (First Tier).
Illinois: Construction; Energy and Natural Resources; Bankruptcy; Insurance;
Real Estate (First Tier).
Maryland: Corporate/M&A (First Tier); Employment (First Tier); Litigation (First
Tier); Real Estate (First Tier).
Massachusetts: Environmental; Real Estate (First Tier).
Nevada: Employment.
Virginia: Corporate/M&A; Employment.
Individual Lawyers
The 39 Piper Rudnick lawyers included are listed below, along with the areas of law
for which they were selected. In addition to their selections, several received
additional recognition from Chambers (“exceptional,” “senior statesman,” or
“up and coming”), which is noted next to their names.
California
Michael Meyer (Real Estate)*
District of Columbia
Jay A. Epstien (Real Estate – EXCEPTIONAL RATING)
Larry D. Harris (Construction)
Frederick L. Klein (Real Estate)
Earl J. Silbert (Litigation, white collar crime and government investigations)
Illinois
Ross Altman (Construction)
Charles L. Edwards (Real Estate – SENIOR STATESMAN)
David Glickstein (Real Estate)
David Mendelsohn ((Insurance/Transactional)
Lee I. Miller (Real Estate)
David N. Missner (Bankruptcy)
Portia O. Morrison (Real Estate)
Theodore J. Novak (Real Estate/Zoning & Land Use)
Harold Pomerantz (Real Estate)
Stephen W. Schwab (Insurance/Reinsurance)
Christopher Townsend (Energy and Natural Resources)
Mark Yura (Real Estate)
Maryland
Francis B. Burch, Jr. (Litigation, general commercial)
Neil Dilloff (Litigation, general commercial)
Russell H. Gardner (Employment)
Richard J. Hafets (Employment)
Edward J. Levin (Real Estate)
Richard E. Levine (Real Estate)
John P. Machen (Real Estate)
Robert J. Mathias (Litigation, general commercial)
Emmett F. McGee, Jr. (Employment)
George A. Nilson (Litigation, general commercial)
Robert W. “Jay” Smith, Jr. (Corporate, M&A – EXCEPTIONAL RATING)
Richard C. Tilghman, Jr. (Corporate, M&A)
James J. Winn (Corporate, M&A)
Massachusetts
William Forbush III (Real Estate)
Lisa C. Goodheart (Environment)
Geoffrey Howell (Real Estate – UP AND COMING)
Richard D. Rudman (Real Estate)
John Sullivan (Real Estate)
Elliot M. Surkin (Real Estate)
Nevada
Gary Moss (Employment)
Virginia
Theresa Connolly (Employment, Mainly Defendant)
Nancy Spangler (Corporate, M&A)
*Note: due to an editors’ error, Mr. Meyer is reported as having joined the firm
in New York. In fact, he joined the firm’s Los Angeles office
