Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 21, 1994 TAG: 9409230044
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By CLAUDINE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Votes have been cast and the winners notified, but don't expect any Miss America tears of joy from these victors.
A group of Roanoke attorneys may be proud to be selected as The Best Lawyers in America. But they probably would rather win the kudos in court.
"I think it's just another directory," said William Rakes, a former state Bar Association president. He was notified last week he's been voted one of the best attorneys for business litigation. "I look through the book and it is a suitable reference guide, but it's not a world-class honor."
Every two years, Aiken, S.C.-based Woodward/White Inc. publishes the list of attorneys chosen as the best by their peers.
The selection is done state by state, with the book's editors asking lawyers who were listed in the previous edition for 1993-94. They vote for candidates in their own legal specialty. They also are given the opportunity to nominate any colleagues who were not already listed.
This year, 373 lawyers made the list, out of 20,000 lawyers practicing in Virginia. Of those selected, 28 are from the Roanoke area, with some listed for more than one legal speciality.
Eight more Roanoke lawyers are listed this year than in the previous book. The selection process is not scientific, said M. Caldwell Butler, who was listed as one of the best bankruptcy attorneys.
"There are people who are not included who are good," he said. "It's a high compliment but it is not necessarily a slap to people who are not on the list."
Many of the attorneys who do make the list are "lawyers' lawyers," people who have built good reputations among their peers. They are the lawyers you hear about, said Linda Frith, the only Roanoke woman included on the list.
"There are a lot of good female lawyers in Roanoke who are not in that book, but there are also a lot of males who are not listed either," said Frith, cited in the workers compensation speciality. "It's an honor to be listed but I didn't run around the block."
Published for the first time in 1983, the directory originally was intended as a reference book for attorneys or corporations, said Chris Greame, editor and director of marketing for Woodward/White Inc. Public libraries also have the book.
A listing in the directory may pull some clients to a law firm, but a win in the courtroom is the only thing that keeps them coming back, said Richard Thomas, voted one of Roanoke's best for workers compensation law.
"I can't say that I feel any more worthy [to practice law], or that it has changed the way that I handle cases," Thomas said. "If you rest on your laurels you can get pretty uncomfortable for sitting on them for very long."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***