Cleveland, Ohio – January 19, 2024 – Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell LLP today announced it has received notification from Martindale-Hubbell that 10 of the firm’s attorneys have received a Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ of AV Preeminent®:
AV Preeminent® is the highest peer rating standard. This is given to attorneys who are ranked at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal expertise, communication skills, and ethical standards by their peers. Only lawyers with the highest ethical standards and professional ability receive a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating.
The Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings evaluates lawyers based on the anonymous opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary, including both those who are rated and those who are not. The first review to establish a lawyer's rating usually occurs three years after his/her first admission to the Bar.
Martindale-Hubbell conducts secure online Peer Review Ratings surveys of lawyers across multiple jurisdictions and geographic locations, in similar areas of practice as the lawyer being rated. Reviewers are instructed to assess their colleagues' general ethical standards and legal ability in a specific area of practice.
The Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ help buyers of legal services identify, evaluate and select the most appropriate lawyer for a specific task at hand. The confidentiality, objectivity and complete independence of the ratings process are what have made the program a unique and credible evaluation tool for members of the legal profession. The legal community values the accuracy of lawyer peer review ratings because they are determined by their peers – the people who are best suited to assess the legal ability and professional ethics of their colleagues.
Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings were created in 1887 as an objective tool that would attest to a lawyer’s ability and professional ethics, based on the confidential opinions of other lawyers and judges who have worked with the lawyers they are evaluating.
About Martindale-Hubbell
Martindale-Hubbell’s (www.martindale.com) 140-year-plus history began in 1868, when lawyer and businessman James B. Martindale first published The Martindale Directory. Its stated purpose was "to furnish to lawyers, bankers, wholesale merchants, manufacturers, real estate agents, and all others...the address of one reliable law firm, one reliable bank, and one reliable real estate office in every city in the United States..."
By 1896, The Martindale Directory included the basic information that still appears in our lawyer and law firm Profiles, as well as ratings and a section on foreign lawyers and firms.
In 1930, the Martindale Company purchased the publishing rights to Hubbell's Legal Directory, which contained a digest of state laws, court calendars and a selective list of lawyers and firms. The following year marked the first edition of the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory; a two-volume set that combined the features of both predecessor publications.
Today, Martindale-Hubbell offers solutions for both professional and consumer markets. Our online destinations contain profiles for over one million lawyers and firms in the United States, Canada and 160 other countries, serving as a fundamental legal resource and marketing tool. Learn more about Martindale-Hubbell Attorney Ratings & Reviews.
About Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell LLP
Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell LLP is a full-service law firm with experience dating back to 1867. The firm delivers excellent client service by providing forward-thinking, creative solutions to complex legal problems. Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell offers a broad range of services and a deep bench of legal talent for our clients with lawyers who are licensed to practice law in Ohio, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, and before various federal and state courts. The firm’s primary practice areas include business law, real estate, litigation, family law, taxation, and trusts and estates, with attorneys uniquely suited to meet the needs of businesses, individuals, and charitable organizations. Learn more about the firm.
