How do you pick the best lawyers in Louisville? As with many other professions, you talk to their peers.
The following list is excerpted from The Best Lawyers in America© 2006, which includes listings for more than 28,000 U.S. lawyers in 57 specialties. State by state and city by city, research was conducted by the book’s publisher, Woodward/White Inc. of Aiken, S.C., which surveyed lawyers and compiled their responses. Attorneys in Louisville were asked to assess their colleagues, as well as nominate worthy ones not already under assessment.
Woodward/White asked, “If you had a close fri/files/storyimages/or relative who needed a lawyer, and you couldn’t handle the case yourself — for reasons of conflict of interest or time — to whom would you refer them?” Responses were rated under a number of criteria developed by the publisher.
Lawyers with high visibility and long-term name recognition may have the best chances to emerge on the list, but Woodward/White has refined its methodology to make its results as broad-based as possible.
| Alternative Dispute Resolution Louisville William D. Grubbs Woodward, Hobson & Fulton 581-8000 Antitrust Law Banking Law Construction Law Corporate Law 589-4200 589-4200 | Employee Benefits Law Louisville Mark C. Blackwell Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs 589-5235 Mary G. Eaves Greenebaum Doll & McDonald 589-4200 G. Alexander Hamilton Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs 589-5235 Sharon A. Mattingly Stoll Keenon Ogden 582-1601 Joseph C. Oldham Stoll Keenon Ogden 582-1601 Alan D. Pauw Reed Weitkamp Schell & Vice 589-1000 Debbie Reiss Hardesty Frost Brown Todd 589-5400 George B. Sanders, Jr. Stites & Harbison 587-3400 Ivan J. Schell Reed Weitkamp Schell & Vice 589-1000 Alison Stemler Frost Brown Todd 589-5400 Energy Law Louisville C. Kent Hatfield Stoll Keenon Ogden 568-9100 Kendrick R. Riggs Stoll Keenon Ogden 582-1601 Environmental Law Louisville Dennis J. Conniff Frost Brown Todd 589-5400 W. Patrick Stallard Stites & Harbison 587-3400 Family Law Louisville Mitchell A. Charney Goldberg & Simpson 589-4440 Fred M. Goldberg Goldberg & Simpson 589-4440 Ann B. Oldfather Oldfather & Morris 637-7200 First Amendment Law Louisville Jon L. Fleischaker Dinsmore & Shohl 540-2300 Health Care Law Louisville Joseph L. Ardery Frost Brown Todd 589-5400 Vickie Yates Brown Greenebaum Doll & McDonald 589-4200 J. Larry Cashen Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs 589-5235 Mary Zeller Wing Ceridan Sturm, Paletti & Wilson 589-9254 Carole D. Christian Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs 589-5235 Charles J. Cronan IV John R. Cummins Thomas A. Hoy Theodore T. Myre, Jr. Rene Remek Savarise Dan L. Owens Ron Russell Joel T. Beres Charles R. Keeton Cynthia L. Stewart Kenneth J. Tuggle Amy B. Berge James R. Higgins, Jr. William H. Hollander Charles G. Lamb, Jr. Labor and Employment Law Richard S. Cleary James D. Cockrum Tony C. Coleman Irwin H. Cutler, Jr. Kimberly K. Greene Raymond C. Haley Edwin S. Hopson John T. Lovett D. Patton Pelfrey Alton D. Priddy Kathryn A. Quesenberry Walter L. Sales Jeffrey A. Savarise Herbert L. Segal James U. Smith III W. Kevin Smith Thomas M. Williams C. Laurence Woods Legal Malpractice Law Elizabeth Ulmer Mendel Douglas H. Morris II Ann B. Oldfather Raymond G. Smith Edward H. Stopher Gary M. Weiss | Personal Injury Litigation John T. Ballantine Donald K. Brown, Jr. Richard H. C. Clay F. Thomas Conway Charles J. Cronan IV Frank P. Doheny, Jr. Richard W. Edwards Larry B. Franklin William D. Grubbs Gary R. Hillerich W. Gregory King Armer H. Mahan, Jr. John R. Martin, Jr. David R. Monohan Douglas H. Morris II Christopher P. O’Bryan Ann B. Oldfather W.R. (Pat) Patterson, Jr. John W. Phillips Susan D. Phillips Stephen F. Schuster Edward H. Stopher Robert E. Stopher John L. Tate Gary M. Weiss Joseph L. White Public Finance Law William W. Davis Spencer E. Harper, Jr. Kennedy Helm III William L. Skees, Jr. Dale E. Ahearn L. Jude Clark, Jr. Marshall P. Eldred, Jr. Michael M. Fleishman Barry A. Hines Alfred S. Joseph III Timothy W. Martin Grover C. Potts, Jr. Glenn A. Price, Jr. Michael G. Shaikun Michael B. Vincenti Paul B. Whitty Tax Law Thomas A. Brown Paul J. Cox Timothy J. Eifler Charles Fassler Charles J. Lavelle Thomas J. Luber Theodore T. Myre, Jr. Mark F. Sommer Gary R. Weitkamp Trusts and Estates Turney P. Berry John T. Bondurant James L. Coorssen John R. Cummins Bruce K. Dudley Martin P. Duffy F. Gerald Greenwell Robert L. Hallenberg Homer Parrent III Gordon B. Wright Jefferey M. Yussman Workers’ Compensation Law Robert L. Catlett, Jr. Tamara Todd Cotton Wayne C. Daub Wesley G. Gatlin Peter J. Glauber Larry L. Johnson W. David Klingman Robert M. Lindsay David L. Murphy Timothy P. O’Mara Philip J. Reverman, Jr. Douglas A. U’Sellis James R. Wagoner |
 From left: Olu A. Stevens, Brian Edwards, Jonathan Heck and Chastity Beyl. (Not shown: Stephanie Pearce-Burke, Craig C. Dilger, Paul Mullins, Angela Rea and Louis P. Winner.) | Picks of the Judges The Best Lawyers in America list of top Louisville attorneys provides us with a peer-generated roster of outstanding names in the legal field, many of whom have been prominent in their specialties for a number of years. We decided that another interested party — the 40 circuit, district and family court judges in Jefferson County — could give us a perspective on the top young talent. So we polled those judges, half of whom responded, asking them to name the best lawyers under age 40 that they see appearing before them in the courtroom. The following attorneys received multiple votes from the judges who see them at trial. Chastity Beyl, 30, Public Defenders Office, 574-3800 • Stephanie Pearce-Burke, 36, Burke Law Office, 581-1900 • Craig C. Dilger, 37, Stoll Keenon Ogden, 582-1601 • Brian Edwards, 35, Edwards Law Office, 587-7571 • Jonathan Heck, 31, Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, 595-2300 • Paul Mullins, |