128 Akin Lawyers Recognized Among the ‘Best Lawyers in America’

128 Akin lawyers have been selected for inclusion in the 2024 editions of The Best Lawyers in America and The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America.

Now in its 30th edition, Best Lawyers has been published annually since 1983, ranking lawyers solely through peer–review surveys, compiling lists of outstanding attorneys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their peers. The 4th edition of “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch” recognizes attorneys who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States.

Three Akin partners were recognized as “Lawyer of the Year,” which recognizes one lawyer per practice area in each metro region: 

• Jessica Hammons (Corporate Law; Dallas/Fort Worth)
• Steven D. Maslowski (Litigation - Patent; Philadelphia)
• Thomas Ian Dupuis (Project Finance Law; Los Angeles).

The following Akin lawyers were named to this year's edition of Best Lawyers:

Dallas

• Alex Agahzadeh (Ones to Watch: Real Estate Law)
• Matthew B. Alexander (Ones to Watch: Banking and Finance Law)
• John Bain (Real Estate Law)
• Scott Barnard (Litigation - Securities)
• Ashton Barrineau Butcher (Ones to Watch: Corporate Governance and Compliance Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• Jesse E. Betts (Corporate Law)
• Kathryn D. Betts (Ones to Watch: Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• Rachel Biblo Block (Ones to Watch: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation - Bankruptcy)
• Garrett DeVries (Corporate Law)
• Jessica W. Hammons (Corporate Law)
• Adam Hilkemann (Corporate Law)
• Zachary Dain Lanier (Ones to Watch: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law)
• Alan L. Laves (Banking and Finance Law)
• Lacy Lawrence (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Commercial Litigation)
• Nicholas R. Lombardi (Ones to Watch: Commercial Litigation)
• Brennan Meier (Ones to Watch: Commercial Litigation; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants)
• Seth R. Molay (Corporate Law; Energy Law)
• Julia Pashin (Ones to Watch: Tax Law)
• Eliot Raffkind (Private Funds / Hedge Funds Law)
• Michelle A. Reed (Litigation - Securities)
• Nicholas D. Rice (Ones to Watch: Corporate Law; Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law)
• Sarah Link Schultz (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law)
• Elizabeth Marie Dulong Scott (Commercial Litigation)
• Frankie Shulkin (Ones to Watch: Corporate Governance and Compliance Law)
• Wes Smith (Ones to Watch: Real Estate Law)
• Michael Warnecke (Antitrust Law; Litigation - Antitrust; Qui Tam Law)
• Wesley P. Williams (Corporate Law)
• Thomas H. Yang (Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law)

Fort Worth

• Cole Bredthauer (Oil and Gas Law)
• Marc N. Epstein (Real Estate Law)

Houston

• Alison L. Chen (Tax Law)
• David Patrick Elder (Corporate Law)
• Leana Garipova (Ones to Watch: Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• John Goodgame (Corporate Law; Oil and Gas Law)
• Hayden Harms (Ones to Watch: Energy Law)
• Dasha Hodge (Ones to Watch: Corporate Law; Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• Matthew A. Kapinos (Energy Law)
• Thomas J. McCaffrey (Corporate Law; Real Estate Law)
• Brian Glenn Patterson (Litigation - Labor and Employment)
• Kevin W. Schott (Ones to Watch: Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• Robert Shearer (Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• Amanda Marie Thienpont (Ones to Watch: Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• Roxanne Tizravesh (Litigation - Bankruptcy)
• Jim Wetwiska (Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants)

Los Angeles

• Marshall L. Baker (Ones to Watch; Commercial Litigation)
• Thomas Ian Dupuis (Project Finance Law)
• Marissa Román Griffith (Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television)
• Neal Ross Marder (Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants)
• Alissa Miller (Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television)
• Vanessa Roman (Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television

New York

• James J. Benjamin Jr. (Criminal Defense: White-Collar; Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy))
• Desireé Busching (Ones to Watch: Litigation - Labor and Employment)
• Ryan Dahan (Ones to Watch: Tax Law)
• Ira S. Dizengoff (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law)
• Patrick B. Fenn (Tax Law)
• Robert Fink (Tax Law)
• Emily Goodman (Ones to Watch: Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law)
• Stuart E. Leblang (Tax Law)
• John Hunt (Ones to Watch: Commercial Litigation)
• Ross Karlik (Ones to Watch: Corporate Law)
• Anna Kordas (Ones to Watch: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law)
• Lauren Leyden (Litigation - Labor and Employment)
• Edan Lisovicz (Ones to Watch: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law)
• Andrew McDonough (Ones to Watch: Corporate Law)
• Prakash Mehta (Private Funds / Hedge Funds Law)
• Caitlin E. Olwell (Ones to Watch: Litigation - Intellectual Property; Litigation – Patent; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants)
• Svetlana Pavlovic (Ones to Watch: Patent Law)
• Kate Powers (Ones to Watch: Criminal Defense: White-Collar)
• Arik Preis (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law)
• Abid Qureshi (Litigation - Bankruptcy)
• Richard Rabin (Litigation - Labor and Employment)
• Doug Rappaport (Corporate Law)
• Jason Sison (Ones to Watch: Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• Seth D. Slotkin (Trusts and Estates)
• Joseph Sorkin (Litigation - Bankruptcy)
• Michael S. Stamer (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation - Bankruptcy)
• Stephen M. Vine (Private Funds / Hedge Funds Law)

Philadelphia

• Steven D. Maslowski (Litigation - Patent)
• Jonathan James Underwood (Ones to Watch: Litigation - Patent)

San Antonio

• Daniel L. Moffett (Litigation - Intellectual Property; Litigation - Patent)

San Francisco

• Aileen McGrath (Appellate Practice)
• Donna Mezias (Litigation - Labor and Employment)

Washington, DC

• Louis Agnello (Ones to Watch: Health Care Law)
• Scott L. Alberino (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law)
• Hunter Bates (Government Relations Practice)
• Katie Brossy (Native American Law)
• Paul Butler (Criminal Defense: White-Collar)
• Amanda Amelia Butler-Jones (Ones to Watch: Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law)
• Cono A. Carrano (Litigation - Patent)
• Jon Chatalian (Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law)
• Chuck Connolly (Criminal Defense: White-Collar)
• James C. Crowley (Ones to Watch: Litigation - Labor and Employment)
• Tom W. Davidson (Communications Law)
• Brendan Dunn (Government Relations Practice)
• Stacey Eisenstein (Litigation - Labor and Employment)
• Marlee Gallant (Ones to Watch: Health Care Law)
• Spencer S. Griffith (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Jason Hauter (Native American Law)
• Paul B. Hewitt (Antitrust Law)
• Lars-Erik A. Hjelm (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Howard B. Jacobson (Tax Law)
• Bernd Janzen (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Sarah B.W. Kirwin (Ones to Watch: Banking and Finance Law; Privacy and Data Security Law)
• Susan Kovarovics (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Robert Lian (Litigation - Labor and Employment)
• Mark J. MacDougall (Criminal Defense: White-Collar)
• Emily Mallen (Energy Law; Energy Regulatory Law)
• Thomas J. McCarthy (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Jeffrey McMillen (Government Relations Practice)
• Yujin McNamara (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Daniel L. Nash (Litigation - Labor and Employment; Sports Law)
• Matthew R. Nicely (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Lide Paterno (Ones to Watch: Appellate Practice)
• Jonathan Poling (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Brian Arthur Pomper (Government Relations Practice)
• Donald R. Pongrace (Native American Law)
• David Quigley (Environmental Law)
• Brian Rafkin (Ones to Watch: Antitrust Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law)
• Ben Reiter (Ones to Watch: Energy Law, Project Finance Law)
• Jennifer Richter (Communications Law)
• Steven R. Ross (Government Relations Practice)
• Steve Rowings (Ones to Watch: Communications Law; Technology Law)
• Robert S. Salcido (Health Care Law)
• Wynn Segall (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Pratik A. Shah (Appellate Practice; Native American Law)
• Hal S. Shapiro (International Trade and Finance Law)
• Michael Vernick (Qui Tam Law)
• Kevin J. Wolf (International Trade and Finance Law)