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Knights of the Bar Selection Criteria

To qualify to be included in Knights of the Bar among the profession's best attorneys, a lawyer must have demonstrated achievement in several objective measures of performance.

There are three types of memberships that recognize lawyers based upon the extent of their experience, reputation and prominence. 

Associate - This is a highly reputable attorney with at least 10 years experience who is well respected in his/her profession locally, displaying leadership in local bar associations and having a variety of articles and lectures.

Fellow - To be considered for fellowship, a lawyer must have been in active practice for at least 15 years, achieved statewide prominence, published and lectured extensively on a statewide or regional basis, shown leadership in state bar associations and have an excellent reputation for quality legal work.

Diplomat - Attorneys who earn the distinction of being diplomats must be in practice at least 20 years, have displayed bar association leadership on a regional or national level, lectured frequently outside their home state, published books or scholarly articles and have established exceptional prominence and outstanding reputations as gifted attorneys in their areas of law.

 

Selection Thresholds

If you meet the selection criteria below and would like to be considered for selection to Knights of the Bar, you may apply online or by mail .

Associate

• Minimum ten (10) years in the active practice of law and member in good standing with state bar association.

• Rated AV^® by Martindale-Hubbell^®

• At least ten (10) leadership activities including bar memberships, articles published, lectures given and awards and honors received.

• Three (3) instances of matters of substantial magnitude with excellent outcomes.

• At least three (3) years where personally originated fees (fees that came from matters the attorney personally brought in or was lead attorney) exceeded $250,000.

Fellow

• Minimum of fifteen (15) years in the active practice of law and member in good standing with state bar association.

• Rated AV^® by Martindale-Hubbell^®

• At least fifteen (15) leadership activities including bar membership, articles published and awards and honors received of which at least five (5) must be on the state or national level.

• Five (5) instances of matters of substantial magnitude with excellent outcomes.

• At least three (3) positions of leadership in state or national bar associations or other organizations (officer, director, committee chair, editor, etc) directly related to the legal profession (e.g., bar associations, trial lawyer associations, or non-political legal advocacy, but not political organizations)

• At least three (3) years where personally originated fees (fees that came from matters the attorney personally brought in or was lead attorney) exceeded $500,000.

Diplomat

• Minimum of twenty (20) years in the active practice of law and member in good standing with state bar association.

• Rated AV^® by Martindale-Hubbell^®

• At least twenty (20) leadership activities including bar membership, articles published and awards and honors received of which at least five (5) must be on the state or national level.

• Ten (10) instances of matters of substantial magnitude with excellent outcomes.

• At least three (3) lectures given on a regional or national level outside the attorney's home state.

• At least three (3) positions of leadership in state or national bar associations or other organizations (officer, director, committee chair, editor, etc) directly related to the legal profession (e.g., bar associations, trial lawyer associations, or non-political legal advocacy but not political organizations)

• At least one (1) officer's position in a in state or national organization directly related to the legal profession.

• At least three (3) years where personally originated fees (fees that came from matters the attorney personally brought in or was lead attorney) exceeded $1,000,000.

Selection thresholds represent minimum guidelines for consideration but are not absolute.  The selection process allows for a certain amount of discretion if one category is slightly below threshold, but others are well above threshold in a given category.

If not selected, the applicant will be given a reply and recommendations for areas where he or she can augment leadership, excellence and achievement to be accepted in the future.

If selected to a given category, a member can always improve to a higher category by gaining prominence and satisfying the criteria for the higher category.

For more information on our selection criteria, visit our FAQ's.

If you meet the selection criteria above and would like to be considered for selection to Knights of the Bar, you may  apply online or by mail.