U.S. News and World Report names Graham.Law as a Best Law Firm i

U.S. News Best Law Firms

4 years in a row! U.S. News & World Report has named Graham.Law one of the Best Law Firms in America for family law Colorado Springs for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. And there’s sort of a 5th year, because back in 2019 we also received an award from U.S. News affiliate, Bestlawyers.com, when managing partner Carl Graham (yours truly) was named one of the Best Lawyers in America.

The US News Best Law Firms in America award has been around for something like 40 years. U.S. News & World Report, famous for its “Best” lists (including Best Law Schools, one list near & dear to my heart), selects its lawyers based upon client and peer reviews. not sponsorship:

  • There is no way to buy yourself onto the Best Law Firms list. If you’re among the best, you’re on the list. And if you’re not one of the best, they don’t include you no matter how much you offer to pay.
  • There is no charge for law firms to be on the list.

As an indication of how elite the award is, including Graham.Law, there are only six Colorado Springs family law firms who made the 2023 list (as the area covered includes Denver, most of the lawyers are from outside El Paso County). And the firms on this are no slackers who paid for inclusion, but are all top-notch lawyers, recognized experts in the area of divorce and family law.

U.S. News and World Report names Graham.Law as a Best Law Firm in America
U.S. News and World Report names Graham.Law as a Best Law Firm in America
U.S. News and World Report names Graham.Law as a Best Law Firm in America
U.S. News and World Report names Graham.Law as a Best Law Firm in America

By contrast, there are numerous bogus vanity legal “awards” out there which are nothing more than advertising lists which lawyers pay hundreds per year to be on – they are but a logo sent from a P.O. Box, and not an indication of excellence. We’ve received countless such solicitations, and ignore them. You should do the same!

Since we plan to keep excelling and winning this award, rather than clogging up our blog with separate posts each time we win the USNews Best Law Firms for Family Law Colorado Springs, I’ve consolidated the prior years announcements into this one post, which we will update each year as we (hopefully) keep winning!


Announcement for winning the US News Best Law Firms 2022 Award. None. And this is the reason for consolidating the best law firms announcements into one post. Rather than clogging up our blog with “look how great we are” posts every time we win another annual award, I’ll simply update this one post for all of the U.S. News awards.


Announcement for winning the USNews Best Law Firms 2021 Award. None! After the first couple of years, I guess the sparkle wore off. The award is still cool, but since we keep winning it, it’s not worthy of a separate post each time.


Announcement for winning the U.S. News Best Law Firms 2020 Award. This was the second year with a Bestlawyers.com award, but the first one officially recognized by U.S. News & World Report. So it was a momentous occasion for us, as you can tell from the next section.

U.S. News & World Report Best Law Firms in America

Graham.Law has officially been selected as one of the Best Law Firms in America for 2020 by U.S. News & World Report. This may sound like a bit of a rerun, because starting in 2019, our managing partner, Carl O. Graham, became one of one of the very few Colorado Springs family law attorneys selected as one of the U.S. News & World Report Best Lawyers in America.

But this year, both Carl individually, and the firm as a whole, have been selected by U.S. News & World Report as Best Lawyers in America & Best Law Firms in America.

Time for a bit of boasting – these honors actually mean something – only six family law firms in El Paso County made the list.

How is US News Best Law Firms in America Different from Other Awards?

Best Law Firms in America

U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Firms in America is an unsolicited, unpaid, authentic, peer-reviewed rating not a sponsored rating that anyone willing to pay a few hundred dollars can attain. They are selective, with under 10% of law firms qualifying, and have exacting criteria – see their methodology for more details.

What does this mean? Simply put, this list is based upon the respect of the legal community. You cannot buy your way onto their list. And if you’ve earned a ranking, you are included on their list without any requirement to pay a dime!

All-too-often, attorney web sites will include sponsored listings or bogus “prestige awards” from organizations with prestigious-sounding names, but who in reality are nothing but pay-for-play sponsored listings. And they will include anyone who pays them hundreds of dollars per year, regardless of qualifications. One guy even wrote a blog about signing up his pet chicken, Zippy, for one of the awards. (Read our post on scam vanity awards for more examples of how lawyers may fool clients with prestigious-sounding, but bogus “awards.”


And here was the original announcement of our first Best Lawyers 2019 Award, back in 2019:

2019 Best Lawyers – Family Law Colorado Springs

We were first named to the Best Law Firms in America by Bestlawyers.com back in 2019 – and at the time, it was truly an honor. Graham.Law was part of an elite group for family law Colorado Springs that included just 3 family law firms (just 6 attorneys) in Colorado Springs. And it was great company – the other 5 domestic relations attorneys in Colorado Springs are all top-notch lawyers for whom we have great respect: John Ciccolella, Lisa Dailey. Dave Johnson, Joi Kush, and Dan West.

Best Family Law Firms

When the email came announcing our selection, I deleted it, believing it was nothing but spam (we get a lot of solicitations for bogus awards that are nothing more than overpriced wall plaques from companies with reputable-sounding names). For more details, see our blog post on the scourge of vanity awards.

But most spammers don’t claim affiliation with U.S. News & World Report, so I started wondering whether it was perhaps legitimate, and did some digging. Attorneys I respected said it was the real deal, and what finally convinced me was the other names on the list – a shortlist of distinguished attorneys.

Anyway, based upon the maxim “you’re known by the company you keep”, I’m proud Graham.Law is part of the Best Law Firms in America for Family Law Colorado Springs.

Best Law Firms in America – Family Law Colorado Springs

best law firms

U.S. News & World Report calls Graham.Law one of the Best Law Firms in America, and our managing partner is a Colorado Super Lawyer. Our family law attorneys have years of experience helping clients navigate the Colorado legal system. We know Colorado divorce & family law inside and out, from complex multi-million dollar property or child custody cases to basic child support modifications.

For more information about our top-rated El Paso County family law firm, contact us by filling out our contact form, calling us at (719) 630-1123 to set up a free consult, or click on:

Colorado Family Law. Period.