Trophy on table against gray background

2026 Update – Another Family Law Lawyer of the Year Award

OK, this is almost a bit embarrassing, and there are no sponsorships or payments – I promise. But Best Lawyers in America has honored me for a third time with the Lawyer of the Year award for 2026, for family law in the Colorado Springs and Central Colorado region. Given that there are hundreds of qualified family law attorneys in central Colorado, I am truly humbled. And this time, truly shocked as it’s my third award in four years, having also won Lawyer of the Year in 2022 and 2024.

And I’m in good company, as fellow Graham.Law partner Tahli Delgado and our senior associate Jesse Feinsod both made the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list for the third year in a row – 2024, 2025, and now 2026.

Both the Lawyer of the Year, and the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch awards are peer-reviewed, which means we were selected by fellow family law attorneys throughout southern Colorado. And the awards are fairly exclusive – just two family law attorneys in Colorado Springs received the Best Lawyers award in 2026, and only three received the Ones to Watch award. I’m mighty proud of the firm we have built!

2024 Update – Another Family Law Lawyer of the Year Award

This 2024 Best Lawyers in America honor was actually more surprising than my original Lawyer of the Year award in 2022, but I won it for family law again in 2024 – and that’s with no campaigning! I sort of assumed that, as with term limits for politicians, once you win the award once, you’re barred from receiving it again for a number of years.

But this week, Best Lawyers announced that I have been awarded its 2024 Lawyer of the Year award for Family Law in Central & Southern Colorado. It looks like they did split the state up into two regions, as last time it was statewide, and this time it appears to exclude the Denver area. Which is just fine, if you’ve ever dealt with Denver attorneys. (That’s a joke – I know and work with several, and they are fine people and lawyers).

So once again, I’m honored, and I’m especially pleased to be joined by others in our firm. Both Tahli Delgado and Jesse Feinsod have been named as Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, which means they are the lawyers whom the other other top family law attorneys in Colorado think are the up & comers, who will be tomorrow’s powerhouses. Thanks to their excellence, three of the eight total family law attorneys in Colorado Springs honored by Best Lawyers are with Graham.Law.

Carl O. Graham, 2024 Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year

Keep reading for the announcement of the original 2022 award, and a description of what it means. And unlike some of the bogus vanity awards where anyone with a pulse can pay for a cool-looking website logo, Best Lawyers is one of those few outfits where the award actually means something. And to the right is an excerpt from my Best Lawyers page showing the awards.

Original 2022 Family Law Lawyer of the Year Announcement

2022 Lawyer of the Year! That’s a new one. I’ve been included in Best Lawyers in America for Family Law since 2019, and with just three Colorado Springs family law attorneys selected (myself, Dave Johnson & Joi Kush), that list alone is pretty illustrious – it means just the top 3% of domestic relations practitioners in El Paso County are selected.

What is Best Lawyers in America?

Throughout Colorado, there are only 92 family law attorneys selected as Best Lawyers in America. Now, from that list of the 92 best family law lawyers in the state, I’ve been selected as Colorado’s 2022 Lawyer of the Year for family law – pretty cool. Here’s a link to my profile with the Lawyer of the Year logo.

There are more scam vanity awards than you can imagine, especially in the legal field (we’ve blogged about them before, and even the federal government has issued a warning about bogus awards). But this is one of those very few awards which is legit – and I’m not saying that just because I’m on the list. Best Lawyers means something because:

  • It’s a peer-reviewed award, based upon support from other family law attorneys statewide.
  • It’s impossible to buy your way onto the list.
  • The best lawyers are included at no cost or obligation.
  • The list of lawyers reads like a “Who’s Who” of Colorado family law – all acknowledged standouts in the profession, not slugs.

What is Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year?

The list of Best Lawyers for Colorado family law is already pretty short, so I was curious what being selected for Lawyer of the Year actually means. Per the Best Lawyers methodology page:

“Additional recognitions are also awarded to individual lawyers with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is recognized as the “Lawyer of the Year” for each specialty and location.”

So the Lawyer of the Year is the family law attorney with the “highest overall peer-feedback.” As reflected below, the Graham.Law attorneys have been selected for some pretty prestigious awards, but this one may well be the most significant of them.

I’m truly humbled to have been selected – I was not aware that there was a “Lawyer of the Year”, so didn’t even have the opportunity to lobby family law attorneys to support me either! I guess I owe a few coffees to my fellow Best Lawyers in America who gave me this honor.

Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year for Family Law

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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 simple 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 reduced-rate consult, or click on:

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