The dog days of summer are here, but lawyers still need some excitement in their lives, so it’s the perfect time for rankings and awards to be handed out. Luckily for us, the National Law Journal just named its Elite Trial Lawyers for 2022, a top prize for the best plaintiffs attorneys in the country. Plaintiff-side work provides incredibly rewarding opportunities that we sometimes overlook in favor of Biglaw coverage, and the NLJ’s award is the perfect time for us to show our appreciation for the members of the plaintiffs bar. So, which firms made the cut? Before we get to that, we’ll discuss the NLJ’s methodology, which pored through hundreds of entries from plaintiffs firms across the country: The awards recognize law firms’ outstanding plaintiffs work in a high-stakes bench or jury trial or in a major settlement. The winners must have scored a significant win during the contest period and must also be able to show an impressive track record of wins over the last three to five years. Firms must have devoted at least 50% of their litigation resources to plaintiffs work and shown innovative approaches to case resolution. Without further ado, here are this year’s winners: Antitrust — Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro Aviation — Podhurst Orseck Business Torts — Reid Collins & Tsai Catastrophic Injury — Podhurst Orseck Civil Rights — Sanford Heisler Sharp Class Action — Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd Consumer Protection — Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll Disability Rights — Bailey & Glasser Discrimination — Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll Employment Rights — Hall & Lampros Environmental Protection — Morgan & Morgan Government Representation — The Lanier Law Firm Human Rights — The Hall Law Firm Insurance Liability — Daly & Black Mass Torts — Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi Medical Malpractice — Snyder Sarno D’Aniello Maceri & da Costa Pharmaceutical Litigation — Motley Rice Privacy/Data Breach — Keller Postman Products Liability — Seeger Weiss Securities Litigation — Labaton Sucharow Trial Strategy Litigation — Kaplan Hecker & Fink *** Diversity Initiative Award — Tycko Zavareei Lifetime Achievement Award — Elizabeth Cabraser Lifetime Achievement Award — Chris Seeger The Keith Givens Visionary Award — Mark Lanier Congratulations to all of the firms that made the list — and an even bigger congratulations for making a positive impact on their clients’ lives. Well done! The 2022 Elite Trial Lawyers [National Law Journal] Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.