Perkins Awarded AV Rating!

Perkins & Associates,LLC Receives Peer Review Rating for Mark A. Perkins from LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell®

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell has recognized Mark A. Perkins with a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating™. Mark A. Perkins was given an “AV” rating from his peers, which means that he was deemed to have very high professional ethics and preeminentlegal ability. Only lawyers with the highest ethical standards and professional ability receive a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating.

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell conducts secure online Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings surveys of lawyers across multiple jurisdictions and geographic locations, in similar areas of practice as the lawyer being rated. Reviewers are instructed to assess their colleagues' general ethical standards and legal ability in a specific area of practice.

The Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings evaluates lawyers in the United States and Canada based on the anonymous opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary, including both those who are rated and those who are not. The first review to establish a lawyer's rating usually occurs three years after his first admission to the Bar.

The confidentiality, objectivity and complete independence of the ratings process are what have made the program a unique and credible evaluation tool for members of the legal profession. The legal community values the accuracy of lawyer peer review ratings because they are determined by their peers – the people who are best suited to assess the legal ability and professional ethics of their colleagues.

“Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings were created in 1887 as an objective tool that would attest to a lawyer ability and professional ethics, based on the confidential opinions of other lawyers and judges who have worked with the lawyers they are evaluating,” said Mike Walsh, President and CEO, U.S. Legal Markets at LexisNexis. “The Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings have remained the most prestigious and widely respected lawyer rating system in the world for over a hundred years.”

In this highly competitive environment for legal services, the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating is often one of the only means to differentiate lawyers who are otherwise very comparable in their credentials. This is important on a variety of levels –from the in-house counsel trying to determine which one of his outside law firms should be assigned a new matter to the private practice lawyer seeking to refer a case to another lawyer with the appropriate expertise in a specific area of practice.

Indeed, a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating can be one of the most important criteria that lawyers and clients use to evaluate a lawyer when retaining a lawyer, or simply researching the background of co-counsel or opposing counsel. When referring matters to colleagues with specific expertise or looking for counsel in another jurisdiction, lawyers want to have confidence in the individual lawyer under consideration. By reviewing the ratings, they can be guided to a lawyer with very high ethics as well as the appropriate level of professional experience.

"I have been practicing for over twenty five years and finally I have been recognized by my peers in the top tier," said Perkins. "I wouldn't have wanted it any sooner because I don't think one attains such an honor without years in the trenches."

Perkins began his legal career as a prosecuting attorney and while there, he tried the first case in Caddo Parish using what was then novel DNA-identification evidence. After leaving the District Attorneys Office, Mark's practice has focused primarily in the defense of commercial and insurance litigated matters, including products, premise, commercial auto/trucking and sports/recreation liability.

Perkins has been married to Joan Guillot since 1984 and they have twin daughters, Jessica and Erica, who are both graduates of Byrd High School. Both girls are married, but there are no grandchildren...yet.

For more information about the firm, you can visit their website at www.perkinsfirm.com.