Best Lawyers has selected 42 lawyers from Irell & Manella LLP for inclusion in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. As a firm, Irell is ranked as #1 in Los Angeles in the fields of Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property, Information Technology, and Tax. Irell is ranked as #1 in Newport Beach in the fields of Commercial Litigation, Real Estate, Intellectual Property, Insurance, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. The #1 ranking indicates that the firm has more lawyers on the list than any other firm (or, in certain cases, is tied with another firm for the top ranking).

Two Irell lawyers have been honored with Best Lawyers' "Lawyer of the Year" distinction.  Morgan Chu was named the "Los Angeles Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year" and Brian Hennigan was named the "Los Angeles Criminal Defense: White Collar Lawyer of the Year." Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

Six Irell lawyers -- Ben Hattenbach, Jon Kagan, Dan Lefler, Kyle Kawakami, Melissa McCormick, and Jeff Reisner -- are named to the Best Lawyers list for the first time, joining other Irell lawyers, some of whom have appeared on the list for over 20 years.

Each year Best Lawyers recognizes the nation's best lawyers based on a rigorous national survey involving more than 2.8 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.