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2020 Avvo Superb

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2020 Avvo Superb

The Avvo Rating is our effort to evaluate a lawyer’s background based on the information available in an attorney’s Avvo profile.

2020 Avvo Superb – Rating

We create the rating using a model that considers information the lawyer has included on their profile in addition to the information we collect from public sources like state bar associations and lawyer websites.

Any information that affects the Avvo Rating is visible in an attorney’s profile.

Why the Avvo Rating can help you find the right attorney:

There is no bias. The rating is calculated using a mathematical model, and all lawyers are evaluated on the same set of standards.

The Avvo Rating cannot be bought. At Avvo, all lawyers are treated equally. We don’t play favorites, and attorneys can’t pay us to improve their ratings.

It was developed by legal professionals and people looking for legal services. The model used to calculate the rating was developed with input from hundreds of attorneys, thousands of consumers, and many other legal professionals who deeply understand the work attorneys do. We created the Avvo Rating to reflect the type of information people have identified as important when looking to hire an attorney.

It’s as simple as counting to 10. Ratings fall on a scale of 1 (Extreme Caution) to 10 (Superb), helping you quickly assess a lawyer’s background based on our rating.

The Avvo Rating is based only on the information we have collected and that the attorney has provided, so we don’t recommend the Avvo Rating as the only piece of information you use to evaluate whether an attorney is right for you. The rating is a tool that provides a snapshot assessment of a lawyer’s background, and should be considered alongside other information such as client reviews and peer endorsements.

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2020 Lawyers AV Preeminent

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Media Pa 2020 Lawyers AV Preeminent

The Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings evaluates lawyers 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/her first admission to the Bar.

Only approximately 10% of attorneys have achieved this prestigious honor. For more information on Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings, visit our Ratings and Reviews page.

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 attorney seeking to refer a case to another lawyer with the appropriate expertise in a specific area of practice.

Media Pa 2020 Lawyers AV Preeminent – Video

Martindale-Hubbell conducts secure online 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.

We’re very proud of this recognition from our peers. Please let me know if you have any questions about the services we provide to our clients.

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2019 Lawyers of Distinction

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What makes Lawyers of Distinction unique amongst lawyer marketing companies is that they publicize member names year-round through press releases and online announcements in The New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, CNN, Huffington Post and on social media, including Facebook and Twitter.

Membership rosters are advertised nationally in print through the New York Times, Bar Journals, The National Bar Journal, Trial Magazine and numerous other outlets.

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Media Pa Probate Law – 3 – Taxes

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Media Pa Probate Law – 3 – Taxes

A major area of misinformation and misunderstandings in the estate law and estate planning areas are the taxes that are imposed upon one’s death in Pennsylvania.

Very simply, two death taxes can be imposed on the death of Pennsylvania residents – the:

Federal Estate Tax
Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax
However, and unlike the income tax, which is very descriptive in its title as it is imposed upon your income, the phrases Estate Tax and Inheritance Tax are misnomers in that may tend to belie the actual fact that these are taxes imposed by virtue of your death.

Media Pa Probate Law – 3 – Taxes – Federal Estate Tax

Historically, the Federal Estate Tax has begun at a wealth threshold.  If you possess less than the wealth threshold at your death, the federal estate tax will not be applicable.

If it is applicable, the tax is imposed on a percentage scale according to the amount of your wealth (i.e., potentially 47% of the value of your assets above the wealth threshold).

The current wealth threshold of the Federal Estate Tax has been changing drastically throughout the last decade. It has increased, disappeared, and reappeared in 2011.

In 2005, the threshold was $1,500,000.00; in 2006, 2007, and 2008, the threshold was $2,000,000.00; in 2009, the threshold was $3,500,000.00; and in 2010, the Federal Estate Tax was scheduled to be, and in fact was, eliminated.

However, and although the Federal Estate Tax was scheduled to return with a wealth threshold of just $1,000,000.00, in 2011, it did not. The Internal Revenue Service changed that law and “announced the 2015 estate and gift tax limits […] and the federal estate tax exemption rises to $5.43 million per person, and the annual gift exclusion amount stays at $14,000.” “IRS Announces 2015 Estate And Gift Tax Limits”

The federal estate tax exemption—that’s the amount an individual can leave to heirs without having to pay federal estate tax—will be $5.43 million in 2015, up from $5.34 million for 2014. That’s another $90,000 that can be passed on tax-free. The top federal estate tax rate is 40%.

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