Nominations are now open for the 2026 edition of Unrivaled, Bloomberg Law’s award celebrating top trial lawyers.
About This Award
This award celebrates litigators at law firms, in the government, at corporations, at universities and at non-profits who lead the legal industry in complex, high-stakes jury and bench trials on impactful litigation matters.
Impact may include setting a legal precedent, shifting an industry, securing significant damages, or defending against claims for damages.
Criteria to Apply
Candidates for Unrivaled should have at least two significant wins in jury or bench trials and/or favorable settlements from Jan. 2, 2024, to March 24, 2026.
Submission Requirements
- Each submission should focus on a single litigator or a team of up to two litigators that led or co-led the successful resolution of client matter(s).
- Essay: Please submit an essay of up to 1,300 words detailing:
- Your trial wins or settlements within the submissions period (Jan. 2, 2024, to March 24, 2026),
- Your strategy to resolve these complex matter(s),
- Why you believe you and your trial team achieved success and,
- The impact of the resolution of your matters. (Include impact on your clients as well as broader impact, if applicable.)
- Also briefly discuss your history of litigation excellence and success.
- Letter: Please submit at least one client reference letter focusing on one of your two client matters successfully resolved during the submissions period. The letter should include email contact information for the clients. (Optional: You may submit up to one additional reference letter. Read more under “Other Award Details” below.)
- Contact Info: In your submission package, include the nominee’s name, email address and phone number. For nominations submitted by communications professionals, please include their phone and email contact information as well.
- Optional: You may also include supplemental information related to your successful litigation matters such as media reports. Please limit those materials to up to three pages.
Deadline and How to Submit
Submit your nomination here by 8 p.m. EST on March 24, 2026. Please attach your nomination as a Word document. Please attach the client letter as a Word document or PDF. Please submit all materials for your nomination at the same time. Thank you.
Other Award Details
Please consult our Frequently Asked Questions for a full list of queries and answers on a variety of topics. A few follow below.
How do you define “winning” in bench or jury trials? Will settlements be considered?
For this contest, winning will include successful resolution of client matters in jury or bench trials and achieving settlements that are favorable for your clients(s).
What is the maximum number of submissions we can enter for this contest?
Organizations may submit up to two nominations per award cycle. Lawyer self-nominations are also welcome. Please see the FAQs for more details.
What is the maximum number of recommendation letters we should include?
We require nominees to submit one letter from a client. An optional, additional letter may be submitted from a client, a colleague, a mentor or another professional knowledgeable about their work in litigation. The maximum number of letters we’ll review in a submission is two.
Will recommendation letters from clients be made public?
Nominators should be advised that we consider information submitted for awards “on the record,” for potential publication. We reserve the right to use materials submitted, including excerpts from recommendation letters, in conjunction with our special report publication.
In which format should we send our nominations?
Submission essays should be sent as Microsoft Word documents. Reference letters may be sent as either Word or PDF documents. Both should be submitted together via our awards portal.
Are self-nominations allowed?
Lawyers are welcome to submit nominations on behalf of themselves, with the understanding that organizations are capped at two nominations for this award cycle. We encourage self-nominators and their organizations to be in touch about individuals or teams that may be up for the award.
When you say “led” or “co-led” a litigation matter, what percentage of the work is the nominating firm or organization required to have completed?
Law firms and other organizations nominating litigators for Unrivaled should have led or co-led the litigation matters they are submitting for consideration, with their legal teams completing at least 60% of the work on the matters. The nominee lawyer(s) should have played the lead role(s) in the resolution of the matters.
You must indicate what percentage of the client work each of the organizations handled if the work was a result of the collaboration of two or more firms, corporate legal departments, non-profits and/or other organizations.
Still have questions? We’re happy to help. Consult our full list of Frequently Asked Questions here.
For other questions, you may also contact us at submissions@bloombergindustry.com.
Read more about some of Bloomberg Law’s other rankings, surveys, and awards:
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:
See Breaking News in Context
Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.
Already a subscriber?
Log in to keep reading or access research tools and resources.