GALLAGHER & KENNEDY’S PATRICK J. MCGRODER III NAMED ONE OF THE 500 LEADING LAWYERS IN AMERICA BY LAWDRAGON

PHOENIX (Jan. 26, 2009) – Phoenix-based Gallagher & Kennedy, P.A., a full-service business law firm, announced today that shareholder Patrick J. McGroder III has once again been named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He is the only lawyer in Phoenix to be included on this list.

Mr. McGroder is included in Lawdragon’s fall 2008 issue featuring the nation’s top lawyers who have had the greatest impact on the legal world. The 500 attorneys named to the list, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, represent less than one-half of one percent of the legal profession, placing Mr. McGroder among the most elite group of legal professionals.

Patrick McGroder’s practice at Gallagher & Kennedy involves catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death trial litigation. Mr. McGroder is also a member of the International Society of Barristers and the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers which is widely considered to be the premier lawyer professional organizations in America and composed of the best of the trial bar for the United States and Canada.

First published in 2005, Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America is the leading guide to the nation’s best lawyers and judges. The list is comprised of private lawyers from a wide range of practices as well as in-house counsel, law professors, judges and neutrals, government attorneys and public interest lawyers.

More than 15,000 attorneys were nominated by their peers and the Lawdragon editorial staff, who then selected and featured 3,000 finalists on Lawdragon.com. The Lawdragon 500 were selected from that group based on a proprietary system that takes into account a myriad of qualifications including journalistic reporting, interviews with clients and colleagues, and a review of practice accomplishments. A survey of lawyers and general counsel also nominated and voted for their peers online.

About Lawdragon
Established in 2005, Lawdragon levels the playing field in the area of law firm rankings, offering everyone free access to the nation’s best lawyers and addressing the legal profession’s need to provide better information to clients. Lawdragon’s web site, www.lawdragon.com, features hundreds of online profiles of the nation’s leading lawyers and a database of nearly 200,000 U.S. attorneys.