The competition for 2025 Lawyer of the Year honors was not a close one, not even one little bit. In fact, our top candidate took home more than 80% of the vote.
Before we announce which of the two prevailed, let’s review Above the Law’s past Lawyers of the Year:
- 2007: Loyola 2L
- 2008: President Barack Obama
- 2009: Justice Sonia Sotomayor
- 2010: Law School Transparency’s Kyle McEntee and Patrick Lynch
- 2011: Professor Paul Campos
- 2012: Chief Justice John Roberts
- 2013: Roberta Kaplan
- 2014: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- 2015: Bryan “Law Hawk” Wilson
- 2016: Don McGahn
- 2018: Michael Avenatti
- 2019: Christopher “Eat a Bowl of Dicks” Hook
- 2020: Marc Elias
- 2021: Mathew Rosengart
- 2022: Ketanji Brown Jackson
- 2024: Aliza Shatzman
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In a year where the legal profession faced unprecedented challenges from the United States government, where some firms bowed to unconstitutional threats and others bravely fought it out in court, it makes sense that a lawyer who defied the powers that be and stood up for the rule of law is taking home our Lawyer of the Year title.
Rachel Cohen, the former Skadden associate who publicly condemned Trump’s threat to the rule of law before many others found the strength to join her, took the majority of the votes in our annual competition. Cohen found the courage and resolve to stand up and do what was right, regardless of the fact that she may have been standing alone in her quest to protect the legal profession from harm. Cohen’s stand drew national attention, galvanizing associates across the industry as she continued advocating for legal ethics and accountability, and earned her recognition — including a Civil Courage Award — for her willingness to sacrifice a lucrative career in defense of her principles.
We’d like to offer a very special congratulations to our 2025 Lawyer of the Year, Rachel Cohen. She offered a new hope for members of the legal profession to stand up for democracy and the rule of law, and she deserves a huge thank you from every attorney in America.
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Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.