Rankings

Check out the law firm rankings below. They are measured by location and the number of reported criminal cases. They are based on data that is verifiable by reference to public sources. We have answers to FAQs at the bottom of the page.

The #1 pick

We are the #1 pick of criminal defense firms for our local service area (in 2025). In other words, people who get charged hire us more than any other firm for criminal cases in that area as a whole.

You can verify this yourself.

  • Our local service area includes Adams, Franklin, Cumberland, and York County, PA.

    The rankings in this table are based on that area as a whole. The rankings below look at each county individually.

    The rankings are based on cases within that area involving alleged violations of state law (not federal law).

#1 in Adams County, PA

You can verify this yourself.

#1 for Franklin County, PA

You can verify this yourself.

#1 in Cumberland County, PA

You can verify this yourself.

#5 for York County, PA

You can verify this yourself.

Frequently asked questions

  • To verify the rankings, go to the Case Search page of the Web Portal for the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania.

    You can search for data by attorney and time period. Then you can add together the numbers for each attorney in a firm to come up with firm totals and compare them.

    That is what we did. The research was conducted in the first quarter of 2026.

  • Reported cases are all criminal cases, including summaries, misdemeanors, and felony offenses, that are reported.

    The rankings take into account both magisterial district court and court of common pleas cases. Each is counted separately for each lawyer and firm.

    It does not include cases that are not reported or that become unavailable (e.g., due to expungements or limited access orders).

  • Court appointed cases should not be counted because the client is not hiring the law firm. The government is. These cases have not been filtered out at this time because it is a tedious process.

    We can say that we had 1 case that ended in early 2025, with an appellate court opinion. It did not impact our numbers in these rankings.

  • Cases that a firm has by contract through a company or other organization should not be counted because the client is not hiring the law firm. The organization is. These have not been filtered out at this time because the information is not available for other firms.

    We can say that we did not have any contract cases in 2025. It did not impact our numbers in these rankings.

  • No. We calculate data for the firms we aware of and who have a significant number of cases. So a number of firms and cases go uncounted.

    But we make additions, subtractions, and other changes when we become aware of them.

  • More means more. It does not necessarily mean better, right? Right.

    There are plenty of worthy metrics or qualifications out there to consider.

    It just happens to be one of the few verifiable metrics out there by which to compare law firms and lawyers.

    And it says something when people hire one firm more than other firms or one lawyer more than another lawyer.

    It does not mean that every person would hire the same law firm at any price (or no price at all).

    It does mean that whatever the price is, higher or lower, people are willing to pay it, which is a statement of value.

  • If you believe that any of our numbers are off, please email Steve directly at sr@stevericelaw.com so that we can make a correction.

    Keep in mind that the numbers my change over time (e.g., because of expungements or limited access orders).

    But they don’t tend to change so much that it affects the rankings to a significant degree.