Last Updated on June 13, 2025
There are many awards and titles an attorney can earn, but one of the most celebrated is the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating, which Vista Attorney Peter M. Liss proudly received in early January of 2021. Only 10 percent of attorneys ever achieve this prestigious rating that signifies a lawyer executes the highest possible level of professional excellence.
What is the AV Preeminent Rating?
For over 130 years, Martindale-Hubbell has been reviewing attorneys through the use of a peer review system in order to promote the highest ethical standards and legal abilities in the field. This was the first attorney rating system ever published and the organization has worked hard since that time to continue to further improve the standards and reputation of the legal field.
While the peer rating system originally awarded a letter grade of A, B or C, it has since evolved, with AV serving as the highest possible rating that can only be given to an attorney who has practiced in his field for over 10 years (Mr. Liss has been serving as an attorney for the past 35 years) and has been judged by his peers to exemplify the highest possible levels of professional experience, including the lawyer’s ethical standards, legal knowledge and communication skills.
How Does Martindale-Hubbell Reach this Decision?
These days, lawyers start the process by submitting a list of their own professional references, which may include fellow practicing attorneys as well as judges listed in the Martindale-Hubbell database.The peer review surveys request information on the candidate’s legal knowledge, judgement, communication skills, legal experience and analytical capabilities. Peers can also provide additional feedback, which will appear on the candidate’s profile on the Mardindale-Hubbell website (you can see Peter Liss’ profile here).
When an attorney receives enough high rankings from his peers, he qualifies for the AV Preeminent rating. But before he will be awarded this prestigious title, Mardindale-Hubbell will survey other attorneys in the same geographic region and practice area as the candidate. This helps ensure the integrity of the peer review process by securing feedback from those not personally connected to the lawyer in question.
Fight for Your Freedom Without Draining Your Wallet
Aside from this most recent award, Peter Liss also has a perfect 10 rating on the attorney-review website AVVO and received the company’s Client Choice Award in 2019, for his nearly-perfect 5.0 rating on the site. He believes the greatest praise though is that of his satisfied clients, who have given him overwhelmingly positive reviews not just on AVVO (where he also earned the Client Choice Award), but also on Yelp and Google.
Despite this high praise, Peter Liss believes that everyone deserves quality representation, which is why he maintains affordable rates and accepts all major credit cards. Find out for yourself why Mr. Liss has such high customer and peer reviews by scheduling a free initial consultation by calling (760) 643-4050.
