Adelaide’s top lawyers honoured in Best Lawyers list
More than 350 Adelaide lawyers have been named in Australia’s Best Lawyers list, with four ranking in the national top 10. See the list
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Adelaide is punching well above its weight in the law with four legal eagles cracking the national Top 10 list of best lawyers – the most of any major city in Australia.
In the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in Australia report Philip Laity from Laity Morrow received the highest number of honours – or top ranked legal specialities – with 12.
Mr Laity is the managing director of Laity Morrow and started the boutique practice almost 12 years ago.
He has particular expertise in corporate and project financing; property and infrastructure projects; mergers and acquisitions; and government projects.
The other three from Adelaide in the top 10 were Andrew Corletto (MinterEllison), Martin Lovell (Piper Alderman) and Peter Campbell (HWL Ebsworth).
HWL Ebsworth has 60 honours on Best Lawyers 2026 list, the most of any Adelaide firm.
There were 37 Adelaide lawyers who were recognised on the ‘Lawyer of the Year’ list and the top three firms represented on the list were Thomson Geer (four winners); MinterEllison (three winners); and Johnson Winter Slattery (three winners).
According to the latest published results, which are determined by peer review, 4586 lawyers across Australia were recognised on the overall honorees list, with 329 achieving a spot on the “Lawyer of the Year” list.
More than a third, or 1953 lawyers, on the full honorees list are based in Sydney, up from 1612 last year.
In second place is Melbourne, where 1514 lawyers included on the list are located, up from 1266 last year.
Brisbane had 920 lawyers – up from 744 last year, Perth with 485 lawyers and Adelaide with 351, up from 295 in the previous year.
Best Lawyers vice president of Research and Development Elizabeth Petit said the 2026 rankings were based on nearly 500,000 evaluations from the best of the best in Australian law.
“Our individual participants have also nearly doubled over the last five years,” she said.
“This kind of growth isn’t just a data point, it’s a powerful signal of a legal community that deeply values Best Lawyers recognition.”
“The volume and thoughtfulness of the peer feedback reflects a legal community actively invested in celebrating excellence in their field.”
Originally published as Adelaide’s top lawyers honoured in Best Lawyers list
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