At Hailey | Hart, everything we do is intentional, from the care we show our clients to the strategies we build in every case. That’s why being recognized in the 2026 Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms in America rankings is especially meaningful to us. These awards aren’t based on marketing, advertising dollars, popularity, or submissions that we control – they are rooted entirely in peer review from other lawyers who understand the challenges and complexity of this work.

2026 Best Law Firms in America

Among other categories, Hailey | Hart as a firm has been recognized for:

Regional Tier 1

• Colorado
  • Litigation – Insurance
  • Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiff

2026 Best Lawyers

As individual lawyers, Melissa Hailey, Bruce Kaye, and Randy Barnhart have all been recognized, too.

• Melissa Hailey — Insurance Law, Litigation – Insurance, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Bruce J. Kaye — Insurance Law, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs
• Randy Barnhart (Counsel Emeritus) — Insurance Law, Litigation – Insurance, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs, Professional Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs

How the Best Law Awards Work

These honors reflect not just strong results, but the respect of colleagues who see our work up close. Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms rely on one of the most rigorous evaluation processes in the legal profession. Each year, Best Lawyers gathers extensive feedback from across the legal community. Their multistep process includes:

1. Nominations – Any lawyer can be nominated by peers, clients, or even themselves.
2. Peer Review – Currently recognized lawyers evaluate the caliber of nominees’ work.
3. Feedback Analysis – Votes are reviewed to ensure integrity and consistency.
4. Eligibility Check – Nominees must be in good standing with their bar associations.
5. Publication – Recognition is shared both in print and online.

The 2026 evaluation cycle reflects an extraordinary amount of input:

• 18,700+ firms participated
• 27,000 lawyers voted
• 110,800+ client submissions were reviewed
• 26 million evaluations were analyzed across 129,000 lawyers and 24,000 firms

Why It Matters to Us

For our team, these recognitions represent something deeper than accolades:

• They affirm the care, skill, and integrity we bring to every case.
• They reflect our commitment to women-led, relationship-centered advocacy.
• They underscore the trust our peers place in our work, especially in complex personal injury and insurance matters.
• They reinforce our promise to our clients: that we will fight for them with skill, intention, and compassion.

At Hailey | Hart, we are honored to stand among our respected colleagues—and we’re even more honored to continue serving the people of Colorado with the excellence they deserve.

Thank you to our peers for this recognition, and to our clients and the Colorado community for trusting us with your most important cases.

Melissa A. Hailey

Best Lawyers of America, 2020-2026