Awards and Honors

 

See some of Ryan Reiffert’s awards and honors in the list below.

Awards, Honors, and Recognition

Ryan G. Reiffert is a San Antonio business and estate planning attorney whose work has been recognized by state bar institutions, peer-review rating organizations, and selection panels in Texas and nationally. The list below identifies each recognition, the year (or years) of selection, and a brief note describing the basis on which the rating organization makes its selection. Each rating organization applies its own methodology; selection methodologies are independently maintained by the rating organizations and are linked or summarized below.

Recognition by State Bar Institutions

Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation (elected 2026)

Election as a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation is a peer-nominated, lifetime distinction extended to less than one percent of Texas attorneys each year. Founded in 1965, the Texas Bar Foundation is the largest charitably funded bar foundation in the United States, with more than 10,000 Fellows statewide, and has distributed more than $30 million to programs that improve the Texas justice system. Fellows are recognized for outstanding professional achievement and demonstrated commitment to improving the justice system. Source: Texas Bar Foundation (txbf.org).

Member, Texas Bar College (every year since 2020)

The Texas Bar College is an honorary society of the State Bar of Texas. Membership recognizes Texas attorneys who voluntarily complete continuing legal education hours significantly above the minimum required by the State Bar of Texas. Membership is held by less than five percent of Texas attorneys.

Fellow, REPTL Leadership Academy — Class of 2024–2025

The Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section (REPTL) of the State Bar of Texas operates a competitive leadership development program for Texas attorneys practicing in those fields. Program members participate in mentorship from REPTL Council and Committee Chairs, statewide networking, substantive section work, and Section CLE programming. Each annual cohort is small — historically around 18 attorneys statewide — and members are selected through application and reference review based on practice qualifications and demonstrated leadership potential.

Peer-Reviewed Industry Recognition

Texas Rising Stars — Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

Texas Rising Stars is a Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers publication that recognizes attorneys age 40 or younger, or in practice 10 years or fewer, through a research-driven and peer-influenced selection process. The list is limited to no more than 2.5 percent of eligible Texas attorneys each year. Selection criteria include verdicts and settlements, transactions, representative clients, experience, honors, scholarly work, and bar and professional activity. Methodology: superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html.

Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Rating (every year since 2020)

AV Preeminent is the highest peer-review rating issued by Martindale-Hubbell, denoting very high legal ability (5.0 of 5.0) and very high ethical standards. The rating is calculated from confidential evaluations submitted by other lawyers and members of the judiciary.

Martindale-Hubbell Platinum Client Champion (every year since 2020)

The Platinum Client Champion designation recognizes attorneys with a substantial number of high-rated client reviews on Martindale-Hubbell. Selection requires both a minimum quantity of reviews and an average review rating at or above 4.5 stars.

Industry Selection and Rating

10.0 “Superb” Rating, Avvo

Avvo’s 10.0 rating is the highest available on its 1–10 scale and is calculated through a mathematical model that draws on multiple objective inputs, including years in practice, professional experience, education, awards, publications and speaking engagements, and industry recognition. A meaningful component of the industry-recognition input is peer endorsements — confidential evaluations submitted by other attorneys who have worked with or against the lawyer. Client reviews do not factor into the Avvo Rating itself, although they are tracked separately and inform Avvo’s Client’s Choice Award, which Ryan also holds.

Best Estate Planners, Probate Lawyers, and Business Lawyers in San Antonio — Expertise.com (multiple years since 2021–2022)

Expertise.com selects attorneys through editorial review across more than 25 variables in five categories: reputation, credibility, experience, availability, and professionalism. Ryan currently holds 2026 listings in all three of Expertise.com’s San Antonio rankings — Best Estate Planning Lawyers, Best Probate Lawyers, and Best Business Lawyers — and has been listed in the estate planning category since 2021 and the business category since 2022.

Top 3 Business Attorneys in San Antonio — Three Best Rated (since 2021)

Three Best Rated maintains a 50-point selection criteria covering reputation, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, trust, cost, and general excellence. The “Top 3” designation recognizes the highest-scoring local providers in each category.

Best S.A. Lawyers — San Antonio Scene Magazine (2020, 2021, 2022); Rising Star Lawyer (2022)

San Antonio Scene Magazine (now Scene in SA) publishes annual peer-nominated lists of San Antonio attorneys, organized by practice area and years in practice. Ryan was selected to the Best S.A. Lawyers list in 2020, 2021, and 2022, and to the separate Rising Star Lawyers list in 2022.

Bar Admissions

• State of Texas — admitted 2014 (active)
• State of New York — admitted 2012 (currently on inactive status)

Academic and Pre-Professional Honors

• New York University School of Law, J.D. (2011). NYU Law is consistently ranked among the top five law schools in the United States. While at NYU, Ryan was elected to Phi Delta Phi (the international legal honor society), served as a contributing editor of the NYU Annual Survey of American Law (the second-oldest student-edited legal review in the United States), served as a Research Assistant to the Dean of the Law School, and served as a second-year Teaching Assistant for the first-year Contracts course.
• The University of Texas at Austin, B.A., Plan II Honors Program. Plan II is UT Austin’s interdisciplinary liberal arts honors degree, admitting roughly 175 students per year and widely regarded as one of the most selective undergraduate honors programs in the country. National Merit Scholar (2003); Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma honor societies (freshman-year academic honor societies).
• University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School — Business Essentials Certificate (the “Mini-MBA” program), supplementing legal training with formal business and finance coursework.

Memberships and Professional Affiliations

• Texas Bar Foundation — Fellow
• Texas Bar College — Member
• Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section, State Bar of Texas — Leadership Academy alumnus
• State Bar of Texas
• San Antonio Bar Association
• Texas Exes (UT Alumni Association), San Antonio chapter
• Phi Delta Phi (International Legal Honor Society)

Media Features and Quoted Commentary

Ryan’s commentary and analysis on business and legal matters has been featured by national and industry publications, including:

• Forbes
• The New York Post
• Reuters
• Lifehacker — “What To Do if Your Pet Dies in Daycare or a Kennel” (Oct. 14, 2020)
• Decrypt — “The Truth About Bitcoin: People Aren’t Using It As Currency” (Oct. 2, 2020)
• LegalZoom — “What a Biden Presidency Will Mean for Small Business” (Dec. 11, 2020)
• Authority Magazine (via Medium) — “Top Lawyers: Ryan Reiffert On The 5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law” (Jan. 2022)
• Business.com

Selected Publications

• Lexology — “Delaware Chancery Court rulings raise red flags for don’t ask, don’t waive standstill provisions” (May 29, 2013)
• Lexology — “SEC clarifies position on unregistered broker-dealer sponsors of internet funding networks” (Apr. 10, 2013)
• Latham & Watkins LLP and the Pro Bono Institute — research contribution to “A Survey of Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities in 84 Jurisdictions”
• Law Offices of Ryan Reiffert blog — ongoing commentary on Texas business law, the Corporate Transparency Act, the new Texas Business Courts, securities offering exemptions, and other developments at ryanreiffert.com/blog/

Educational Content

Ryan publishes legal explainers on the Law Offices of Ryan Reiffert YouTube channel, covering Texas LLC formation, contract law fundamentals, S-corporation elections, intellectual property, the Corporate Transparency Act, current developments in Texas business law, and other topics relevant to business owners and families. Videos are produced for general educational purposes and do not constitute legal advice.

Required Disclaimers

Unless otherwise indicated, the lawyers listed on this website are not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Selection methodologies for the rating organizations referenced above are independently maintained by the respective rating organizations. Methodology summaries and full criteria are available at: superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html (Super Lawyers); martindale.com/ratings-and-reviews/ (Martindale-Hubbell); avvo.com (Avvo); expertise.com (Expertise.com); threebestrated.com (Three Best Rated); txbf.org (Texas Bar Foundation); and texasbarcollege.com (Texas Bar College).

Past selections, ratings, recognitions, or recoveries are not a guarantee or prediction of any future result. Any testimonial or endorsement on this website does not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of any legal matter. Information on this page is current as of 5.8.26.