Attorney Antico Awards in the 2000s

Best Bankruptcy Attorney: 2005

In 2005, Antelope Valley bankruptcy attorney Hale Antico won his first Best Bankruptcy Attorney award. The readers of Santa Clarita Valley Living Magazine voted us this honor. It really caught me off-guard, since I didn’t even know there was a vote going on. I didn’t advertise with them, so, when the magazine’s representative told me I won an award, I was sure he was selling something. It turns out he was being truthful; there were no “catches.” It’s not really an honor if you can just buy it. Respect, awards, they should be earned, not bought.

Best Bankruptcy Attorney: Two More Times

After 2005, the economy got worse, and we got busier. The silver lining is we got to help more people. A firefighter doesn’t hope for fires. If there’s going to be a big one, he wants to be the one called into action. And when the Great Recession hit, I felt humbled so many people trusted me and my law firm to help get a fresh start. Before the decade was over, readers voted for me Best Bankruptcy Attorney twice more. 

The SCV Signal Honors Us

In 2017, the largest newspaper in Santa Clarita informed me that we were voted Best Bankruptcy Attorney again. This made our fourth award, and continued to humble me. Some businesses push for these things with email lists and such. It’s prestigious to say you’re best at something and appreciated by the community. I have never sent an email asking for votes or campaigning for an award. They just happen. And it surprises me every time.

More Best Bankruptcy Awards in the 2010s

Buy this Award?

It turns out, selling awards is lucrative for some in print. Without naming names, I’ve been contacted from a publication I don’t advertise in asking if I won Best Bankruptcy Lawyer if I’d buy an ad thanking my voters. I said it seemed appropriate, if I truly did win an actual vote. So he tells me that I just won Best Debt Counselor or some such thing. Doesn’t he have a Best Bankruptcy Lawyer award? It turns out he does, and he gives it every year to an advertiser in his magazine. So it turns out he’s just creating a new category out of thin air that I’d “win” if I pay a few hundred bucks to advertise. Some places do that, I guess. No thanks!

2018: Nominated for Best Antelope Valley Attorney

Let’s end this on an upbeat note. The AV Press, largest newspaper in the Antelope Valley, recently opened voting for  their annual “Best of.” I was contacted by a representative from the newspaper informing me I was nominated for best attorney in the Antelope Valley. Best bankruptcy lawyer, you mean. No, best lawyer in the Antelope Valley, period. There are tons of great attorneys in the AV, including the mayor of Lancaster. It turns out I didn’t win that one. But I’m honored just to be considered one of the best among such great colleagues, both in the Antelope Valley and in the bankruptcy community. 

2019: Elected as President of Local Bar Association

Recently, I was elected to be President of the largest association of consumer bankruptcy attorneys in California by my peers. The cdcbaa is an organization that is well-regarded by the bankruptcy trustees and bankruptcy judges. It presents courses almost every month to teach bankruptcy lawyers how to be better in this specialty. It is an honor to be thought well enough by the other bankruptcy lawyers in the Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita, and Los Angeles area to represent them and their interests leading this highly respected organization.

2020: Elected President for a Second Year

In late 2020, my peers and colleagues elected me to be President for a second year, and to be representing the interests of consumer bankruptcy lawyers across Southern California throughout 2021. A humbling honor indeed!