Alright, here's the big news I was teasing yesterday: I'm still having a hard time believing it's real. @smblawgroup was just named a finalist for The American Lawyer's 2026 Best Corporate Practice (Small/Midcap Deals) award. For non-lawyers: This is not pay for play (you don't even pay to apply). The American Lawyer is THE publication in the legal industry. They publish the Am Law 100, the ranking every big firm in America lives and dies by. Their awards are judged on actual deal work by their editors and outside judging panels. Objectively these are probably the most prestigous awards in the entire legal profession that everyone is competing for, guys. There are 7 finalists. Here they are: Covington & Burling Cozen O'Connor Hughes Hubbard King & Spalding McGuireWoods Morgan Lewis …and us. Lol. Those firms have thousands of lawyers, offices around the world, century-old brands and billions in revenue. Four years ago we were a few guys with a couple of X accounts and an idea that entrepreneurs buying small businesses deserved really, really good lawyers too. That was basically the whole business plan. No offices. No institutional clients. No brand. We just answered the phone, treated people well, did great work and tried to get a little better every day. At some point we started joking that maybe we should stop trying to be the best "small" firm and just try to be the best lower-middle-market M&A firm in the country. Against everyone. An objectively insane goal. And now The American Lawyer looked at our little firm and decided we belong on a list with six giants. Do I think we'll win? The smart money is probably on no. 😂 Honestly, that's fine. Because we set out to prove that a boutique can go toe-to-toe with anybody. That small business owners shouldn't have to choose between world-class legal work and lawyers who actually care about their deal. And here's the part that might matter most. This isn't just about our firm. The biggest legal publication in the country just put ETA/SMB/independent sponsor (lower-middle-market) deals on the same stage as billion-dollar M&A. Searchers, independent sponsors, HoldCo builders, the people buying "boring" businesses nobody on Wall Street pays attention to. This space isn't fringe anymore. It's a real, sophisticated corner of American M&A, and now it's being recognized like one. You all built that. We just get to be your lawyers. So let me say the thank yous, because none of this happened alone. To our attorneys, paralegals and ops team: you're the ones grinding through diligence at 11pm, running the checklists, answering the panicked Sunday texts and closing 400+ deals without ever letting quality slip. This award has your fingerprints all over it. To our clients: you took a chance on some lawyers from the internet when the "safe" move was hiring a name you recognized. You trusted us with your life savings, your SBA loans, your one shot at buying the business. We never forget that. This is yours as much as ours. To this community: the searchers, sponsors, operators and mutuals who referred friends, shared our stuff and rooted for us since we were nobody. You built the ecosystem. We just grew up inside it. And to @KHendersonCo and @Sam_Rosati: thanks for being crazy enough to build this with me. We find out in November. For now, back to work.