Kern County’s Verdict: Chain | Cohn | Clark Named 2026 ‘Best Law Firm’ and ‘Best Personal Injury Law Firm’

The people of Kern County looked at every law firm in the region and said the same thing: Chain | Cohn | Clark is the best.

In the 2026 “Best of Kern County” Readers’ Choice Poll, published by The Bakersfield Californian, the Law Office of Chain | Cohn | Clark earned top honors in both the “Best Law Firm” and “Best Personal Injury Law Firm” categories. The awards were voted on entirely by readers, meaning no panel of judges, no industry committee, just the community the firm has served for nearly 100 years casting their votes.

“This means more than any accolade we could ever receive from within the legal industry,” said Chain | Cohn | Clark managing partner and attorney Matt Clark. “When the people of Kern County tell us we’re doing right by them, that’s the only review that really matters.”

The Best of Kern County Readers’ Choice Poll is one of the most widely recognized community recognition programs in the region. Readers nominate and vote for their favorites across dozens of categories, from restaurants and retail to health care and professional services. Winning once is meaningful. Winning consecutively in two categories, including the highly competitive Best Law Firm category, is a reflection of consistent trust built one client at a time.

In fact, Chain | Cohn | Clark has been voted into the “Best Law Firm” category each year since the category was introduced — this is the 14th time. The poll introduced the “Best Personal Injury Law Firm” category for the first time in 2022 — this is the fifth time in a row Chain | Cohn | Clark was selected. In 2019, Chain | Cohn | Clark was inducted in the inaugural “Best of Kern County Hall of Fame.

The firm’s reputation is built on word of mouth, on clients who trusted the firm with some of the worst moments of their lives and walked away feeling heard, protected, and fairly compensated.

“We don’t run ads promising miracle settlements or use catchy phone numbers to draw attention,” Clark said. “What we do is show up, work hard, and treat every client like family. When that earns us this kind of recognition, it tells us we’re doing exactly what we set out to do.”

Chain | Cohn | Clark has guided its culture around five core values: Compassion, Character, Competence, Communication, and Customer Experience. These are not marketing talking points: they are the framework the firm uses internally to hold itself accountable to every client, every case, and every community member who walks through the door.

Compassion means understanding what a client is going through, not just the legal facts of their case. Character means doing the right thing even when it’s difficult. Competence means never settling for good enough when better is possible. Communication means clients are never left in the dark. Customer Experience means every interaction, from the first phone call to the final settlement, is handled with patience, kindness, and respect.

When Kern County voters return to choose Chain | Cohn | Clark year after year, they are responding to those values in action.

The firm’s roster reflects deep roots in Kern County and a commitment to fighting for people over corporations. Managing Partner Matt Clark has spent his career building a firm where former defense attorneys, workers’ compensation specialists, and community advocates work together under one roof, each bringing a different lens to the work of protecting injured people.

Partner Beatriz Trejo has championed workers’ compensation cases for English and Spanish-speaking community in Kern County, ensuring that language is never a barrier to justice. Partner Chris Hagan spent years on the defense side before crossing over, giving him an inside understanding of how insurance companies think and where they look for weaknesses. Associate attorney Doug Fitz-Simmons brings that same insurance defense experience to every case he handles on behalf of plaintiffs.

Associate attorney Juan Garza, an Arvin native and bilingual attorney, came to law after working as a private investigator, giving him a street-level understanding of how cases are built and where evidence lives. Associate attorney Tanya Alsheikh has developed a focused practice in elder abuse, representing one of the most vulnerable populations in the county. And partner Chad Boyles has dedicated his career to representing injured Kern County residents, bringing a tenacious approach to complex personal injury cases and a deep personal investment in the community he calls home.

Together, they represent something the firm has always believed: that the best legal team is one that reflects the full diversity of the community it serves.

Chain | Cohn | Clark was founded in 1934, when Bakersfield was a very different city. In the decades since, the firm has navigated every shift in California law, every change in the insurance landscape, and every evolution in how personal injury cases are built and tried.

Through oil booms and recessions, through agricultural labor movements and highway expansions, through pandemics and legislative overhauls, the firm has remained rooted in Kern County. Its office sits in the same Bakersfield community its clients call home. Its attorneys shop at the same grocery stores, coach the same youth leagues, and volunteer at the same community events as the people they represent.

That longevity is not accidental. It is the result of a commitment to doing the work honestly and well, year after year, regardless of how the legal market shifts around it.

“We’ve been here for nearly 100 years because we’ve earned it,” Clark said. “Through results. Through relationships. Through showing up when it counted.”

For anyone in Kern County who has been injured in a car accident, hurt at work, bitten by a dog, or harmed through someone else’s negligence, the “Best of Kern County” recognition offers a simple reassurance: your neighbors have already done the homework. When thousands of readers nominate and vote for the same firm across multiple categories, it is because those readers, or someone close to them, has been through the experience of needing a personal injury lawyer in Kern County. They know what it feels like to be confused, scared, and unsure who to trust. And they pointed to Chain | Cohn | Clark.

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If you or someone you know is injured in an accident at the fault of someone else, or injured on the job no matter whose fault it is, contact the attorneys at Chain | Cohn | Clark by calling (661) 323-4000, or fill out a free consultation form, text, or chat with us at chainlaw.com.