Raymond Best at work, February 1914, at his Riverside Abstract Company office

Raymond Best

Raymond Best started his law practice in 1892 when he purchased the law library of John G. North, son of Riverside founder John W, North. Located in the Evans Building, at the corner of Main Street and Eighth Street (now University Avenue), the office remained in its historic location until 1958, when the firm moved to Orange and Twelfth streets.
As well as practicing law, Raymond owned the Riverside Abstract Company, and he rode the Santa Fe steam daily to the county seat in San Bernardino to extract title records until 1915 when he sold the business to focus solely on his law career.
Best’s son Eugene, also at Evergreen, joined him at the law firm in 1922, and in 1925 the firm was renamed Best and Best. Today, the law firm he founded is still called Best Best & Krieger and is one of the 50 largest in California with approximately 200 lawyers in eight offices.