From Alex Spiro and Ben Crump to Davida Brook and Yvette Ostolaza, certain high-flying attorneys have made headlines for their litigation achievements.
However, only a handful of lawyers gain this level of public attention. Some, in fact, deliberately stay clear of the spotlight for nefarious reasons.
Remember, when you are in desperate need of legal help, bad actors could step forward to exploit you and make money. After all, litigation is an area many people are unfamiliar with.
So, confirming a lawyer’s credentials is critical before seeking legal services. The last thing you want is to hire someone with an expired license, disciplinary issues, little to no experience, or, worse, no qualification at all to practice law or provide legal counsel.
But how can you find out if someone actually works as a lawyer and has the necessary expertise? Here are our top tips to help you out.
Check With Your Network
The simplest method to find any type of information is to ask around. The same applies when researching lawyers.
If you need to learn more about a legal professional from a particular city, reach out to friends, family, coworkers, and others from that area who could provide some insights into their background. Don’t forget to check with your social network, too.
An experienced lawyer cannot possibly live in obscurity. So, if you ask the right people, you are bound to find a few leads. Best of all, this method could help uncover first-hand accounts of working with a particular lawyer if they practice law for real.
In the event they don’t, you might at least get some recommendations on other attorneys proficient in the matter on which you seek legal counsel.
Contact the State Bar Association
Let’s say you want to find out whether someone is licensed to practice in a particular state. You can verify this by contacting the relevant state’s bar association.
Many of these organizations now have their records online. So, check their websites first before calling or visiting them.
Most bar association sites allow name and bar number searches, although the information they provide will likely vary depending on the state. The basic records you may find could include the date a person was admitted to the bar association, license status, address, email, contact number, and website.
Some provide details about the practice area, law school attended, firm name, board and judicial district, as well as disciplinary and administrative action taken against the attorney.
Look Them Up on LinkedIn
Nowadays, many attorneys are active on LinkedIn. It allows them to showcase their professional profile, build their online reputation, reach a larger audience, and make it easier for clients to find them.
So, head over to LinkedIn, click the People button at the top, enter a first and last name in the search bar, and hit Enter.
If you have a personal LinkedIn account, you could access more search features by logging in. For example, you can apply filters to identify people by location, current and past company, school, service category, and more.
Of course, you can’t believe everything you read on someone’s LinkedIn profile. But at least you can get an idea about their professional background and find mutual connections who can verify some of the details.
Search for Their Profession on Google
Often, you can find references to a person’s profession on a variety of online platforms.
For instance, there could be company websites and personal blogs that refer to their legal practice. You can find all these with a simple name search on Google.
A distinct advantage of using Google’s search engine is its ability to retrieve content published by third parties, including news articles and client reviews. This makes it possible to verify credentials and confirm what you already know.
However, discovering information on search engines can get tricky when more than one person has the same name. In instances like this, you can narrow your search by adding any other details you know about the relevant lawyer to the search query.
Find Them on a People Search Engine
People search platforms contain a range of information sourced from multiple credible sources. This saves you from the hassle of going through different websites, databases, publications, and the like to find useful material.
And their search results are usually produced as comprehensive reports where all records relating to a person are extracted and compiled into an easy-to-review format.
The information they have can range from contact numbers and schools attended to business and professional licenses and criminal records. You can find all these and more with an accurate first and last name. Many also allow reverse searches using phone numbers, emails, and addresses.
While basic info is often free, you may need to subscribe to a paid plan to access in-depth details on these platforms.
Note, however, that some people search engines may have outdated information. That is why you should verify it on official sources.
Try an Attorney Review Site
There is a review site for everything and anything on the internet today. So, it hardly comes as a surprise that there are platforms reviewing attorneys, too.
The benefits of these are two-fold. For lawyers, review websites provide a valuable opportunity to build their online image. And for potential clients, they are an excellent resource to learn more about attorneys through impartial opinions and ratings. After all, 82% of people depend on online reviews when deciding on a lawyer to contact. So, what better place than a review site to identify a credible attorney?
Now, as you know, reviews can be manipulated. So, it is important to select reputed review platforms and analyze testimonials for obvious red flags.
To Recap
At times, deceptive individuals could exploit you when you desperately require legal counsel. This is why you must look into an attorney’s credentials and confirm they have the qualifications, licenses, and experience to advise and represent you.
Your personal network, state bar associations, LinkedIn, Google, people search engines, and attorney review sites are all excellent resources for finding out if someone actually works as a lawyer.
If you want to improve your chances of success, choose an attorney familiar with the local courts and judges. Consider their area of expertise, reputation, track record, and fees, too.
