Top Lawyers of America

Editor’s Note: Hi Tech Criminal Justice was compensated for the review of the following website.

Top Lawyers of America is well constructed and easy to navigate website. The website is commercial in nature allowing site visitors to search for attorneys and lawyers, nationwide, who have advertised on the site. As an example, if you were looking for a divorce attorney you can search by that area of law (there are fourteen different areas listed), or you could conduct a geographic search.

In addition to having a search for lawyer function, the site offers some very general information to legal questions; a news feed centered on legal news; and, a forum. While the website is well constructed, “non-referral” information, such as areas on “Research Legal Topics,” “Get Legal Tips” and “Ask a Lawyer” are either very generic or non-existent. This is likely a symptom of the website being relatively new. The web-publisher has a good idea – developing a nationwide attorney and legal advice portal, but it takes time and effort to flesh the idea out with salient information.

While a national portal may be a good idea, on a more practical area, this type of search function may not be the best way to actually find a lawyer. All attorneys belong to a bar association. It is by membership to that state bar that an attorney earns the right to practice law in that state. The bar tests, license and disciplines attorneys. Furthermore, many lawyers belong local bar associations. It is through these local associations that they obtain other benefits like legal updates, discounts to certain legal research databases and the ability to participate in a referral service.

Like Top Lawyers of America, the Orange County Bar Association (California), maintains a lawyer referral and information service. In both instances, the attorneys have paid some fee (either advertising or membership) to participate. The OC bar says, “Membership in the Lawyer Referral & Information Service (LRIS) is a prominent and profitable form of advertising. For over 45 years, the public has looked to the Orange County Bar Association’s LRIS for legal assistance. Clients referred to LRIS attorneys become sources of referrals for friends and relatives, and often return to LRIS themselves when legal services are needed.”

When you call a local bar association and ask for their referral service they often screen you for two purposes. First, they want to refer you to an attorney who specializes in that area of law, and second, they often screen you for the ability to pay the attorney. As the OC Bar says, “Trained LRIS representatives carefully screen each call. Only callers in need of legal assistance and able to pay attorneys’ fees are referred to LRIS panel members. Those who cannot afford attorneys’ fees are guided toward community pro bono services or to attorneys in the LRIS Modest Means Program.”

Generally speaking, once a local bar association refers you to a lawyer, that lawyer will provide you with a half-hour consultation for a small fee, usually between $25 and $50. A benefit of using Top Lawyers of America may be that there is no “screening” and the attorney’s listed on Top Lawyers of America clearly want to speak with potential clients. In the end, Top Lawyers of America provide a viable way to search for attorneys by legal issue and geography.