attorney directories

Promote Your Law Practice: List of Attorney Directories

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit

An attorney directory is a service that researches, lists, analyzes, and then ranks attorneys at a local level.

These legal directories have become a fixture in the legal industry, and attorneys across the country use the platform to promote their perspective law firms.

Which Attorney Directory Should I Use?

Table of Contents

The short answer to that question is as many as possible. However, it will be beneficial for you to be aware of some of the more popular directories, how they work, and what they’ll cost you if anything.

Not sure where how to start? We provide this law firm marketing guide!

Free Lawyer Directories vs. Paid Lawyer Directories

Let’s dive into the differences between paid directory listing and free directory listings for law firms.

Free Lawyer Directories

The majority of web directories offer both free and paid listings, which raises the question: what’s the difference?

Both of them are listings on the same website. There are pros and cons related to both paid and free listings.

Simple Law Firm Online Marketing Tips

For instance, free listings are, well…free. That’s really the only major positive with regard to free listings, though to be fair it’s a pretty big positive.

However, these free listings are often what is referred to as “skeletal” or “basic” listings. In contrast to the one admittedly stellar pro of not costing you a thing, there are quite a few negatives associated with free listings.

For example, the free sides of lawyer directories are often crowded, with very little to differentiate one listing from the other.

Also, even though your listing is free, the owners of these free directories have to make their money somehow. Generally, they do this by selling ad space on their site. The paid advertisements will distract potential clients from your listing.

Basic Free Listings with Optional Paid Listings

These attorney directories will allow you to list your law firm on their website but also have paid options that will enhance their listing in some way or another:

With Lawyer Legion, a basic listing is free. Attorneys can pay a fee and “upgrade” their profile; this will unlock more categories that will enable attorneys to appear in more searches. Within this directory, users searching for an attorney can search by name, location, specialty, and by practice area. Lawyer Legion also ranks attorneys based on their participation in specialty bar associations, various board certifications, and non-profit legal services.

Justia’s Lawyer Directory categorizes lawyers by their practice area and geographic location. The initial profile is free, but attorneys can pay to become a “featured attorney.” These appear in a separate category, at the top and right-hand side of the page, so that they appear first.

Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute (LII). This directory includes duplicate listings from Justia, which is only a perk of placing your listing with Justia’s attorney directory. Also, like Justia, you can pay to be a featured attorney on the LII attorney directory.

Paid Lawyer Directories

When it comes to paid listings in an attorney directory, though there are more pros, there are still a few cons.

Not all law firm directories are created equal. Some aren’t worth your time, while others just aren’t that effective.

It’s important to do research and ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck if you plan to submit a listing to a paid attorney directory. If you’re paying for a listing, be sure the site isn’t also selling ad space along with its premium listings, as the ads will still distract potential clients from your listing.

When you pay for a listing in an attorney directory, oftentimes, this opens up new categories on your listing.

It will probably allow your law firm to post pictures and add links or a blog feed, all huge benefits to lawyer SEO.

On top of that, in some cases, consumers respect these paid law firm directories more.

They have teams of editors or peer-review capabilities that help elevate content quality. In turn, Google and other search engines consider them more respectable sources.

Essentially, these directories are trying to create their own version of attorney search engines.

Obviously, there are a lot of different variables to consider when choosing which lawyer directory you want to submit a listing.

Listed below are some of the top lawyer directories.

Top Lawyer Directories

This section takes a look at the top ten paid lead generation systems for attorneys.

Ten popular attorney lead generation companies (in alphabetical order) include:

  • 4LegalLeads
  • Avvo
  • FindLaw
  • Lawyer.com
  • Lawyers.com
  • LegalMatch
  • LegalZoom
  • Nolo
  • Thumbtack
  • Unbundled Attorney
advertising ideas for law firm growth

4LegalLeads Law Firm Directory

Created in 2001, 4LegalLeads is a lawyer lead generation system that is useful for attorneys, law firms, and legal media companies. It also works for legal plan associates and for legal insurance companies. The leads generated by this system happen in real-time and are only sold once.

4LegalLeads advertises to generate leads for its members while following the rules of the American Bar Association. 4LegalLeads treats all members equally and does not endorse or recommend any particular attorney or law firm.

With the same concept, leads also cost the same, across the board resulting in no commission for the platform, regardless of how valuable a new client lead becomes.

4LegalLeads offers services that can be chosen depending on the specific areas of law and the geographic location. It is possible to target multiple areas of law. The price of the leads generated depends on the categories selected. Attorneys who are a member of the 4LegalLeads system and have funds available in their accounts receive a fair allocation of leads in the geographic areas that they select.

National campaigns receive the most leads. Attorney leads can be narrowed to select specific states. If preferred, a number of miles can be selected as a radius from a certain zip code. This will restrict leads to a certain distance from a law firm and also can be restricted not to cross state lines. Another way to limit leads to a geographical area is to select the counties in a particular state.

95% of all lawyer leads are disseminated in real-time. Only 5% are held back to use for quality control purposes. Leads are kept on file for 30 days, and incoming leads are checked against the existing leads in the database to eliminate duplicates.

The system uses a third-party verification service to determine if an area code and the prefix of the phone number is legitimate. Attorneys who are members of this service can reject bad leads that have incorrect telephone numbers or undeliverable email addresses. Any bad leads are immediately replaced with good ones.

New attorney members of this system can set up an account, and after funding, the account can start to receive leads within 24 hours. Sometimes it takes up to a week for leads to begin if the area of law selected and the geographical limits are narrow.

Leads are delivered by email to system members in real-time from national marketing campaigns. There is also a live call-transfer system available for leads that come in by telephone. Lead notification is possible by SMS text message to a cell phone.

Leads can be downloaded in a spreadsheet file format or as pdf files. Major client members can benefit from having leads automatically posted to their law firm’s client database as well.

This system sells leads at a cost of $20 to $600 per lead, which depends on the category selected. It is possible to fund an account with only $100 to get started; however, the recommendation is to fund a new account with an amount that will cover the cost of 10 to 20 leads in order to give the system a fair test.

The average funding amount for member law firms is at least $500 to up to $2,000. A 5% bonus is added to accounts funded with $1,000 and a 10% bonus is added to accounts funded with $2,000. National firms that cover a large geographical area fund their accounts with many thousands of dollars.

There is no automated billing. Account funding is done manually by the attorney members so that they always have full control of the advertising spend. Any unused funds will be automatically refunded by request and by giving 24-hour notice. There are no long-term contracts.

Current prices (2019) for specific areas of law are:

  • Auto Accidents: $125 to $600 per lead
  • Bankruptcy: $50 per lead
  • Business Law: $30 per lead
  • Child Birth Injury: $70 per lead
  • Civil Lawsuits (No Injury): $20 per lead
  • Consumer Law: $20 per lead
  • Criminal Defense: $60 to $85 per lead
  • Debt and Collection: $20 per lead
  • DUI: $80 to 100 per lead
  • Employment and Labor Law: $20 to 25 per lead
  • Estate Planning: $40 per lead
  • Family Law: $40 per lead
  • Foreclosure Defense: $55 per lead
  • ID Theft: $30 per lead
  • Immigration: $20 per lead
  • Intellectual Property: $30 to 40 per lead
  • Landlord/Tenant: $30 per lead
  • Medical Malpractice: $40 per lead
  • Nursing Home Abuse: $70 per lead
  • Personal Injury: $75 to 150 per lead
  • Real Estate and Property Law: $30 per lead
  • SSDI or Social Security Disability: $40 per lead
  • Tax Law: $60 to 120 per lead
  • Traffic Violations: $20 per lead
  • Workers Comp: $70 to 100 per lead (higher in NY/IL/CA)
  • Wrongful Termination: $20 per lead (higher in CA)

Attorneys and law firms appreciate the 4LegalLeads system because it is a well-established national wholesaler of leads. When an account is established with a sufficient law firm advertising budget, it is fairly easy to determine if the benefits of receiving these leads produce a profit for the firm.

The 4LegalLeads system is confident in its long-term value in providing leads for attorneys because it does not require any contractual commitments.

Avvo Law Firm Directory

Avvo is part of the Martindale Legal Marketing Network which reaches over 25 million consumers each month, making it the largest legal network online. Other popular legal websites in this network include Martindale.com, Lawyers.com, TotalAttorneys.com, and Nolo.com

Avvo provides a comprehensive rating system for almost all (97%) of the attorneys in the United States. The ratings for attorneys on the Avvo system are listed on a 10-point scale. The lowest ratings are 1 or less and are categorized as “exercise extreme caution.” The highest rating is a 10, which represents a superb lawyer.

Ratings are based on an attorney’s experience and background, the number of licensed years, work experience, and education. There is also consideration given for legal community recognition and legal thought leadership that includes peer endorsements, associations, awards, publications, and speaking engagements.

Disciplinary information is a factor in negative ratings; however, this information on the Avvo system may not be comprehensive or up-to-date, so people are encouraged to check with the state bar association before hiring an attorney.

Attorneys can claim their free profile on Avvo. This allows them to upload a photo of themselves, give contact information, add their resume, and delineate their areas of legal practice. To boost their Avvo profile, attorneys can ask for peer endorsements and solicit reviews from clients.

Attorneys can increase their profile’s visibility by paying for premium membership. Premium membership removes competitive ads from an attorney’s profile page. It improves contact capability with enhanced visibility that includes having a priority in the search results. It allows the placement of the best reviews at the top of the profile page.

Clients can post a review of an attorney and give them a rating on a five-star scale. Avvo users are encouraged to review attorneys and write about their experience with them.

Avvo offers sponsored listings that move a profile to the top of a directory page and makes them the first thing seen by prospective clients. Avvo also has display ads that are featured on the highest-trafficked web pages. There are no long-term contracts for advertising and no setup fees. Advertising can be tailored to specific practice areas and locations. Advertisers receive up to 70 times more contacts than non-advertisers.

The Avvo system also offers free legal advice, which includes a database of nearly 13 million searchable legal questions and answers. This free service also includes the ability for site visitors to ask a legal question and get advice from an experienced attorney for free, who responds in a matter of a few hours.

Attorneys who participate in this program increase their online reputation and improve their search results on the major search engines of Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Attorneys who answer about 15 questions experience, on average, 10 times the number of contacts as those who do not participate in this program.

Avvo builds professional websites for law firms that are responsive, which means that they display properly on any device. The websites are designed to increase consumer engagement and be easily updated. Website creation requires a 12-month minimum contract commitment.

The basic profile on the Avvo system is free. The upgrade to a premium membership is $100 per month. Advertising starts at $100 per month and depends on the placement of display ads and sponsored listings.

Custom websites that are linked to profiles cost $200 per month.

Attorneys benefit from managing their Avvo profile because a negative rating on this system can be harmful to their reputation. Attorneys that have a good reputation on the Avvo system tend to do well, and the system generates plenty of good client leads for a modest cost.

FindLaw Attorney Directory

FindLaw is owned by Thomson Reuters.

The system started in 1996 as one of the earliest directories of attorneys on the Internet. The website offers free legal advice and receives over 9 million visitors each month. FindLaw is part of a network that also includes the websites of SuperLawyers.com and LawInfo.com.

FindLaw offers integrated marketing solutions that include websites, legal directory listings, SEO, Law Firm PPC campaigns, and blogs.

FindLaw created over 17,000 websites for small law firms. The website design used by FindLaw is adaptive, which means that it displays properly on any device and specifically well on mobile devices.

A FindLaw website includes:

  • Custom content and cutting-edge website design.
  • Optimization with SEO for easy indexing by search engines.
  • Design for conversion with a call-tracking phone number and an online form that makes it easy for clients to make contact.
  • A FindLaw.com profile for visibility by over 9 million consumers each month.

FindLaw provides search engine optimization (SEO) for attorneys’ websites to increase their ranking on search engine page results. These SEO techniques include using tags and website code along with unique authoritative content, improved local presence, and citation links from legitimate sources to increase a website’s credibility.

From what we’ve experienced firsthand, FindLaw SEO and Firm sites are pretty low quality and not much SEO is done on them.

A FindLaw blog builds authority for a law firm and increases a website’s visibility. 

The FindLaw legal directory has over 2 million monthly visitors that are searching for a lawyer. A premium profile gives a law firm prominence in the directory and increases visibility on the major search engines. A spotlight listing highlights a firm’s expertise in a certain area of the law. The FindLaw network also includes SuperLawyers, LawInfo, and Abogados (Spanish language) directory listings.

FindLaw offers a 12-month program for lead generation that focuses on the areas of law practice and geographically-defined territories.

FindLaw provides pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign management services that help a law firm target, certain customers, in geographically-defined areas who are looking for the legal services offered by a law firm.

FindLaw offers an interactive voice response system along with telephone operators and live chat on 24 hours, seven days per week basis to make sure attorneys never miss a client contact, whether they are available or not. 

Premium Directory Profile Listing and Spotlight Listing – Starts at $158 per month
Lead Generation – Leads are $10 to $100 per lead, depending on the practice area.
PPC campaign management depends on advertising spend.
Customized services are quoted on a per-client basis.

The FindLaw legal directory is used by many consumers to find an attorney. Of the visitors to FindLaw, 68% make a decision about the attorney to hire within one week, and most only contact a single legal firm. FindLaw offers the most comprehensive services for integrated marketing of any lead generation company.

While these services seem great on paper, as we started taking on clients that had previously gone with FindLaw for law firm marketing, we saw how much they were overcharging while underperforming. At Digital Logic, we offer several FindLaw marketing alternatives.

HOW TO MOVE FROM FINDLAW

Lawyer.com Law Firm Directory

Lawyer.com has over one million monthly visitors to its website. This system is unique in that it offers leads for attorneys in the USA, Canada, the UK, China, India, and other countries. It is a good system for international law firms.

The Lawyer.com website offers free legal advice and content. The website markets a legal protection plan to consumers that start at $14.99 per month for free legal consultation and discounts on legal fees from participating attorneys. There is a directory of attorneys and advertising opportunities that create leads for lawyers.

Lindsay Lohan is the celebrity spokesperson for Lawyer.com. Lohan is a part owner of the company. She brings attention to the website from her 20+ million followers on social media. Having been through plenty of legal difficulties in her personal life, she now supports drug abuse causes and women’s rights as well as promotes the availability of affordable legal services.

Lawyer.com gets information for its directory from other legal services, and that forms the basic listings of attorneys in a specific area. There is no way to register for a free listing. Attorneys can register for a premium listing and then pay an additional amount to be included in the top practice listings as a county authority or as a statewide authority. There is no long-term contract, and the company offers a 90-day money-back guarantee.

Directory information is easy to update by a law firm, or they can choose to have a staff member of Lawyer.com update the information for them.

Lawyer.com offers the LawSite system that builds custom websites for attorneys, which includes design, hosting, and editing using the best practices for SEO and website features.

A website evaluation includes comprehensive technology and browser tests. A recommendation is made for the optimized placement of contact forms. Image sizes are evaluated. The website is tested for ease of use on mobile devices. Web page loading speed is tested. Recommendations are made for the inbound and outbound hyperlink strategy. Guidance is given for social media platforms. SEO tips are noted to increase traffic from Google searches along with a full Google Analytics implementation.

Digital Logic offers a free competitive analysis for lawyers

A Google AdWords review helps fine-tune an AdWords campaign to remove negative keywords that are a wasteful spend. It helps optimize the location and time of day settings. It maximizes the use of search and displays advertising content and options. An analysis is made of the loading speed for landing pages, the content, calls-to-action, and the conversion rates.

Keyword quality is scored along with ad-copy ratings. A study is made of competitors’ AdWords. Recommendations are made for campaign extensions, including localization and reviews. Google Analytics is used along with conversion tracking scripts for benchmark testing.

Google AdWords campaign management includes a Google Adwords review and ongoing monthly management of a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign.

This service provides 24/7 answering of incoming calls by intake specialists who are skilled at converting information requests to clients.

LawyerLine™ call answering services – start at $99 per month (custom setup $99 to $399)

The Jumpstart plan includes a Premium profile along with a Top Firm listing. Also included is a LawSite custom-designed website that is indexed by Google, which includes integration with Google Maps and Google Analytics.

The LawSite supports unlimited amounts of content with an existing domain or a newly registered domain. All Jumpstart members receive a custom logo created for the law practice and 500 business cards along with the graphics needed for future use. Included in the Jumpstart package are CaseFox case management software, FastCase legal research software, and free attendance at a two-day Barbri Boot Camp for professional development.

The Lawyer.com system works well for law practices focusing on consumers with common legal needs and offers reasonably-priced practical solutions for smaller law firms or solo practitioners.

Lawyers.com Attorney Directory

Lawyers.com is part of the Martindale-Hubble Legal Network that includes the websites of Martindale.com, Avvo.com, Nolo.com, and TotalAttorneys.com. It is not affiliated with Lawyer.com, which has a similar name.

Martindale-Hubbell has a 150-year history in rating attorneys. This system evolved from being a written directory to an online service. This system offers over one million lawyer reviews that help consumers evaluate a lawyer’s ability and ethical behavior.

Over 23 million consumers search for attorneys on the Martindale-Hubble Network each month according to the practice area and location. Having a professional profile listing on this system increases traffic to a law firm’s website. Links from this system to a law firm’s website increase the SEO value and help improve rankings on the search engines.

Lead generation is available for all practice areas and locations.

The Martindale-Hubble network built more than 40,000 websites for law firms. Website packages are available in four levels of complexity called bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.

The bronze package includes standard web pages to introduce the law firm with background, practice, and location information. It also includes a FAQ page, a reviews page, and an awards page. Up to 15 pages of website content can be ported over from an existing website. A library of legal content for each practice area is included. A profile on Lawyers.com is included along with a social media starter kit that has curated articles for use on social media.

The silver package adds to the bronze package by allowing up to 50 pages to be ported over from an existing website. It adds two custom pages at launch and one new custom page each year to keep the site updated.

The gold package adds to the silver package by allowing up to 75 pages to be ported over from an existing website. It adds a top state placement on Laywers.com. It adds the feature of online reviews from across the web and generates more Google reviews. It adds comprehensive SEO services, star ratings on Google, backlinks, listings in other legal directories, one legal video for YouTube promotion, and an SEO dashboard to track website conversion and traffic.

The platinum package adds to the gold package by allowing up to 100 pages to be ported over from an existing website. It adds five custom pages at launch and three new custom pages each year to keep the site updated. It adds top placements on Lawyers.com. It adds 12 legal videos for YouTube promotion.

Lawyers.com offers Ngage Live Chat services on a pay-for-performance model. Attorneys pay for leads that are generated. There is a one-time fee for activation and integration of the chat service with a website.

Options include live call transfers, notification of leads by email or SMS messaging, Spanish language chat, and Facebook Messenger chat.

Directory listings start at around $100 to $300 per month. Website design costs are quoted upon request. Lead generation through inquiries or chat range from $10 to $100+ per lead, depending on the practice area and the location. 

This system does not have transparent, published pricing. Getting a quote requires engaging a high-pressure salesperson that tries to lock a law firm into a long-term contract for a minimum of 12 months. Although many law firms have used this system, it is considered pricey.

Attorneys who are only looking for lead generation and not a website may find it more effective to work with the other websites owned by the Martindale company, such as Nolo.com or Avvo.com, rather than trying to work with the main company through lawyers.com.

LegalMatch Law Firm Directory

LegalMatch started in 1999 as a free service for consumers to use to find an attorney. Users of the website post information about their cases. They are matched by the system to an appropriate attorney in the area of law needed and in a nearby location so that they can make an appointment for an initial consultation.

More than three million cases have been posted on the system. LegalMatch also offers a free legal library that contains over 7,000 articles. The library received a total of over 25 million page views so far.

LegalMatch differs significantly from other lead generation services. Users of the system who seek legal counsel give detailed intake information about their case. Attorneys, who are members of the system, review the potential cases and select only the ones that they think have the most potential for becoming a new client.

Intake questionnaires are designed by attorneys to gather the pertinent information that allows rapid case evaluation by members of the system.

Leads are not sold on a per-lead basis in this system. Instead, law firms join as a member and pay a monthly fee on a long-term contract of three years. The cost of a membership in the LegalMatch system depends on the practice area and location. It is estimated to range on average from $350 per month to $2,500 per month. In some big cities, the price increases to over $6,000 per month.

Some law firms benefit from this system even though it is pricey because the cases are pre-qualified. However, the long-term contract commitment of three years is intimidating.

Moreover, there is competition within the system as more than one law firm from the same area gets to see the same case leads that are entered into the LegalMatch system.

LegalZoom Law Firm Directory

LegalZoom started in 2010. It is a consumer-focused, self-help legal website that assists users with basic legal forms such as simple contracts and business documents. It also offers legal services as monthly subscription plans that give access to member attorneys. These plans offer help with more complex legal matters than those that can be accomplished by do-it-yourself efforts.

The monthly plans for legal services offered by LegalZoom are called “Legal Advantage Plus” for individuals and “Business Advantage Pro” for small businesses.

Attorneys interested in the Legal Zoom system must have at least five year’s experience, be active and in good standing with their state bar association, not have any history of disciplinary actions with state regulators, and maintain errors and omission insurance with a minimum of $100,00 per occurrence and a minimum of a total coverage limit of at least $300,000.

Attorneys who join the network of LegalZoom agree to give free 30-minute consultations to LegalZoom members in exchange for a small portion of the legal plan subscription fees.

Lawyers who are not members of the LegalZoom network can register for a listing in the LegalZoom directory to get referrals of LegalZoom members who need legal services that are not within the scope of the LegalZoom plans.

These attorneys must offer LegalZoom members a 25% discount from their regular rate for legal services except for cases subject to statutory limits or cases taken on a contingency basis. 

There is no cost for an attorney to join the LegalZoom network or for a listing in the LegalZoom directory except for the requirement to discount legal fees by 25% for any legal services not covered by the LegalZoom plans.

For attorneys who work with general consumers and small businesses, LegalZoom offers an excellent opportunity to get more clients without taking any financial risk.

Nolo Legal Directory

Nolo started in 1971. It was developed by a group of attorneys in Berkeley, California. They wanted to help make the U.S. legal system more accessible to regular people who may not have the ability to pay significant amounts for legal representation.

Nolo is a publishing house that produces a large number of self-help legal guides that make common legal issues understandable. Nolo offers help with personal legal forms and legal forms used by small businesses.

Many millions of web users visit Nolo websites each month. Over 100,000 want to speak directly to an attorney, making this system a good source of leads for lawyers.

In 2011, the Nolo websites became a part of the Martindale Legal Network, which also owns other popular legal websites such as Martindale.com, Avvo.com, Lawyers.com, and TotalAttorneys.com.

Nolo is part of the Martindale Legal Network that publishes a comprehensive legal directory for all of its websites.

Many searches on the major search engines looking for legal self-help information produce results from the Nolo law library. Each of the Nolo articles displays profiles of attorneys that practice in the related area of law and from a nearby location relevant to the web user.

Nolo offers a specific opportunity for attorneys to purchase leads that come from an attorney request form on the home pages of its websites. Web visitors, who are looking for an attorney, fill out the Nolo web form. They provide their contact information and some information about their legal case. 

Attorneys, who are registered members of Nolo, are offered these leads on either an exclusive basis or on a shared basis (where the leads are also given to other Nolo member attorneys at the same time).

Directory listings in the Martindale Legal Network directory start at about $200 per month. The price of lawyer profile promotion and direct leads from the Nolo websites depends on the practice area, the location, and whether the lead is sold on an exclusive basis or if it is also shared with other attorneys. The costs per lead are $10 to $100+.

Nolo is an excellent source for leads if an attorney’s practice focuses on legal work for general consumers or small business owners. Exclusive leads are very likely to convert into new clients; however, these leads are more expensive.

Thumbtack Lead Generation for Lawyers

Thumbtack is a geo-location marketing service for all businesses, not just law firms. Attorneys should use this service to attract clients from the local area near their offices.

Consumers go to Thumbtack to enter information about a job request for services. This creates a lead within the Thumbtack system that is offered to Thumbtack members who meet the requirements of the job request in terms of the area of legal practice and geographical location.

Listings for attorneys on Thumbtack are free. With promotion turned off, an attorney will get fewer leads and pays the full price for any leads that they wish to reply to, according to the price that the lead is offered for sale.

With promotion turned on, an attorney gets a boost in the Thumbtack search results and thereby gets more leads. Payment for these leads is automatic, whether or not a response is made. These leads are charged at a 20% discount from the full price.

As long as the Thumbtack account has a funding mechanism in place, promotion can easily be turned on and off when an attorney is looking for more leads.

With promotion turned on, there is a special feature available called “instant match.” With instant match turned on, Thumbtack members create a profile of the types of clients and work that they want.

Thumbtack members who pay for the instant match system, set their job preferences, prices, and availability. These settings can be changed at any time. The Thumbtack system matches up job requests with the appropriate Thumbtack members. If the user then responds and makes a request for work, the Thumbtack members pay for the lead.

The cost per lead on the Thumbtack system is determined by the price that the local market will pay for the leads. Thumbtack uses an algorithm to set these prices that make a calculation of the value of the leads to the Thumbtack members. All Thumbtack members get to see some of the leads that are available and can make a decision based on the price per specific lead and whether they want to reply or not. 

All attorneys should register for a free Thumbtack account just to get an idea of the types of leads that come through this system. Most attorneys who work with general consumers and small businesses will likely benefit from paying for leads that come through the Thumbtack system since they are pre-qualified. Thumbtack users are highly likely to be looking for a service provider.

Unbundled Attorney Directory

Unbundled Attorney started in 2015. The system works with attorneys that offer legal representation on a flat-fee basis that has a limited scope and is defined by discrete tasks. This style of legal services differs significantly from the traditional way attorneys charge per hour of their professional time.

Many clients prefer this approach because unbundled legal expenses are more manageable and predictable. There is a significant trend towards more self-help law, do-it-yourself legal forms or flings, and using attorneys less for common legal needs.

Unbundled Attorney addresses these trends with a new way to market the legal services of an attorney on an as-needed basis. Unbundled Attorney also conveniently integrates the popular CRM software system called Lexicata, which helps attorneys with case management.

Clients who cannot afford to pay a large retainer to engage the help of an attorney are attracted to unbundled legal services because they are more affordable. Attorneys generate predictable business using this marketing methodology and may also offer payment plans, which make it easier for clients to pay for legal services.

Limited scope representation with court appearances: $1,000 to $1,500

Unbundled Attorney does an excellent job of pre-qualifying leads through client education and informing them of the legal costs that they can expect for unbundled legal services. Leads generated from this system are exclusive. They are only sold to a single qualified attorney in the proper practice area of law and in a nearby location for which the client needs help.

The pre-qualification and exclusivity of the leads result in conversion rates that are very high. Attorneys can feel confident in responding to the leads that they receive through this system because they will very likely become paying clients.

There are no long-term contract commitments for Unbundled Attorney. The lead cost varies depending on the practice area and location of the law firm. It ranges from $50 to $100 per lead.

For attorneys that can organize their work for clients in ways that can be clearly limited in scope and easily defined for a flat-fee pricing structure, Unbundled Attorney is an excellent system to use for lead generation.

Lawyer Directories that Rank Attorneys

Marketing for Legal Services
  • HG.org Attorney Directory. HG.org allows a free basic listing with opportunities to upgrade to a paid premium listing. Attorneys who have a listing with HG can publish articles at no further cost.
  • BestLawyers.com. BestLawyers lists attorneys based on confidential peer-review studies performed by other attorneys. Attorneys are listed on BestLawyers based solely on their publication history. The reviews of other lawyers are prohibited from paying to be included on the BestLawyers list. Publications listed on BestLawyers are published in nearly 70 different countries, as well as all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
  • Legal500.com. Though Legal500 is based in the UK, it provides a guide to the legal market in more than 70 countries. It ranks law firms by the countries they practice in, regions within those countries, and practice areas. It does cover firms in the US and includes a team of 50 editors and researchers that maintains its listings.
  • LegalZoom Attorney Directory and Network. LegalZoom provides an attorney directory, as well as a compilation of self-representation legal forms for its consumers.

Lawyer Directories Maintained by the State Bar

The state bar associations of most states in the US maintain directories that will allow consumers to find an attorney in that jurisdiction. The site lists every attorney licensed in that state. Attorneys can log in to update their address, phone number, and other information.

For example, this is the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Find an Attorney page. Attorneys in every state must visit their state’s site and ensure that their contact information is updated. Because these pages are maintained by an official state entity, they rank extremely high on search engines and are often some of the first directories a potential client will see when searching for an attorney.

The American Bar Association also maintains the Consumer’s Guide to Legal Help. This page allows users to search for legal representation or advice in the US, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Canada. It also allows users to check the status of a lawyer’s license in their state.

Like other attorney directories maintained by the state, attorneys can log onto this site to update their contact information.

Promoting Your Law Firm With Attorney Directories

The goal of any marketing strategy is to get the name of you and your law firm in front of your potential consumers, and though it may seem more complicated than it was twenty years ago, that core objective remains the same.

Lawyer directories, when utilized correctly, can be a cost-effective way to take charge of your law firm marketing strategy.
internet marketing services

Remember, it is never a bad idea to allow a professional to handle your digital marketing services. Professionals can assure that your information is consistent and sufficient across all platforms.

Contact Digital Logic today for your free law firm marketing strategy consultation!

Subscribe and Thrive

Lets work together

Let us know how we can help grow your business.