Sourcing
- Every field comes from the public registry of The State Bar of California or is left empty. We do not fill gaps with guesses, defaults, or approximations.
- There are no invented entries. Every listing is keyed to a bar number and links to the official registry record it was built from.
- Only attorneys with an Active license are listed. When the registry shows a change — suspension, disbarment, inactive status — the listing is removed.
- Every profile shows the date its record was last checked. We claim “the registry showed this on that date”, never more.
- Counts on our pages are counted from the listings themselves, not estimated.
How each of these is enforced — where the records come from, what stops an import, and what the verification date on a profile claims — is set out in how we verify attorney licenses.
Self-reported vs. certified
Practice areas are reported by attorneys themselves to the State Bar, which does not verify them and makes no warranty about experience or competence. We show them because they are useful for finding lawyers — never as our endorsement. A “State Bar certified” badge is reserved for specialties certified by the Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization, the one practice claim a public body actually stands behind. The two are kept visually and semantically separate everywhere on the site.
We do not publish success rates, win percentages, or outcome statistics for any attorney. Claims like these create unjustified expectations and are restricted by attorney-advertising rules; a directory has no business making them on lawyers’ behalf.
Corrections
When the registry itself contains an obvious error — a misspelled city, a truncated ZIP — we correct it only when the same record carries unambiguous evidence for the fix, and every such correction is logged in our pipeline. Anything short of that standard stays exactly as the registry prints it. If a listing looks wrong, the official registry link on the profile is the authoritative record.
To report an error in a listing or on this site, write to [email protected]. We answer corrections about license facts first, and we say what changed and when.
Advertising
- The directory is funded by advertising, and ads are labeled as ads.
- Payment can buy prominence — never trust. No paid product adds a verification mark, changes license facts, or affects whether an attorney is listed.
- We do not sell leads and do not take a share of any attorney’s fee.
Who we are and how the site makes money is on the about page.
Content
Everything on AttorneyIndex is informational. We do not give legal advice, do not recommend specific attorneys, and do not tell you what to do in your situation — that is what the lawyer you choose is for.
Informational only — not legal advice. Listings link to independently licensed attorneys.