The legal research and information site Justia this week added peer-based lawyer ratings and reviews as part of the Justia Lawyer Directory.

The new Justia Lawyer Rating and Reviews is based solely on attorney-to-attorney reviews and is intended to provide clients with valuable insights from peers and colleagues personally familiar with the lawyers’ work, Justia says.

Ratings are displayed as a badge on attorney profiles in the directory. Attorneys may also display the badge on their websites and other marketing materials. So far, only some lawyers have ratings.

In order to rate a lawyer in the directory, the reviewer must be an attorney and must also be personally familiar with the work of the lawyer. The rating system uses both numerical and written components.

Reviewers are asked to give an overall score for a lawyer, and also to numerically rate the lawyer on:

  • Legal knowledge.
  • Legal analysis.
  • Communication skills.
  • Ethics and professionalism.

Reviewers are also asked to provide narrative explanations to support the numerical scores.

“Our team works diligently to ensure the Justia Lawyer Directory is a useful resource for individuals and businesses seeking to hire an attorney,” said Justia CTO Vasu Kappettu in a statement announcing the feature. “The new Justia Lawyer Rating and Reviews system will add another helpful dimension for consumers and business people to compare their options.”

[Disclosure: Justia designed and hosts this blog at no charge to me.]

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.