The internet has made researching your injury lawyer online much more straightforward. There are detailed online lawyer directories, state bar association websites, and even national federal databases of attorneys available for the public to use for free.
Geo-targeting online professional directories (like this one) are a great source or putting together a shortlist of attorneys in your area. You can search for attorneys based on location, practice areas, and in some cases, learn more about each firm, all in one place.
Online injury lawyer legal professional directories may also include more information on how to choose a lawyer and other important information.
The first step in researching your lawyer online is to visit the State Bar Association for the state in which you currently live (or in the state that you need to retain an injury lawyer). The State Bar website will typically have the latest information available for the attorneys licensed to practice in their state.
Certain state bar associations have more information available online than others. The Maryland State Bar website, for example, allows you to search by attorney's name. In the results, you will see their attorney number, name, address, city, zip code, contact number, and status. The status field shows whether they're active, inactive, retired, suspended, or other pertinent information.
The Pennsylvania State Bar website lets you search by attorney name, attorney ID, city, or county. This site also lets you see the attorney's status (active, inactive, deceased, disbarred, etc.) Additionally, on the Pennsylvania website, you can see disciplinary history, including the actual disciplinary orders in the record.
In addition to online searches, most of these state bar websites include a contact number if you need more information.
The US Department of Justice maintains a list of currently disciplined attorneys. The list contains recent updates at the top and is presented in alphabetical order. Clicking on the date link in yellow will give you more information regarding the disciplinary action against the attorney.
There is also a page on the website containing a list of previously disciplined attorneys. The list shows the attorney's name, city and state, date of immediate suspension imposed, the sentence (discipline itself), effective start date, and whether or not they are reinstated.
Research is your friend when selecting an injury lawyer. Take the time and effort to select the best injury lawyer to represent you in your case.