How QOLA Checks Every Law Firm It Lists

We cross-reference each fact against public records, show the source link beside it, and stamp it with the date we last checked it plus a next-review date 90 days later. The sequence, for every firm page:

1. 1.Confirm the attorney's identity, license status, and any public discipline in the official state court or bar directory (in New York, the State Unified Court System's Attorney Search), and record the registration number from that directory.
2. 2.Confirm a real, in-state office by cross-referencing the firm's published address against the official directory and the firm's Google Business Profile.
3. 3.Confirm the practice focus from the firm's published caseload and practice pages — firms without a motor-vehicle-accident caseload do not qualify.
4. 4.Record consumer ratings from the Google Business Profile, and peer and client ratings from Martindale-Hubbell and Avvo, each linked to the issuer's own page.
5. 5.Apply the automatic disqualifiers (listed below), then stamp every fact “checked [month year]” with a re-review date 90 days out.

If a source changes between cycles — a rating moves, an office closes, a status changes — the record is corrected and the 90-day timer resets. The dates on each fact tell you exactly how fresh it is.

A legitimate car accident law firm can be confirmed from public records in about ten minutes, and you do not need QOLA to do it:

1. 1.Look the lawyer up in the official state court or bar directory and confirm the exact name, registration number, admission year, and a current active status.
2. 2.Check the same directory entry for public discipline — suspensions, censures, and disbarments appear on the record, with links to the court orders behind them.
3. 3.Confirm the office address on the firm's website matches the address in the directory entry and on its Google Business Profile; a P.O. box or private mailbox store is not an office.
4. 4.Read the firm's profiles on a peer-rating directory such as Martindale-Hubbell and a client-review platform such as Avvo — pages the firm does not control.
5. 5.In a first call, ask for the full name and bar number of the attorney who would handle your case. A real firm answers without hesitation.

Every firm record on QOLA documents these same checks, with a dated link beside each fact.

You can usually tell within one phone call. Run these tests:

New York publishes attorney discipline in the same directory it uses for registration, and checking it takes three steps:

1. 1.Open the New York State Unified Court System's Attorney Search (iapps.courts.state.ny.us/attorneyservices).
2. 2.Search the attorney's full name, and confirm you have the right person by the registration number and office address — filter by city if the name is common.
3. 3.Read the record: “Currently registered” is the good-standing status; any public discipline is noted on the entry, with links to the Appellate Division orders behind it. Read the order itself, not a summary.

Two limits worth knowing: private admonitions do not appear in the public record, and a clean record today is not a permanent guarantee — which is why QOLA re-checks every listed attorney on a 90-day cycle instead of checking once. Other states publish equivalents; start from your state courts' or bar's official attorney directory.

Each record documents five categories of fact, each linked to its source and individually dated:

Every fact carries two dates: checked [month year] — when we last reviewed that field against its source — and a re-review date 90 days later. Dates appear per fact, not per page, because some sources change faster than others.

Any one of these ends a listing automatically, based on the named source beside it:

• Suspended, inactive, or disbarred bar status (source: the official state directory).
• A public disciplinary record — sanctions, censures, or license restrictions (source: the directory and the court orders it links).
• No physical office in the state where the firm is listed.
• No demonstrated motor-vehicle-accident caseload — general practices do not qualify.
• An aggregate consumer rating below 4.5 of 5 across at least 1,000 reviews on a major platform.
• Solicitation practices prohibited by the state's rules of professional conduct.

When a disqualifier appears mid-cycle, the firm's page comes down or is marked ineligible, with the reason named from the source. If the source record later clears, eligibility can be reconsidered at the next review.

We do not rank lawyers, name a “best” firm, or predict the outcome of any case. There is no such thing as an objectively best lawyer, and any page that says otherwise is selling something. We do not give legal advice: our records document facts; decisions belong to you and to any attorney you consult.

The records we rely on are public. Use them directly:

If a QOLA record and a primary source ever disagree, the primary source wins — and we would want to hear about it: hello@qola.co.