How selection works
American Top Attorneys is an editorial directory. Membership is a flat monthly fee. There are no pay-per-lead placements, no ad auctions, and no rank sold to individual attorneys outside the transparent editorial featured slot. Below is the process every listing goes through.
Bar verification
Every listing is checked against the attorney's state bar registry. We confirm the bar number, admission year, active status, and any public disciplinary history before publication. Profiles whose bar status is inactive, suspended, or disbarred are removed from the directory within one business day of verification.
Profile completeness
Members earn a profile-completeness score based on populated fields — bio, practice areas, years of experience, languages, fee structure, contact channels, and independently verifiable case history. Completeness is one of the ranking signals inside each tier and is displayed to members inside the portal so it can be improved directly.
Independent client rating
When available, we surface a rating aggregated from verified client feedback and, for premium members who opt in, imported Google Business reviews. Ratings are read-only editorial signals — members cannot pay to hide reviews or artificially inflate scores.
Ranking on hub pages
City and city-plus-practice search results are ordered: (1) editorially featured attorneys for that scope, (2) premium members, (3) verified free profiles, then (4) unclaimed seeded profiles. Within each band we sort by profile completeness and independent rating. Ties break by admission year.
Featured placements
A small number of "featured" slots per hub page are curated by the editorial team based on the year's distinguished-member criteria (peer recognition, notable case outcomes, community standing). Placements are time-boxed, disclosed as featured on the page, and never sold to individual attorneys. Firms cannot purchase featured placement.
Case results & disclaimers
Case results, awards, and publications are member-supplied and reviewed for compliance with each state's attorney advertising rules. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Where a state requires a specific disclaimer, it is rendered on the member's profile.
Removal & appeals
Any attorney or member of the public may request correction or removal of information. Verified errors are corrected within three business days. Attorneys whose bar status changes, or who cancel their membership, retain a basic verified listing but lose premium features and any featured placement.