Methodology
How LawFirmReport scores and ranks law firms. This document is the editorial backbone — every number on the site traces back here.
The LawFirmReport Score
Every featured firm receives a LawFirmReport Score on a 0–100 scale. The score is a weighted composite of seven public-facing performance indicators. Inputs are drawn primarily from Google Business Profile data and bar-licensing records. The formula is published in full and versioned. Changes are logged with effective dates.
| Component | What it measures | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Gbp Rating | Google Business Profile star rating across qualifying offices | 40% |
| Review Count | Total verified Google reviews across qualifying offices | 35% |
| Sentiment | Average sentiment score from LLM analysis of review text, on a 0-100 scale | 15% |
| Office Breadth | Count of qualifying offices across the firm | 10% |
| Review Velocity | Reviews per month, trailing 12 months | 0% |
| Response Rate | Owner response rate to Google reviews | 0% |
| Years In Business | Years of continuous operation | 0% |
How each component is normalized
Each input is normalized to a 0–100 sub-score before being weighted. The normalization rules below are applied identically to every firm.
- Gbp Rating (40%): Linear: a 4.3 firm-wide average maps to 0, a 5.0 maps to 100. Below 4.3 the firm is excluded from the directory entirely.
- Review Count (35%): Logarithmic: ln(reviews) normalized so 25 reviews maps to ~30, 500 reviews maps to ~85, 5,000+ reviews maps to 100.
- Sentiment (15%): Sentiment scores are produced by Claude Sonnet 4.6 against a published rubric. The firm-level average of all scored reviews is used directly as the component score.
- Office Breadth (10%): Linear: 1 qualifying office maps to 30, 5 to 60, 10 to 80, 20+ to 100.
- Review Velocity (0%): RESERVED — activated in a future methodology version.
- Response Rate (0%): RESERVED — activated in a future methodology version.
- Years In Business (0%): RESERVED — activated in a future methodology version.
Exclusions
A firm is excluded from scoring (and from the directory) under any of the following conditions:
- Firm-wide average Google rating below 4.3
- Fewer than 25 total verified Google reviews at every office
- Public bar discipline against any current managing partner within the last 5 years
- Firm has formally requested removal via /opt-out and removal has been verified
- Google Business Profile has been removed, suspended, or marked as closed
What the score is — and what it isn't
The LawFirmReport Score reflects observable indicators of client-reported satisfaction, engagement, and firm tenure. It is not an opinion about case outcomes, fee structures, or the legal merits of any matter a firm has handled. A higher score does not mean a firm is more likely to win your specific case. No score, ranking, or directory listing should substitute for the diligence a prospective client owes themselves before retaining counsel.
Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict future outcomes.
Editorial independence
The methodology is set by LawFirmReport editorial staff. Firm participation in affiliated services — including PlatinumProfile.ai, operated by our parent company Mass Tort Ad Agency LLC — does not affect a firm's score and cannot be purchased. Featured firms are listed based solely on meeting the editorial standards published at Editorial Standards.
How affiliated firms appear here: Some featured firms are clients of PlatinumProfile.ai. PlatinumProfile is a Google Business Profile optimization service; firms that use it tend to score well on the indicators above (review volume, response rate, recency). The score reflects the underlying performance, not the relationship.
Methodology version history
Every change to the scoring formula is published below with the date it took effect and a brief changelog.
| Version | Effective | Changelog |
|---|---|---|
| v1.2 current | 2026-05-26 | Activated sentiment component (15%). Rebalanced weights: GBP rating 45→40, review count 40→35, office breadth 15→10. Sentiment scoring uses Claude Sonnet 4.6 against a published rubric, with themes drawn from a fixed vocabulary (responsiveness, communication, outcome_satisfaction, staff_quality, intake_experience, case_duration, court_performance). Review velocity, response rate, and years in business remain reserved at weight 0 pending data availability. |
| v1.0 | 2026-05-25 | Initial published methodology. Composite score 0-100 across seven weighted components. |
| v1.1 | 2026-05-25 | Launch methodology. Reweights GBP rating and review count to reflect data sources currently available for all firms. Velocity, response rate, and sentiment components reserved at 0 weight; they activate when data is populated for all listed firms, at which point the formula bumps to v1.2. |
Questions about a score
Firms or individuals who believe a score is calculated incorrectly may contact editorial@lawfirmreport.com. Substantive corrections are published at our corrections policy. Firms wishing to be removed from the directory entirely may do so at /opt-out.