How do I see if any complaints have been filed against a lawyer like you do with BBB for a business??
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at
10:50 am
Over the years, prescription medications Ive contacted BBB many times to find out if a business was reputable but how do I do that with a lawyer?? American Bar Assoc?
You can try the ABA, and also the State Bar Association for your state. For example, I’ve included a link to the CA State Bar where you can check an attorney’s status
You check with the state bar that the lawyer is licensed by. He is more likely be licensed by the state bar of your state. (Too see if he is licensed in more than one state, you need to check each state’s state bar). Just type in XXX state bar on your search engine and look for their "official" web site. Most of them let you look for past complaints on line (for free). You also find their number in your phone book.
Maybe the information is different from state to state, because this is what I found out from Minnesota: The general rule is that complaints against lawyers are not public. The investigation files are not available to anyone except the lawyer. Parts of the file may be disclosed when necessary for investigation. One exception to this rule is Supreme Court filings, trials and hearings, on serious matters, which are open to the public. http://www.courts.state.mn.us/lprb/olprbroch.html