To find out if a lawyer has complaints or discipline, search the online attorney directory run by the state bar or disciplinary authority in the state where the lawyer is licensed. The search is free, takes a few minutes, and shows whether the attorney is currently licensed and whether any regulator has publicly sanctioned them. What it doesn’t show is every grievance ever filed, and understanding that gap is part of reading the result correctly.
What to Gather Before You Search
The most useful piece of information is the lawyer’s bar number, the unique identifier assigned when they were first admitted. With it, you pull up the right person on the first try. Without it, the full legal name and the state of licensure will work, though common names may return multiple results. Try variations if nothing comes up: lawyers sometimes use a shortened first name or drop a middle initial.
You need to know which state issued the license, because each state runs its own disciplinary system. A lawyer admitted in three states has three separate records, and a complaint filed in one state won’t automatically appear in another. If you’re not sure where the attorney is licensed, the American Bar Association publishes a list of every state licensing agency so you can check each one.
Running the Search on a State Bar Directory
Go to the website for the bar association or disciplinary authority in the relevant state. Look for a link labeled “Attorney Search,” “Lawyer Lookup,” or “Verify a Lawyer.” Enter the name or bar number and you’ll get a profile with contact information, license status, and admission date.
The line that matters most is the one showing whether the license is active and in good standing. Below that, the profile lists any public disciplinary actions: the type of sanction, the date it was imposed, and often a short description of the underlying conduct. If no discipline is listed, no regulator in that state has publicly sanctioned the attorney.
Some states publish everything in a fully searchable database. Others post only basic license status and require a phone call or written request for the complete public disciplinary history. If the online profile looks thin, contact the bar directly and ask what additional records are available to the public.
Why a Clean Record Isn’t the Whole Story
A state bar directory shows public discipline, not raw complaints. Most complaints never become public. A client upset about slow communication or a disappointing outcome may file a grievance, but if the bar’s intake staff decides the conduct doesn’t rise to an ethical violation, the complaint is dismissed and kept confidential. The lawyer’s public profile stays clean.
Even when the bar investigates and finds the lawyer did something wrong, the resulting discipline can be private. Most states allow a private admonition, a written notice that the conduct was improper but not serious enough to warrant a public sanction. Private admonitions don’t appear in online directories and generally aren’t disclosed outside the disciplinary system. They stay in the lawyer’s internal file and can influence the severity of discipline if the lawyer gets in trouble again.
So a clean public record means one of three things: no one complained, complaints were filed and dismissed, or discipline was imposed privately. You can’t tell which from the outside. The search is still worth doing; a clean record is a baseline, not a guarantee.
What the Levels of Public Discipline Mean
When discipline is public, it falls into recognized categories. The ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, which courts around the country use as a framework, define four levels:
- Admonition (private). A declaration that the conduct was improper, with no restriction on the ability to practice. Because it’s private, it won’t show in a directory search.
- Reprimand, also called a public censure. Formally declares the conduct improper and appears on the public record but doesn’t restrict the license.
- Suspension. The lawyer is removed from practice for a set period. During a suspension, they cannot represent clients, and this shows prominently on the profile.
- Disbarment. The license is terminated. This is reserved for the most serious misconduct, such as stealing client funds, committing a felony, or engaging in repeated fraud.
Pay attention to what the lawyer did, not just the label. A reprimand for a trust account bookkeeping error is a different animal from a reprimand for lying to a client. An isolated reprimand from years ago is different from a recent suspension or a pattern of sanctions.
Checking More Than One State
Lawyers frequently hold licenses in more than one state, and a lawyer disciplined in one jurisdiction may continue practicing in another until that state opens its own proceedings. Checking a single directory can leave you with an incomplete picture.
The ABA operates the National Lawyer Regulatory Data Bank, the only national repository of public disciplinary actions against lawyers in the United States. It collects information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and many federal courts, with records going back to 1968. It exists mainly to help disciplinary authorities and bar admissions agencies catch lawyers sanctioned elsewhere. Public access is limited, but you can contact the ABA to ask about a specific attorney.
The manual approach also works. Identify every state where the lawyer claims to be licensed (their website or firm bio usually lists them) and run a separate search in each state’s directory.
Checking Court Records for Malpractice Suits
State bar directories track regulatory discipline. They won’t tell you whether a lawyer has been sued for malpractice, which is a civil matter between the lawyer and client rather than a regulatory action. A lawyer named as a defendant in multiple malpractice suits may still have a clean bar record.
For federal cases, PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) covers every federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy court. You can run a nationwide search by name to see if the lawyer appears as a party. Access costs $0.10 per page, capped at $3.00 per document, and fees are waived if your account accrues less than $30 in a quarter, so a basic search costs little or nothing.
For state court records, most counties post civil case dockets on the court clerk’s website. Search the lawyer’s name as a party in the county where they practice. Keep perspective: being sued once tells you little. Lawyers who handle high-volume litigation get named in suits occasionally as part of the work. A pattern is a different signal.
Fee Disputes Are Not Ethics Complaints
A common reason people go looking for complaints is a billing disagreement, and it’s worth knowing the line most bars draw. A fee dispute is a disagreement about how much you owe. An ethics complaint alleges the lawyer violated professional conduct rules. If the bill seems unreasonably high but the lawyer otherwise did the work, a disciplinary complaint is the wrong tool, and many state bars run voluntary fee dispute resolution programs that mediate or arbitrate billing disagreements outside the disciplinary system. If the lawyer charged for work they never performed or refused to return unearned money, that crosses into ethics territory.
Filing Your Own Complaint
If your search or your experience points to misconduct, you can file a grievance with the bar in the state where the lawyer is licensed. Start on the state bar’s website and look for a grievance form, sometimes called a complaint form. You’ll need your name and contact information, the lawyer’s name and any identifying details, and a specific description of what happened. Vague accusations don’t get traction; concrete facts do. Something like “my lawyer stopped returning my calls for three months and missed the filing deadline for my case” gives the bar something to work with. Include copies of supporting documents (emails, fee agreements, letters, court filings) and don’t send originals.
After you submit, the bar’s intake staff reviews the grievance to decide whether the alleged conduct, if true, would violate the rules of professional conduct. If not, it’s dismissed at intake. If it might, the bar sends a copy to the lawyer, who typically has around 15 days to respond, and you may get a chance to reply. Cases that warrant further work go to a grievance committee, and investigation there can take three to six months or longer. Most complaints are resolved short of formal discipline, through dismissal, diversion to a remedial program, or a private admonition. When formal charges are filed, the case goes to a hearing, and the final disciplinary decision rests with the state’s highest court.
Two things to know before you file. Once submitted, a grievance generally cannot be withdrawn; the bar has an independent obligation to investigate potential misconduct regardless of whether you change your mind. And most states provide some form of immunity for people who file in good faith, so the lawyer cannot sue you for defamation based on what you reported to the disciplinary authority. That protection usually covers only your communications with the bar, not public statements you make elsewhere.