What the Data Quality Score on a Lawyer Profile Means

The Data Quality Score is a 0-100% rating of how well a LexRanked profile is documented: how complete, recent, well-sourced, verified and consistent its facts are. It says nothing about how good the lawyer is, and it never changes a ranking. Every profile shows it next to the LexRank score so you can judge how much to rely on what you read. This guide explains how it is calculated and how to use it.

The short version

It measures the evidence, not the lawyer: how complete, recent, well-sourced, verified and consistent a profile's facts are.
Five parts make up the score: completeness 30%, freshness 20%, source quality 20%, verification 20% and consistency 10%.
Official sources count most: a fact from a state bar scores 100, a fact from the lowest source tier 20.
It never changes a ranking position and cannot be bought.
A low score means "check more yourself", usually because facts are missing or old, not wrong.

LexRank score vs Data Quality Score

The LexRank score compares lawyers; the Data Quality Score describes the evidence behind one profile.

	LexRank score	Data Quality Score
Question it answers	How does this lawyer compare on documented signals?	How well documented is this profile?
Scale	0-100 points	0-100%
Based on	Experience, practice relevance, awards and credentials, location and data quality (client reviews are shown but not scored)	Completeness, freshness, sources, verification, consistency
Decides ranking position?	Yes	No

Why is there a separate score for the data?

Because a ranking is only as reliable as its facts. Two lawyers can look identical on a list while one profile rests on fresh, official records and the other on a single outdated directory entry. Showing the difference openly lets you decide how much weight to give each profile.

How is the Data Quality Score calculated?

It is a weighted average of five published dimensions.

Dimension	Weight	What it checks
Completeness	30%	How many expected facts are on record with a source. Core facts such as city, state, practice areas and bar status (and the website for firms) count double.
Freshness	20%	Whether those facts were checked recently enough for their type.
Source quality	20%	How authoritative the sources are, from 100 for an official source such as a state bar down to 20 for the lowest-tier source.
Verification coverage	20%	Half the share of verified facts, half the required checks. For lawyers those are identity, license and bar status.
Consistency	10%	Whether the best sources agree, with no unresolved conflicts.

A worked example

Here is how a typical Florida lawyer profile reaches about 87%. Assume 11 of the 14 expected facts are on record (website, rating and review count are missing), one fact is stale, nine come from The Florida Bar and two from a lawyer directory, six facts are verified, all three required checks (identity, license, bar status) have passed, and no sources conflict.

Dimension	Calculation	Score	Weighted
Completeness	15 of 18 weighted points (core facts count double)	83.3	× 30% = 25.0
Freshness	10 of 11 facts within their window	90.9	× 20% = 18.2
Source quality	(9 × 100 + 2 × 60) ÷ 11	92.7	× 20% = 18.5
Verification coverage	Half of 6/11 verified facts plus half of 3/3 checks	77.3	× 20% = 15.5
Consistency	11 of 11 facts without a conflict	100	× 10% = 10.0
Data Quality Score			87%

Adding the missing website, from an official firm site, would raise completeness and, if checked, the overall score; nothing in the example depends on how good the lawyer is.

Which sources count as stronger?

Every source has a tier from 1 (official) to 5 (weakest), and the tier sets both the source-quality score and which facts the source may verify.

Tier	Examples	Points
1 · Official or regulatory	State bar, government registries and agencies	100
2 · Official business or professional	The lawyer's or firm's own website, professional associations	80
3 · Reputable third-party directory	Established lawyer directories	60
4 · Review platform or editorial	Review sites, news and editorial sources	40
5 · Secondary	Social media, other secondary sources, LexRanked client reviews	20

Only a tier 1 source can verify identity, license and bar status. A lawyer's own website (tier 2) can document a practice area or education but cannot confirm that a license is active.

How recent does each fact need to be?

Facts that change quickly must be checked more often.

Fact	Counts as fresh for
Bar status	30 days
Review data	7 days
Website	30 days
Other facts	90 days

Which facts does a lawyer profile need?

Fourteen: name, city, state, practice areas, bar state, bar number, bar status, years of experience, website, phone, rating, review count, education and languages. A fact typed into a profile without a source does not count. It is flagged as unsourced until evidence is attached.

What is the difference between sourced, verified and fresh?

Sourced means we know where a fact came from; verified means a strong enough source confirmed it; fresh means it was checked recently.

Sourced: the fact links to the page or record it came from, with the date it was read.
Verified: the fact was confirmed by a source strong enough for that kind of fact. Identity, license and bar status can only be verified by an official source such as the state bar; a weaker source leaves them "pending".
Fresh: the fact was checked within its window. A bar status check from a year ago shows as stale even if it was correct then.

Each profile has a Sources & verification panel listing every fact with its source and the date it was checked.

Does a higher Data Quality Score improve a ranking?

No. The ranking engine does not read the Data Quality Score, and the two numbers are never combined. The LexRank methodology (version 1.2) has its own disclosed data-quality component worth 10 of 100 points, calculated separately as part of the published formula. Nobody can buy a better score, and claiming a profile does not verify anything: corrections still need a public source.

How should you use it?

Use it to decide how much to double-check, not to judge the lawyer.

High score: most of the profile is sourced, recent and confirmed, so it is a reliable starting point.
Low score: information is usually missing or old, not wrong. Check what matters to you, especially license and bar status, directly with the state bar.
Stale or conflicting facts: listed on the profile. Treat them as questions to ask the lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

Does a low Data Quality Score mean a lawyer is bad?

No. It means fewer of the profile's facts are documented, recent or confirmed.

Can a lawyer raise their own score?

Only by giving us facts that can be backed by a public source. Payment and claiming a profile do not change it.

How often is the score updated?

Whenever a profile's facts or checks change, and daily, because freshness decreases over time.

Where can I see how a lawyer's facts were checked?

In the Sources & verification panel on each profile. To check a Florida lawyer yourself, see How to Check a Miami Lawyer Before You Hire Them.

Why does a profile show "pending" next to a fact?

Because the fact has a source but has not been confirmed by a source strong enough for that kind of fact. For license and bar status, only an official source such as the state bar can confirm it.

Why did a score go down without anything changing?

Freshness falls over time: when a fact passes its window (30 days for bar status, 90 for most facts), it counts as stale until it is checked again. Scores recover when the facts are re-checked.

Does the score count client reviews?

Rating and review count are two of the 14 facts a lawyer profile is expected to have, so they affect completeness. They do not affect the ranking, which does not score reviews.

How can a lawyer improve their profile's score?

By claiming the profile for free and sending missing or outdated facts with a public source, such as the firm website for education or the state bar for license details. Verified official sources raise the score most.

LexRanked profiles are information, not legal advice. The full scoring formula is on the methodology page.