For most firms with one to five attorneys, Super Lawyers is worth claiming but not worth building a marketing plan around: the badge is a modest peer trust signal, the profile exists whether or not you promote it, and your state bar's advertising rules decide how you may display it.
Owners ask me a version of this question all the time. There is the directory question, the same one behind whether a given review site is worth claiming, and then there is the practical one that lands in your inbox the week the list comes out: I was selected, so now what. This post answers the second question for a firm with a handful of lawyers, where every hour and every dollar is already spoken for.
Super Lawyers Is Peer Recognition, Not a Client Satisfaction Score
Super Lawyers selects attorneys through a patented multiphase process that combines peer nominations with independent research, and it evaluates every candidate on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, according to the company's own selection process page. A peer evaluation step follows, where lawyers with the highest scores in a practice area review other candidates in that area.
Two details on that page matter to a firm with a handful of lawyers. First, selections are annual and made state by state. Second, candidates are grouped into four firm-size categories, which means a solo attorney or a two-to-three attorney firm is compared with other firms of similar size rather than with a large litigation shop. If you have assumed the list is only for big firms, that assumption is wrong.
The published list represents the top 5 percent of lawyers in a state, and the Rising Stars list covers the top 2.5 percent, open to lawyers who are 40 or younger or in practice for 10 years or less. Those figures come from Super Lawyers' own published process, not from a survey or an estimate.
That is the whole claim. It is peer recognition. It is not a client satisfaction score, it is not a certification in a practice area, and it does not measure results. Reading it as any of those three is where firms get themselves into trouble, both with prospective clients and with their bar.
Your State Bar Rules Decide Whether the Badge Can Go on Your Site
Whether you may display the badge is not Super Lawyers' call. It is your state bar's, and the answer differs by state.
The North Carolina State Bar, in 2003 Formal Ethics Opinion 3, ruled that a lawyer may advertise membership in an organization with a self-laudatory title only when the organization has strict, objective and verifiable standards for admission, the standards are explained in the ad or the reader is told how to find them, the organization has no financial interest in promoting that lawyer, and any membership fee is reasonable. The opinion adds that where the wording could create unjustified expectations, a disclaimer has to be included.
Rules are not uniform. The Oklahoma Bar Association's Ethics Opinion No. 315 walks through how a separate rule on specialist claims has been narrowed by First Amendment cases, and how a jurisdiction can still expect a statement about who approves a certifying organization.
Five steps cover most of what your own bar is likely to want:
- Read your state's advertising rules and any ethics opinions on awards and ratings before you publish the badge.
- Explain the basis for the recognition on the page, or link to the explanation.
- Add a disclaimer where your rules ask for one, using language your own bar accepts rather than copying another firm's.
- Do not call yourself a specialist or certified because of a peer listing unless your state recognizes that status.
- Keep the wording to what is true: selected, listed, recognized.
Display the Badge Where a Visitor Is Deciding, Not in an Awards Wall
Put the badge on the pages where someone is already deciding whether to contact you: the attorney bio page, the About page, and the page that carries your contact form. Skip the wall of every award you have collected over the years. A visitor scanning your site is looking for one reason to trust you with their case, and a stack of logos buries that reason instead of showing it.
Super Lawyers provides a complimentary, linkable badge code approved for website use, and it sells additional badge formats through its marketing solutions page. The badge code links to the attorney's Super Lawyers profile, so decide on purpose whether you want that outbound link and where it should sit. A badge that sends a visitor away from your intake page is doing you no favors, even if it looks good.
Treat the badge like any other image on the page. Give it plain alt text that describes what it is, keep it small, and place it beside the sentence that explains it. A bio page with the badge and a clear paragraph about how you handle cases beats a tighter page with a logo and nothing else. If your bio needs work first, this guide to writing an attorney bio covers what to fix.
What the badge is, and what it is not
| Common assumption | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| A client satisfaction score | Peer nominations combined with independent research |
| A certified specialty | A peer rating; specialist claims follow separate state rules |
| A ranking against every firm in the state | Selection within one of four firm-size categories |
| A guarantee of a better result | Recognition of peer standing; no case outcomes attached |
Claim and Clean Up the Profile Before You Link to It
The badge points at your Super Lawyers profile, so open that profile before you add the badge to your site. If your practice areas are wrong, your office address is stale, or your photo is a decade old, you are spending a design decision on a page that undercuts the trust you were trying to build.
The same discipline applies to the other directories that list you. Claim each profile, correct what is wrong, and keep the name, address and phone identical everywhere, because inconsistent details are the thing that quietly erodes a firm's local visibility. The list behind the most useful lawyer review sites is worth a pass once a year, not a project every month.
The Badge Supports Your Reviews, It Does Not Replace Them
A peer badge and a client review do different jobs. The badge speaks to how other lawyers regard your work. A review speaks to what a client experienced with your firm, and reviews are the signal local searchers see most often because they show up wherever your firm appears on a map. They are also the one you can influence every week, by asking at the right moment and responding to what you get.
If your reviews are thin, a new badge will not fix that. If your reviews are strong and your site tells a clear story, the badge is a nice second chair. Either way, the reputation work is the same: earn reviews steadily, answer them, and keep your client reviews in good shape. Badges decorate the page; reviews are what move a stranger toward a call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Super Lawyers free for lawyers?
Being listed does not require buying anything. Super Lawyers states that there is no requirement to purchase a product to be included in the list, and it offers a complimentary, linkable badge code approved for website use. Additional badge formats and print placements are sold separately, and none of them changes your inclusion.
Do I have to put a disclaimer on my website?
It depends on your state. North Carolina's 2003 Formal Ethics Opinion 3 requires a disclaimer where the wording could create unjustified expectations, and other states take their own approach to how awards and ratings may be described. Check your own bar's rules or ask its ethics counsel, and do not copy a disclaimer from a firm in another state.
Does the badge help my Google rankings?
Not on its own. A badge is not a ranking factor by itself. What helps a firm is a clear page that answers a visitor's questions, accurate business details in the places Google reads, and a steady stream of reviews. Treat the badge as a small trust signal on a page that already does those things.
Can I call myself a specialist because I am on the list?
No, not on the strength of a peer listing. A separate rule governs specialist and certification claims, and it generally requires certification by an organization your state recognizes. North Carolina's opinion and Oklahoma's opinion both point back to that distinction, so use the words your selection actually earns: selected, listed, recognized.
What is the difference between Super Lawyers and Rising Stars?
Both use the same evaluation process. Super Lawyers names the top 5 percent of lawyers in a state, and Rising Stars names the top 2.5 percent, limited to lawyers who are 40 or younger or have been in practice 10 years or less.
The Bottom Line for a Firm With a Handful of Lawyers
For a firm with one to five attorneys, the badge is an honest signal that says a group of your peers thinks you do good work. It is worth claiming, worth displaying once in the right place, and worth leaving alone after that. The real work of being found and chosen online happens elsewhere: on the pages that answer a client's question, in the reviews you earn, and in the intake that turns a visit into a consultation. Put the badge on the site the day your bar rules clear it, then get back to that work.