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Legal Industry Research & Statistics

Lawbamba Research publishes original studies on how Americans find and rate lawyers, and on where legal help is hard to reach. We combine public government data with our directory of 741,332 attorney profiles and 3.1 million client reviews, and we show our sources and methods on every page.

Our studies are free to read, cite and share. They are written for reporters, researchers, law schools, bar associations and legal aid organizations that need numbers behind questions such as which counties have too few lawyers, and which practice areas leave clients least satisfied.

Our studies

  • Access to justice

    Legal Deserts: 846 U.S. Counties Have Fewer Than 3 Law Offices

    November 2026

    A county-by-county look at where Americans live far from a law office, built from ten years of U.S. Census Bureau business data. 6.9 million people live in counties with fewer than three law offices, and rural law offices fell 20% between 2013 and 2023.

    Includes a county map, a page for every state and a CSV download. Read the study

    846 countieswith fewer than 3 law offices

  • Client reviews

    The 2026 Legal Industry Review: How Clients Rate Their Lawyers

    Updated November 2026

    What 3.1 million client reviews from Avvo, Yelp, Google and Lawyers.com say about lawyers in the U.S.: the best- and worst-rated practice areas, ratings by state, and the most-reviewed attorneys.

    Ratings use the same composite score shown on every Lawbamba profile. Read the study

    3.1M reviewsacross 741,332 attorneys

Key findings at a glance

  • 27% of U.S. counties (846 of 3,125) have fewer than three law offices with paid staff. Legal Deserts study
  • Law offices in rural counties fell 20% from 2013 to 2023, against 3% in metro areas. Legal Deserts study
  • Rural counties are home to 13.7% of Americans but only 7.8% of law offices. Legal Deserts study
  • Texas has the most counties with fewer than three law offices: 108 of 254. State data
  • Clients rate Speeding & Traffic Ticket lawyers highest (4.96 stars) and Divorce & Family lawyers lowest (3.86). Legal Industry Review
  • By state, lawyers in Virginia get the best client ratings (4.79) and lawyers in Indiana the lowest (4.37). Legal Industry Review

Public legal data by state and county

Alongside our studies, Lawbamba turns government records into searchable pages by state, county, city and company. These are useful for anyone researching an accident, an employer, a nursing home or a lawsuit before talking to a lawyer.

Injury and safety

Consumers and workers

Courts and lawyers

How we do our research

  • Official sources first. We start from government data, name the dataset and year, and link to the source.
  • Methods on the page. Every study explains what is counted, what is left out, and where the data has limits, such as Census counts that are withheld for small numbers.
  • Same numbers as the directory. Ratings in our studies use the same composite score shown on each attorney’s profile, not a separate calculation.
  • Open data where we can. We publish downloadable data when the source allows it, so others can check and build on our work.
  • Corrections. If you find an error, email contactus@lawbamba.com and we will review and fix it.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Lawbamba’s research data come from?

Our studies use public government data, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, NHTSA, OSHA, CMS, the CFPB and the Department of Labor, together with Lawbamba’s own directory of 741,332 attorney profiles and 3.1 million client reviews. Every study names its sources and explains its method on the page.

Can I use your charts and data?

Yes. Journalists, researchers, bar associations and legal aid organizations may quote our findings and reuse our maps and charts with credit to Lawbamba and a link to the study page. The Legal Deserts county data can be downloaded as a CSV.

How often is the research updated?

The Legal Deserts study is updated when the Census Bureau releases a new year of County Business Patterns. The Legal Industry Review is recalculated from our review data regularly, and the public data sections refresh on each government source’s own schedule, from monthly to yearly.

Can I request data for my state, county or story?

Yes. Email contactus@lawbamba.com with what you need, such as a single state, a group of counties or a practice area, and we will send what our data can support.

For journalists

Need a breakdown for your state, county or beat, or a quote on the findings? Email contactus@lawbamba.com. Maps and charts are free to reuse with credit to Lawbamba and a link to the study page.

Suggested credit: Source: Lawbamba Research, lawbamba.com/reports

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Lawbamba lists 741,332 attorneys with ratings and reviews. Browse lawyers by state or search by ZIP code and legal issue.