We believe quality matters.
Research consistently suggests that reputation is one of the most important factors people consider when choosing a law firm. For that reason, reputation is given the largest weighting within the default comparison approach used by Choose My Lawyer.
However, reputation is still only one part of the overall picture. Price, complaints information, regulatory history and other factors can also matter depending on the individual user and the circumstances of their transaction.
For the pilot platform, reputation information is based on publicly available Google review information.
Google reviews are typically attached to individual office locations rather than to firms as a whole. Many firms operate from multiple offices, sometimes across several regions.
For the purposes of the pilot platform, Choose My Lawyer only uses review information from offices that fall within the West Midlands area (where the pilot is taking place). Those office-level reviews are then combined to create a single firm-level reputation signal.
This approach helps provide a more consistent comparison between firms operating within the same market.
Choose My Lawyer looks at both review scores and review volume. This is because a score based on a small number of reviews may tell you something different from a score based on hundreds of reviews.
Review volume can help provide greater confidence in the overall picture, although a larger number of reviews does not automatically mean a better firm.
Likewise, the absence of reviews does not automatically indicate something positive or negative. Therefore, where no review information exists, Choose My Lawyer applies a neutral starting position rather than making assumptions about quality.
Scores only move away from that neutral position where there is sufficient market information to justify it.
Choose My Lawyer does not interpret or summarise individual review content. Instead, we provide a direct link to the underlying review source so you can explore detailed feedback independently if you wish.
The reputation score is then compared across firms within your search results to produce a relative reputation result. This allows you to understand how a firm's reputation sits alongside other available firms, rather than considering review information in isolation.
Reputation provides an important quality signal to support informed consumer choice, but the final decision always remains with you.
CML organises and explains. You decide.