# Best Lawyers Scraper - Peer-Reviewed Attorney Directory (`jungle_synthesizer/bestlawyers-scraper`) Actor

Scrape attorney profiles from BestLawyers.com, the oldest peer-reviewed legal ranking. Extract names, firms, practice areas, contact info, education, awards, and recognition years. Filter by US state and city. Covers 150+ practice areas across 75+ countries.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/bestlawyers-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business, Other
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Best Lawyers Scraper — Peer-Reviewed Attorney Directory

> Scrapes attorney profiles from [BestLawyers.com](https://www.bestlawyers.com/), the oldest peer-reviewed legal ranking. Returns names, firms, practice areas, contact details, education, and awards as clean JSON. Filter by US state and city.

Best Lawyers has ranked attorneys by peer review since 1981. Inclusion is the kind of credential firms put on their homepage. This scraper turns that directory into structured data — point it at a state, optionally narrow to a city, and it pulls every recognized lawyer with the fields that matter for legal lead generation and competitive research.

Listing pages give you name, firm, practice areas, location, and recognition year. Flip on profile enrichment and it visits each lawyer's page for phone, address, education, awards, and website.

### What You Can Do With Best Lawyers Data

- **Build a legal lead list** — recognized attorneys by state, city, and practice area, with phone and address.
- **Map a practice area** — pull every "Lawyer of the Year" and recognized attorney in family law, personal injury, M\&A, or any of 150+ areas.
- **Research a firm** — group lawyers by firm to size up a competitor's bench.
- **Enrich a CRM** — match names to firms, education, and contact details.
- **Track recognition** — `recognized_since` and the `awards` list show who's been ranked and for how long.

### Who Uses This

Legal recruiters and headhunters, law firm marketers, legal-tech products, litigation-funding analysts, and B2B sales teams selling into the legal vertical. If your buyer is a ranked attorney, this is the list.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|-------|--------------|
| `state` | US state to search (required) — all 50 states plus DC. |
| `city` | City slug to narrow results (e.g. `los-angeles`, `chicago`). Optional; empty crawls the whole state. |
| `enrichProfiles` | Visit each profile page for phone, address, education, awards, and website. On by default. |
| `maxItems` | Cap the profile count. `0` means unlimited. |

### Output

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `lawyer_name` | Attorney full name. |
| `firm_name` | Law firm name. |
| `practice_areas` | Areas the lawyer is recognized in. |
| `city` / `state_or_region` / `country` | Where they practice. |
| `recognized_since` | Year first recognized by Best Lawyers. |
| `awards` | Best Lawyers awards, including Lawyer of the Year. |
| `phone` / `street_address` / `postal_code` | Office contact details (enriched). |
| `education` | Law schools attended (enriched). |
| `website` | Attorney or firm website (enriched). |
| `description` | Bio summary from the profile. |
| `photo_url` | Headshot URL. |
| `profile_url` / `firm_profile_url` | Links back to the Best Lawyers pages. |

Three dataset views ship with it — Lawyer Overview, Contact Details, and Full Profile — so you can export just what you need.

### How It Works

1. Pick a state, and optionally a city and practice scope.
2. The scraper walks the Best Lawyers listing pages and collects every recognized attorney.
3. With enrichment on, it visits each profile for the full contact and credential record.
4. Results land in your dataset — export as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

### FAQ

**How do I scrape Best Lawyers?**
Set a state (and optionally a city), run the actor, and it returns recognized attorney profiles with firm, practice areas, and contact details. No login required.

**Can I get attorney phone numbers and addresses?**
Yes — keep `enrichProfiles` on. The scraper visits each profile page for phone, street address, postal code, education, and website.

**How do I find Lawyer of the Year recognitions?**
The `awards` field carries every Best Lawyers award on a profile, including Lawyer of the Year, alongside `recognized_since`.

**Can I filter by practice area?**
Best Lawyers organizes listings by location; the scraper returns each lawyer's full `practice_areas` list so you can filter the output to family law, personal injury, corporate, or any area you need.

### Need More Features?

Need a different state structure, extra fields, or another legal directory scraped? [File an issue](https://console.apify.com/actors/issues) or get in touch.

***

**Further reading:** [Which Web Scraper Do I Need?](https://orbtop.com/articles/which-scraper-do-i-need/)

# Actor input Schema

## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`):

Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler.

## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`):

Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements.

## `sp_contact` (type: `string`):

Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you.

## `state` (type: `string`):

US state to search. Uses the site's URL slug (e.g. 'california', 'new-york'). Required.

## `city` (type: `string`):

City slug to narrow results (e.g. 'los-angeles', 'new-york', 'chicago'). Optional -- leave empty to crawl all cities in the state.

## `enrichProfiles` (type: `boolean`):

Visit each lawyer's profile page to extract full details: phone, address, education, awards, and website. Listing pages provide name, firm, practice areas, location, and recognition year.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of lawyer profiles to scrape. Set to 0 for unlimited.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
  "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
  "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
  "state": "california",
  "city": "los-angeles",
  "enrichProfiles": true,
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
    "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
    "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
    "state": "california",
    "city": "los-angeles",
    "enrichProfiles": true,
    "maxItems": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/bestlawyers-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
    "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
    "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
    "state": "california",
    "city": "los-angeles",
    "enrichProfiles": True,
    "maxItems": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/bestlawyers-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...",
  "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...",
  "sp_contact": "Share your email here...",
  "state": "california",
  "city": "los-angeles",
  "enrichProfiles": true,
  "maxItems": 50
}' |
apify call jungle_synthesizer/bestlawyers-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,jungle_synthesizer/bestlawyers-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/OhncATTvvMODJ7pRg/builds/7SQiZDwg0RYJTLgDi/openapi.json