# California State Bar Scraper (`parseforge/california-state-bar-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes attorney profiles from the California State Bar public directory. Returns name, bar number, license status, law school, and contact details for each attorney.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/california-state-bar-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Other, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 8 total users, 0 monthly users, 89.7% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.50 / 1,000 items

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### California State Bar Scraper

**Scrape California attorney profiles from the State Bar's public directory.** Get names, bar numbers, license status, law school, and contact details for up to a million attorneys per run. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The State Bar of California publishes a public directory of every licensed attorney, but there is no official API and manual lookups are slow. This Actor reads the CalBar QuickSearch directly, so you can search by name or bar number and collect matching attorney records in one fixed schema.

| Who uses it | What they scrape California State Bar for |
|---|---|
| Legal recruiters | Build a list of attorneys by practice area or location for outreach. |
| Law firm marketers | Identify potential referral partners or lateral hires. |
| Compliance teams | Verify an attorney's license status and disciplinary history. |
| Journalists | Research the background of attorneys involved in public cases. |
| Data analysts | Create a dataset of California attorneys for trend analysis. |

### What it does

This Actor collects California attorney profiles from the State Bar's public directory and returns each one as a flat row.

- 🔍 **Name or bar number search:** enter a full name, partial name, or bar number to find matching attorneys.
- 🔊 **Sounds-like search:** enable phonetic matching to catch spelling variations of a name.
- 📊 **Structured output:** each attorney is returned as a flat row with consistent fields for easy analysis.
- 📦 **Bulk collection:** set a maximum number of attorneys to collect per run, up to one million.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with California State Bar data

**📋 Build a prospect list for legal services.**

A legal tech startup runs the Actor with a search term like 'Smith' and collects 500 attorney profiles to seed their CRM with contact details.

**🔎 Verify attorney credentials.**

A compliance officer searches by bar number to confirm an attorney's license status and disciplinary record before engaging them.

**📈 Analyze the California legal market.**

A market researcher collects thousands of attorney records to map law school attendance, practice areas, and geographic distribution.

**📰 Investigate a story.**

A journalist uses sounds-like search to find all attorneys with a similar name and cross-references their profiles for a feature.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No official API** | The State Bar does not offer a public API, so this Actor reads the QuickSearch directly. |
| **Up-to-date data** | Each run pulls the latest information from the live directory. |
| **Flexible search** | Search by exact name, partial name, bar number, or phonetic sounds-like. |
| **Scalable** | Collect from one to one million attorney records per run. |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets California State Bar the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | California State Bar Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When California State Bar changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a search term (name or bar number) and optionally enable sounds-like matching. The maximum attorneys setting controls how many records are collected per run. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "searchTerm": "Smith"
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
  "maxItems": 200,
  "searchTerm": "Smith"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.014 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $1.40 |
| 1,000 results | $14.00 |
| 10,000 results | $140.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [California State Bar Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/california-state-bar-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to California State Bar through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/california-state-bar-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Verify the search term is spelled correctly. If you are searching by name, try enabling sounds-like search to catch variations. Also check that the attorney is licensed in California.

**The Actor stops before reaching my maximum attorneys.**

The Actor stops when there are no more matching results for your search term. Try a broader search term or disable sounds-like if it is too restrictive.

**Some fields are empty in the output.**

Not all attorneys have complete profiles on the State Bar website. Empty fields mean the information was not available for that record.

**The run takes a long time.**

Large searches can take time because the Actor must request each profile individually. Reduce the maximum attorneys or narrow your search term to speed it up.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What data does this Actor return for each attorney? | Each record includes the attorney's name, bar number, license status, law school, admission date, and contact details as available on the State Bar directory. |
| Can I search by bar number? | Yes, enter the bar number in the search term field. The Actor will return the matching attorney profile. |
| What is sounds-like search? | Sounds-like search uses phonetic matching to find names that sound similar to your query, which helps catch spelling variations. |
| Is there a limit on how many attorneys I can collect? | You can set the maximum attorneys per run from 1 to 1,000,000. The Actor will stop after reaching that number. |
| Do I need an API key or login? | No, the Actor reads the public State Bar directory directly and requires no authentication. |
| How often is the data updated? | The Actor pulls data live from the State Bar website on each run, so you always get the current information. |
| Can I export the results? | Yes, you can export the dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform. |
| What if my search returns no results? | Check the spelling of the name or bar number, or try enabling sounds-like search to broaden the match. |
| Is this Actor legal to use? | The data is publicly available on the State Bar website. You are responsible for complying with the website's terms of service and applicable laws. |
| Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically? | Yes, you can set up a schedule in Apify to run the Actor at regular intervals and receive updated data. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The State Bar of California. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

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

How many attorneys to collect per run.

## `searchTerm` (type: `string`):

Name or bar number to search for. Examples: Smith, John Smith, 92056.

## `soundsLike` (type: `boolean`):

Enable phonetic ('sounds like') search for the name field.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "searchTerm": "Smith",
  "soundsLike": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (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 = {
    "maxItems": 10,
    "searchTerm": "Smith"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/california-state-bar-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 = {
    "maxItems": 10,
    "searchTerm": "Smith",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/california-state-bar-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 '{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "searchTerm": "Smith"
}' |
apify call parseforge/california-state-bar-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/california-state-bar-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/bdYptnt8Gv9OiHlnY/builds/7sPY1Yony91uIP2uL/openapi.json