Whether you are interested in making or receiving referrals from other members or just want to look up a member you recently met at a meeting, the Member-to-Member Directory is your go-to source for finding ISBA members. Only ISBA members can access the directory, and all ISBA members are eligible to have a profile in it.
Eligible lawyers can also adjust their settings to appear in the public-facing Illinois Lawyer Finder Directory.
Check Your Directory Profile Settings
Go to your Directory Profile Settings and
- Choose if your profile is visible to the public (if eligible), only visible to other ISBA members, or visible to no one. To launch the directories, we set most eligible lawyer member profiles to "Public."
- If your profile is visible in either directory, further choose if you want to make your contact information visible to the public, only to other ISBA members, or to no one. If you choose to make any of your contact information visible, make sure the information is updated and correct.
- Fill in the various profile fields—including your availability to accept new clients or referrals from other members—to create a more informative profile that will place you higher in search results.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the Member-to-Member Directory and the Illinois Lawyer Finder Directory?
ISBA Member-to-Member Directory
- Can only be accessed by ISBA members
- All members are eligible to be in it
- Has options for indicating members are accepting referrals
Illinois Lawyer Finder Directory
- Is available to the public
- Only members who can represent private clients are eligible to be included in it (i.e. judges, retired, inactive, and military members are excluded)
- Allows potential clients to contact you via an email form without the need for you to display your contact information.
Am I already in the directories?
To launch the directories, we set most eligible lawyer member profiles to "Public," which allows the profile to be in both directories. There is a contact button for profiles in the public directory that emails the lawyer, which was set to visible for those members. However, a member’s address, phone, and email are all hidden from both directories by default.
Going forward, members must opt-in to the directories and each of these settings to appear in the directories.
What are the options for allowing people to find and contact me, as well as protecting my privacy?
- Members can choose to make their profile "Not Visible," visible to "ISBA Members Only," or visible to the "Public" (if eligible). Choosing "Public" will make the member profile available in both directories.
- Based on the profile’s visibility, the member can selectively make their address, phone, and email visible with the same options. These fields are separate from the contact information the ISBA uses for the member, and allow you greater control of information that is being made public.
- Members in the public-facing Illinois Lawyer Finder directory can turn on or off a contact button that will allow the public to email the member’s main email, or optionally, the email used for the directory.
Why are there only 25 search results?
Most people do not go to the second page of search results, and very few go beyond the second page. Those that do are often trying to harvest data.
We are seeking a balance between meeting users' needs, reducing the potential for abuse, and conserving system resources.
If a search is so broad that it is returning hundreds or thousands of results, it should be refined to return fewer results.
How do I get my profile to show up higher in search results?
Our search ranking is based on member engagement with the ISBA. Currently, engagement is measured by profile completeness and participation in sections, committees, and the LRS phone referral service. How engagement is measured will evolve as we add and adjust criteria.
Providing more information about yourself will increase your search ranking generally, but adding a photo and biography has the greatest impact.