Atticus is on a mission to reinvent how Americans seek and find legal help.

Today, people with serious legal needs find it extraordinarily difficult to find and hire the right lawyer. They wonder: "Do I need a lawyer?" "What will I get if I hire one?" "How much will it cost?" And of course, "Which one should I choose?"

Atticus is the place where anyone can get rapid, expert help answering those questions — for free. We diagnose clients’ needs, explain their options, and help them find and hire the right lawyer to move forward. For lawyers, we operate as a broker: We send them pre-vetted clients who want to hire them, and take a percentage of what they earn from successful cases.

Who are our clients? Anyone who encounters a crisis, ranging from a forklift operator who becomes too sick to work to an architect who gets hit by a car and faces massive medical bills.

What unites our clients is the feeling that the legal system is daunting: Few know where to turn, or whom to trust. That’s where we come in – we’re the first place people in crisis turn to find trusted legal help and claim the aid they deserve.

Yes! Atticus is a law firm, and we are qualified to give legal advice. We can answer your most pressing questions, make clear recommendations, and search far and wide to find the right lawyer for you.

Two important things to note: If we give you legal advice, it will be through a lawyer on our staff communicating with you directly. (Don’t make important decisions about your case based solely on this or any other website.) And if we take you on as a client, it will be through a document you sign. No attorney-client relationship arises from using this site or calling us.

Atticus is a law firm. We can answer your legal questions, make recommendations, and find you the perfect attorney for your needs.

Other companies that want to connect you with attorneys are attorney referral services – not law firms. And as a result, they’re legally prohibited from doing all the things you actually need: analyzing your case, giving legal advice, recommending specific lawyers, or guaranteeing those lawyers’ integrity. These sites make money by selling advertising space to lawyers or hawking your personal information to the highest bidder.

Our namesake is Atticus Finch, America’s most famous fictional lawyer. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, he ran a small-town law practice with a big heart. Anyone in town could come to him with any kind of legal problem, and he’d give them sound advice and whatever help they needed — regardless of their ability to pay.

We believe every American deserves access to a lawyer like that — but today, for most of us, they exist only in fiction. So we’re working to build the modern-day equivalent: a place anyone can come for trusted, personal legal help.

Start by taking our two-minute quiz. We’ll review your information and reach out to you by the next business day. (You’ll also get our number if you want to call or text us sooner.) From there, we'll get you on the path to solving your legal issue:

1. We’ll answer your questions and share our advice. A client advocate will listen carefully, explain your options, and help you chart a course forward.
2. We’ll match you with the right lawyer or representative for your situation. We vet our lawyers for reputation and talent, and we’re extremely picky about the lawyers we choose to work with. We never let lawyers pay to join our network.
3. We’ll monitor your case and stay available if you need us. For the duration of your case, we’ll be here for you. We’ll periodically reach out to see how things are going and will get involved if needed.

The short answer is that it’s a manual and involved process, and we look for qualities proven by academic research and professional experience to drive good outcomes for clients.

The long answer: There’s no objective way to evaluate lawyer quality, and there won’t be anytime soon. There’s simply no data set on which to base an evaluation (like a credible, comprehensive repository of case outcomes or client satisfaction). And even if there were, it would be nearly impossible to analyze it effectively given how many factors impact each case.

All that to say, we rely on a lot of human judgment and target a small list of key factors:

1. Specialization. We have a strong preference for single-field lawyers and law firms. Law is complex, and often the only way to become a true expert is to specialize narrowly. (For example, we would almost never refer you to a lawyer who practices both disability and immigration law.) Studies show that specialization correlates strongly with positive outcomes, and in our experience it’s a fairly good proxy for underlying talent.
2. Experience. Experience matters a lot. We’ll almost always refer you to a lawyer with 10+ years of experience, who has been to hundreds of hearings, and who has served hundreds, if not thousands, of clients.
3. Reputation. We look for lawyers known and respected within the bar and by their peers, and who have a demonstrated commitment to sharing knowledge in their field.
4. Client Feedback. We consider relevant client feedback — like how responsive and personable a lawyer is, or how much a client felt empowered during a case and prepared for its ultimate outcome.
5. Work Product & Outcomes. On occasion, we dive deeply into past work product and outcomes in analogous cases to confirm talent and competence.
6. Size of Firm. We refer to both solo practitioners and larger firms and don’t have any blanket preference for size. But we believe some cases benefit from firms of a particular type. For example, in a mid-sized personal injury case, we’d typically seek out a larger firm — with the support staff and institutional processes to effectively work it up.

Today, we help sick and injured people claim disability benefits, workers’ compensation benefits, and financial and medical protection after an accident or injury.

In the future, we’ll be able to help with any serious, personal legal issue. Share your case with us and we'll quickly let you know if and how we can help.

That’s okay! Many of our clients aren't sure. Submit your information, and one of our client advocates will get in touch to talk you through the pros and cons of hiring a lawyer based on your unique situation.

Yes! We serve clients in all fifty states.

Usually between a few hours and a few days. Our "speed record" from the time a client contacted us to the time she spoke with and hired a lawyer we recommended is about 45 minutes. But that’s not typical: it generally takes a little more time to learn about your needs, discuss your options, reach out to lawyers, and coordinate introductions.

It also depends on you: Some clients want space to reflect on their options and contemplate their decision, and others just want their case to move as fast as possible. We can accommodate either style.

Atticus is free. We’ll never ask for payment information, and we’ll never charge you.

The vetted lawyers we work with charge nothing upfront and nothing if you lose. If you win, your lawyer will get a percentage of your winnings for their work (generally 15-33% depending on the type of claim). Your lawyer will never charge you more for working with Atticus.

This is worth it for almost everyone – having a great lawyer dramatically increases your chances of winning, and if you lose you pay nothing.

Atticus doesn’t show ads, we don’t sell your personal information, and we don’t let lawyers pay to join our network. We only make money one way, and that’s if you win your case.

If you win your case, you’ll pay your lawyer a percentage of your winnings for their work. Your lawyer will then pay us a small portion. (For example, if your lawyer earns $1,000, she might give Atticus $100.) Your lawyer is prohibited by law from passing this cost on to you, so it will never increase the total amount you pay. In other words, your lawyer will never charge you more for working with Atticus.

This is the only way Atticus makes money, and we chose it because it’s the most ethical way for us to operate. You, your attorney, and Atticus all have the same goal: to get you as much money as possible.