Be on the page when a lien deadline is running.
Lien.Claims sends unpaid contractors, subcontractors and suppliers into a flat-fee lien workflow. Some of them decide they want a lawyer. When they do, they see attorneys for the county the property sits in — and in 138 federal judicial districts, that is one attorney who holds the annual advertising position for that district.
138 exclusive positions are open across 18 jurisdictions. Another 145 are available in 17 jurisdictions where the rules do not support an exclusive one — there you lead the page and the other attorneys stay on it. In 16 no position is sold. The reasons are below.
Advertising. Priced by audience, paid once a year.
A flat annual fee
One yearly advertising fee, set before anyone knows what claims will arrive. Never per claim, never per contact, never a share of a fee. A charge that moves with the legal fee raises fee-sharing concerns; a fixed periodic advertising fee does not.
The claim arrives, because they chose you
A claimant reads your card, picks you, sees exactly what is about to be sent, and presses send. What lands is the claim they already worked through: the parties, the property, the amount, the last date of work and the county. You have read it before you pick up the phone. What we will not do is push claims at anyone — every one that reaches you got there because a person with a deadline running chose your firm over the others on the page.
Priced by district, not by outcome
Positions are priced off the construction establishment count in the district, from the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns — circulation, in other words, the way any advertisement is priced. Not by matters received, not by expected case value. North Carolina and Tennessee cap the fee at a proportional share of what the advertising actually costs, and pricing by outcome would fail that.
| Band | Example districts | Annual advertising fee |
|---|---|---|
| Large | N.D. Ga., W.D. Wash., D. Ariz., D. Colo., E.D. Pa., M.D. Fla. | $6,000–9,000 |
| Standard | All other districts | $3,000–5,000 |
Bands, not a rate card. A position in a jurisdiction that shows the whole list is priced below an exclusive one, because exclusivity is what the premium buys. Hold more than one area and the second costs less than the first — one agreement, one compliance pass, one renewal, and that saving is passed on rather than granted. Several metros named above sit in jurisdictions where we are not currently selling; they show the shape of the bands, not an offer.
One attorney per district, where the rules allow it
An exclusive position is the maximum possible narrowing of a panel, and narrowing is what the referral-service rules police. Where a jurisdiction's rules permit exclusivity, an exclusive position is offered. Where they do not, every attorney in the state is shown and the claimant chooses; nobody is excluded, and a position is priced lower. Where the operative rule has not been confirmed, no position is offered.
Exclusive — 138 positions
Alabama, Arizona, District of Columbia, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington. A position is one metropolitan area, and outside the metros a claimant sees every sponsoring attorney in the state ordered by distance from the project.
Nothing for sale — 16
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia. In most of these the rules limit what a lawyer may pay for to a not-for-profit service, or reach the arrangement itself. Attorneys are still listed and claimants still reach them; nobody pays us.
Leading the list — 145 positions
Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Every attorney we can verify in the state is shown, ordered by distance from the property or by published fee, and the claimant chooses. A position is first place and a fuller card, not the only name — so it costs less than an exclusive one.
Listed, nothing for sale — 15
Attorneys are shown and nobody pays. In South Carolina that is a decision — the firm that operates this site is one of the listings, and where it is listed nobody pays. Everywhere else in this group it is the rules.
How this works, in the terms the rules ask for
- How attorneys are displayed: by the county the property sits in. In some states one attorney holds an annual advertising position for a federal judicial district; in the rest every listed attorney in the state is shown and you choose among them.
- How the order is decided: by whether the attorney’s office is in the same county as the property, or by published fee if you switch the sort. Nothing about your claim affects the order.
- What we send, and when: nothing, unless you pick an attorney and press send. Attorneys who have not agreed to receive claim details are reached through their own contact page.
- What is paid: a flat annual fee for the position, set before anyone knows what claims will arrive. No fee is paid per claim, per contact, or as a share of any legal fee.
Paying for a position today: No attorney is currently paying for a position on this site.
PAID ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. Attorneys shown on this site in some states pay an annual advertising fee to appear here. This site is not a law firm, is not a lawyer referral service, and cannot give legal advice.
In Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas nothing is transmitted at all — a claimant who picks you goes to your own website, and you will not hear from us. The position is placement there, not delivery.
Availability is subject to your conflicts and to your own state’s rules, which are yours to satisfy — several states put the compliance duty on the participating lawyer rather than on the site, and Florida requires you to report participation to the Bar within 15 days of agreeing to it. You get our survey for your jurisdiction, with citations and with the gaps marked, before you sign anything. Holding a district position does not require admission anywhere you are not already admitted; the district is how a property is routed, not a claim about where you practice.