Lawyers Database 2.0.0: A Clearer Way to Work With Legal Business Locations

What this release covers

This October 14, 2026 release is build #166, prepared from a September 23, 2026 source snapshot. The Lawyers Database 2.0.0 brings together 149,225 selected attorney and law-firm business locations across all 50 U.S. states. It is built for people who need a structured view of where legal-service businesses operate, how they are categorized, and which public business contact channels are available. The location count describes business places, not a count of individual lawyers. A firm with several offices may have several location records, while an office may serve many attorneys. That distinction matters whenever you estimate coverage, draw a map, or compare one market with another. Start with the geography and the kinds of business places you actually need, then use the supplied samples and field statistics to decide whether the release fits your project.

A useful directory starts with a clear unit of analysis

Each primary record is a business-place listing with a stable location identifier, name, street location, city, state, postal code, coordinates, business segment, category, operating status, and confidence field. The release has 270,406 related contact rows. Those rows are linked to locations by location ID, so they are not another 270,406 offices. Keeping the tables separate makes a practical difference: one location can have more than one published contact channel, and a contact can have its own type and verification status. You can aggregate locations without multiplying them through a join, or join contacts when a website or phone field is needed for an application. The documentation and sample tables show the relationship before you import the full bundle.

Work with the category labels as clues

The release includes 27 represented business categories. They can help narrow a directory view or organize a market analysis, but a category is a source label for a business listing, not an independently verified professional credential. A place categorized as personal injury law, family law, immigration law, or another practice area still needs separate confirmation when that specialty matters to a decision. The same caution applies to the business name. A name that includes Attorney or Law Firm does not establish that every person associated with it is currently licensed. The database is intended to make discovery and analysis easier; it does not replace a state bar lookup, direct business confirmation, or professional due diligence.

Choose a workflow before choosing a tier

A clean first pass is to filter locations by geography, look at the business segment and category, and inspect the available contact fields. From there you can decide whether your output is an internal analysis, a published interface, or a client dataset handoff. Those are different jobs and they map to different licenses. The Usage package covers internal work within one organization, including work by supervised contractors. The Publication package adds customer-facing websites, apps, reports, and client projects without bulk dataset handoff. The Master package adds raw or transformed dataset handoff inside a genuine client project. Standalone dataset resale needs a separate addendum. Review the complete current license before purchase, especially when the intended output will leave your organization.

Three packages share a common starting point

Every tier provides matching UTF-8 CSV, JSON, and SQLite files, along with schemas, samples, field definitions, statistics, and documentation. Usage focuses on the core lawyer and law-firm locations. Publication adds the published business phone and website contact layer to the location fields. Master includes the complete directory with expanded traceability and labeled supplemental historical reference fields. The tiers differ in both data depth and permitted use, so price alone is a poor way to choose. If you only need to map selected offices for internal planning, start by examining the Usage sample. If a public directory requires published contact channels, compare the Publication sample and license. If a client needs a dataset delivered as part of a project, inspect the Master terms.

Make the first import boring

CSV is a familiar starting point for spreadsheets and many data pipelines. JSON is useful when an application expects structured records. SQLite is a portable database file that can support repeatable queries without first loading a server database. Use the schema and field definitions to preserve identifiers, types, and table relationships. In particular, join contacts to locations on location ID and count distinct locations when reporting the number of business places. Do not sum location and contact rows to claim a larger directory. Treat blank and missing values as genuine gaps rather than converting them into invented data. The public statistics show distinct and missing values for the published fields, so you can assess a column before making it central to a workflow.

Check coverage against the question you are asking

Nationwide coverage does not mean equal density in every city, category, or state. The current product page shows the distribution of locations by state, category, segment, and operating status. Use those counts as a starting point, then inspect the relevant sample and exact fields for your intended area. A small regional campaign, for example, needs a narrower geography check than a national map. A specialty directory needs a stricter category review than a broad legal-services index. The published record total is a release count, not a guarantee that every current firm or attorney appears. If your project depends on near-complete coverage in a specific niche, test that niche against your own independent reference set before committing to the dataset as its only source.

Treat operating status as a prompt to verify

A status field can help prioritize review, but it should not be used as a final statement that an office is presently open, taking clients, or reachable. Business locations change, websites move, phone numbers are reassigned, and offices can close or relocate between source updates and your use of the file. Unknown is a meaningful value, not an error to erase. When a listing will appear in a public product or drive a consequential contact decision, verify the important details with the business and, where applicable, the relevant licensing authority. Published business contact information also does not itself grant consent for unsolicited marketing. Your organization remains responsible for how it contacts people and for the rules that apply to its channel and location.

Understand the historical reference layer

The Master package includes labeled supplemental historical reference fields where a confident match connects a current supported business place to an older Oddity record. Historical context can help someone investigate continuity, but it is not a claim that every old detail is still true. Unmatched older listings are not added to this release simply to increase its record count. A historical field should be interpreted with its label and vintage, then checked against a current authoritative source before it is presented as current. That separation keeps the present-day directory focused on selected current business places while preserving useful context where it can be connected responsibly. If you do not need that lineage, the simpler package may be easier to work with.

Use a repeatable quality pass

Before importing all records into a production product, write down the questions the data must answer. Pull a sample across several states and categories, inspect rows with unknown operating status, and count missing values in the columns you plan to display. Verify a few business websites and addresses through independent sources. Keep the stable location identifier in your own system so updates can be compared without relying on a name alone. If you combine the directory with another dataset, document which source supplied each important field. This modest preparation catches common mistakes: duplicate offices after a many-to-one contact join, category labels treated as credentials, and old reference fields presented without their date context.

Plan for updates and downloads

Release 2.0.0 is dated October 14, 2026. A purchased version can be downloaded again while that version remains current under its selected license. When a newer public release appears, access to that newer version requires a separate purchase or an offered update. The current product page shows a $50 Master update offer for an eligible earlier Master purchase, and eligibility is checked in the customer account. That offer is distinct from buying a new Master license. Existing customers should sign in and review their Downloads area and the exact update offer displayed for their account. If the account does not show an eligible prior purchase, the public package options remain available.

Where to begin

Open the public product page and inspect the location and contact samples before checkout. Compare its state and category coverage with the geographic and business questions you need to answer. Review the table schema, missing-value statistics, package contents, and full license for the intended output. Then choose the tier that fits both the fields and the use. After purchase, save one protected package and confirm that the documentation, schema, and data files open in your preferred tool. Begin with a small filtered query rather than publishing every row at once. If the standard coverage does not match your region, subject, or required fields, Oddity can discuss a more tailored data package.

For a quick explanation of the release and its limits, read the Lawyers Database 2.0.0 Help answer.

The practical promise

A useful data product gives you a clear starting point and enough context to judge its limits. This update gives you a structured location table, related published contact rows in the appropriate packages, several portable formats, visible field statistics, and a plainly stated distinction between directory evidence and professional verification. It is meant to shorten the route from an initial question to a responsible analysis or application. It still asks for judgment: count the right unit, verify high-stakes facts, respect contact rules, and select a license that matches your final use. That approach produces a better map, directory, research project, or client deliverable than simply importing a large file and trusting every label at face value.