How we rank lawyers (our scoring method)

This is how we rank lawyers on Compare Personal Injury Lawyer QLD. Every Queensland firm in our directory is scored out of 100 on the same dated public facts: 25 points for a QLS Accredited Specialist, up to 20 for Doyle’s Guide, up to 20 for Google rating, 15 for published fee terms, up to 10 for claim types and up to 10 for Queensland offices. No firm can pay for points or a position.

Written by Marshall Fenech, Editor. Last reviewed 20 October 2026.

How we rank lawyers: a reader checking firm details at her kitchen table

How we rank lawyers in one minute

We follow the same three steps for every firm:

First, we list the firm if it has a staffed Queensland office, offers personal injury claims and its identity checks out.
Next, we record its public facts, such as specialist accreditation and published fees, each with a source and a check date.
Finally, the site adds up the score out of 100 with one published formula, so every firm faces the same test.

As a result, a firm moves up or down only when a checked fact changes. No firm can pay for points, a listing or a better position.

Who we list before we rank lawyers

We list a firm when all of these are true:

It has a staffed office with a street address in Queensland.
It publicly offers plaintiff personal injury or compensation claims (for example CTP, WorkCover, public liability, medical negligence, TPD, abuse or dust diseases).
Its identity can be confirmed on ABN Lookup or the Queensland Law Society Register of Solicitors.

However, we do not list insurer-side firms, referral or lead-generation services, or claim-farming websites. In fact, paying or receiving money for injury claim referrals is illegal in Queensland (Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 s 71).

The facts we record and where they come from

For each firm, we record the facts below. Each one links to its source, and each shows the date we last checked it.

Every profile shows the date its facts were last checked and links its sources.
Fact	Source	How we check
Legal name and ABN	ABN Lookup	We match it to the firm’s trading name and address
QLS Accredited Specialist (Personal Injuries Law)	QLS Register of Solicitors	The named solicitor must appear on the register’s Accredited Specialist list. A firm’s own claim alone is not enough
Independent rankings	Doyle’s Guide (with year)	The firm must appear in the published Queensland list for that year
Fee terms	The firm’s own published costs or no win no fee page	We quote or closely paraphrase them, and never estimate
Offices and regions	Firm website; Queensland Government regions	Only street-address offices count, and regions follow migration.qld.gov.au
Google rating and review count	Google Maps	We check them every week and remove them automatically after 30 days
Claim types	Firm website	Only claim types the firm publicly offers

How we rank lawyers with a score out of 100

Next, the site works out each score automatically from the firm’s profile. That way, nobody can nudge a number by hand. The table shows what each part is worth.

“No win no fee” offers are shown on profiles but never scored or promoted.
What we check	Points	Why it matters
QLS Accredited Specialist in Personal Injuries Law at the firm	25	The Queensland Law Society assesses specialist accreditation, so it is the strongest public signal of personal injury expertise.
Doyle’s Guide 2025 or 2026 Queensland plaintiff firm lists	20 Pre-eminent or Leading, 12 Recommended, 8 if only a lawyer is listed	An independent peer-review ranking. Older listings do not count.
Google rating (Google Business Profile, at least 5 reviews)	up to 20: rating up to 12 (3.5 stars = 0, 5.0 stars = 12) plus review volume up to 8 (500 or more reviews = 8)	What clients say publicly. We check ratings on Google Maps every week and remove them when they are more than 30 days old.
Fee terms published on the firm’s own website	15	You can check how a firm charges before you contact it. We score that the terms are published, not what they offer.
Claim types offered (of 8)	up to 10	Breadth of personal injury work, from the firm’s own website.
Queensland office network	3 for 1 region, 5 for 2, 7 for 3–4, 10 for 5 or more	Street offices in more official Queensland regions. Appointment-only locations do not count.

Until we check its Google rating, a firm scores 0 for that part.

A worked example

To see how the parts add up, take an example firm. It has a QLS Accredited Specialist, a Recommended listing in Doyle’s Guide 2026 and fee terms on its website. It also handles 6 of the 8 claim types and has offices in 2 Queensland regions. However, we have not yet recorded a Google rating for it.

An illustration of the formula, not a real firm.
Part	Points
QLS Accredited Specialist	25
Doyle’s Guide: Recommended	12
Google rating: not yet recorded	0
Published fee terms	15
Claim types: 6 of 8 (10 × 6 ÷ 8, rounded)	8
Offices in 2 regions	5
Total	65 out of 100

So once the firm’s Google rating is checked, its score can rise by up to 20 points. Likewise, a new specialist on the QLS register would add 25.

How ties and claim-type rankings work

When two firms have the same score, we split the tie by Doyle’s tier first. After that, we list them alphabetically.

On claim-type rankings (for example car accident or medical negligence lawyers), the Doyle’s Guide points use the firm’s listing in that claim’s own Doyle’s category: motor vehicle accident, work injury, public liability, medical negligence, institutional abuse, or asbestos and dust diseases. In contrast, a firm listed only in other categories scores 6 of the 20 points on that ranking.

What a score does not measure

A score does not measure results in individual cases. It also cannot tell you how a firm will handle your claim, or whether it suits you. So use the score to build a shortlist. Then compare the firms that handle your type of claim, and ask each one for its written costs disclosure.

What we leave out when we rank lawyers

We also leave some things out on purpose, because nobody can check them independently:

Win rates, settlement totals and “number one” claims that cannot be independently checked.
Reviews or testimonials hosted by the firm itself.
Anything a firm asks us to add in exchange for payment.

Similarly, if we cannot confirm a fact, the profile says “Not published” or “not confirmed” rather than guessing.

How often facts are updated

Firm facts: we re-check them at least every 90 days, and our editors get an automatic reminder when a firm is due.
Google ratings: we check them every week.
Queensland claim rules and time limits: we check them against legislation.qld.gov.au and the relevant regulator, and show the check date.

Corrections

If a fact about a firm is wrong or out of date, firms and readers can tell us through the form on our corrections page. We then check the source and update the page, normally within 5 business days, and record the change date. See our editorial standards.

Questions about how we rank lawyers

No. Every score comes from public facts and one published formula, so a firm can only move up when a checked fact changes. We take no referral fees, lead fees or paid placements, and paying for injury claim referrals is illegal in Queensland.

Google rating is worth up to 20 points. Until we have checked a firm’s rating on Google Maps, that part scores 0. Also, a rating needs at least 5 reviews to count, and we remove ratings that are more than 30 days old.

We show a firm’s published fee terms on its profile, and publishing them earns 15 points. However, we never score or promote the offer itself, because Queensland law restricts how personal injury services are advertised.

No. A score counts public records, not case results. For example, a small local firm may score lower simply because it publishes less online. So use the score as a starting point, then speak to the firms that handle your type of claim.