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Attorney Schema Markup: Full Implementation Guide

Attorney schema markup is how AI systems verify that your content is authored by a real, credentialed legal professional. This guide covers every property you need to establish attorney entity authority.

Attorney vs Person vs LegalService

Schema.org does not define a dedicated “Attorney” type. The correct schema type for individual attorney bio pages is Person. The LegalService type is used for the services your firm provides — practice area pages — not for individual attorneys.

Schema TypeUse ForWhere to Deploy
PersonIndividual attorneysAttorney bio pages
OrganizationThe law firm entityHomepage (as @id anchor)
LegalServicePractice area servicesPractice area pages
LocalBusinessPhysical office locationsHomepage, contact page

Required Properties

These properties are required for a complete, AI-readable attorney entity:

  • @idUnique URL for this attorney entity, e.g. https://example.com/attorneys/jane-smith/#attorney
  • nameAttorney's full legal name as it appears on bar registration
  • jobTitleRole at the firm, e.g. 'Personal Injury Attorney' or 'Managing Partner'
  • worksFor@id reference to the firm's Organization node
  • urlURL of the attorney's bio page on your website

E-E-A-T Properties

These properties are not technically required by Schema.org but are the most impactful for AI E-E-A-T signals:

  • sameAsArray of URLs to Avvo, Justia, LinkedIn, Super Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell profiles — the single highest-value property
  • memberOfState bar membership with identifier containing the bar number
  • alumniOfLaw school(s) attended with EducationalOrganization type
  • hasCredentialJuris Doctor credential recognized by the state bar
  • knowsAboutArray of practice areas the attorney specializes in
  • descriptionOne to two sentence bio that opens with the attorney's name, practice area, and jurisdiction

Bar Admission Markup

Bar admission is the primary verifiable credential that distinguishes a licensed attorney from an unlicensed legal writer. Mark it up using memberOf with the specific bar number in the identifier property:

"memberOf": {
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "State Bar of California",
  "url": "https://www.calbar.ca.gov",
  "identifier": "CA Bar No. 287654"
}

Full JSON-LD Example

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "Person",
      "@id": "https://example-firm.com/attorneys/jane-smith/#attorney",
      "name": "Jane Smith",
      "givenName": "Jane",
      "familyName": "Smith",
      "jobTitle": "Personal Injury Attorney",
      "description": "Jane Smith is a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles with 15 years of experience representing accident victims in California courts.",
      "url": "https://example-firm.com/attorneys/jane-smith/",
      "image": {
        "@type": "ImageObject",
        "url": "https://example-firm.com/images/attorneys/jane-smith.jpg"
      },
      "worksFor": {
        "@id": "https://example-firm.com/#organization"
      },
      "alumniOf": {
        "@type": "EducationalOrganization",
        "name": "UCLA School of Law"
      },
      "memberOf": {
        "@type": "Organization",
        "name": "State Bar of California",
        "identifier": "CA Bar No. 287654"
      },
      "knowsAbout": [
        "Personal Injury Law",
        "Car Accident Claims",
        "Workers Compensation",
        "Wrongful Death"
      ],
      "hasCredential": {
        "@type": "EducationalOccupationalCredential",
        "credentialCategory": "Juris Doctor",
        "recognizedBy": {
          "@type": "Organization",
          "name": "State Bar of California"
        }
      },
      "sameAs": [
        "https://www.avvo.com/attorneys/jane-smith",
        "https://www.justia.com/lawyers/jane-smith",
        "https://www.superlawyers.com/california/jane-smith",
        "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-smith-attorney",
        "https://www.martindale.com/jane-smith"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I use Attorney, Person, or LegalService schema for attorney bio pages?

Use Person schema (with @type: 'Person') for individual attorney bio pages. Schema.org does not have a dedicated 'Attorney' type — Person is the correct type for individual humans. LegalService is used for the practice area services the firm offers, not for individual attorney profiles. The Attorney's name, credentials, and employer are all properties on the Person node.

What is the most important property in attorney schema for AI visibility?

The sameAs property is the single most impactful property. It links your attorney entity to their Avvo, Justia, LinkedIn, Super Lawyers, and state bar directory profiles — authoritative third-party sources that AI systems use to verify expertise claims. Without sameAs links, the attorney entity exists only on your own domain; with them, it is corroborated by multiple independent sources.

Do I need a separate schema node for each attorney?

Yes. Each attorney should have their own Person schema node with a unique @id on their individual bio page. All attorney nodes should reference the firm's Organization @id via their worksFor property, creating a connected graph that links each attorney to the firm entity. A single attorney node for 'all partners' is not effective for AI entity recognition.

How do I mark up bar membership and bar number in attorney schema?

Use the memberOf property with an Organization type for the state bar. Include the bar number in the identifier property. Example: memberOf: { '@type': 'Organization', 'name': 'State Bar of California', 'identifier': 'CA Bar No. 287654' }. This is the most direct way to provide verifiable bar credentials in machine-readable format.

Should attorney schema be on every page or just the bio page?

The full Attorney Person schema should live on the attorney's dedicated bio page. On practice area pages, include a minimal author reference — the attorney's name and a link to their bio page with the @id that matches their full schema node. This cross-referencing pattern tells AI systems that the practice area content is authored by a specific, credentialed attorney.

Get Your Attorney Schema Implemented

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