U.S. · Professional Licensing

US attorney bar number lookup.

There is no national attorney licence database: each state runs its own. These guides link to ten official state directories and explain each one’s number, search rules and where discipline is shown.

Use the state’s own register for the answer. This page searches nothing and cannot confirm anyone’s licence or standing. Pick the state, open the official directory, and compare the listing with the person who contacted you.

Sources: each state’s bar or courtRetrieved 16 October 2026

Pick a state

State	Regulator	Number term	Register
California	State Bar of California	Bar number	Official directory ↗
New York	New York State Unified Court System	Attorney registration number	Official directory ↗
Texas	State Bar of Texas	Bar card number	Official directory ↗
Florida	The Florida Bar	Florida Bar number	Official directory ↗
Illinois	Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois (ARDC)	Attorney registration number	Official directory ↗
Pennsylvania	Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania	Attorney ID number	Official directory ↗
Ohio	Supreme Court of Ohio	Attorney registration number	Official directory ↗
Georgia	State Bar of Georgia	Bar number	Official directory ↗
New Jersey	New Jersey Judiciary	Attorney ID	Official directory ↗
Washington	Washington State Bar Association (WSBA)	WSBA license number	Official directory ↗

How to check a lawyer in any state

Identify the state where the person says they are licensed.
Open that state’s official directory (linked in the table or its guide).
Search by name, or by the number where the directory allows it, and compare the details.
Read the discipline information the regulator describes, including its stated limits.
If anything does not match, contact the regulator directly.

Why the number is called something different in every state

Each state names and issues its identifier differently, and New York has no bar number at all. A number from one state can look like a number from another, so always search the register of the state named by the lawyer. These guides do not validate number formats or check numbers against any list; only the official registers can do that.

Sources

Facts come from each regulator’s public pages, retrieved 16 October 2026; the registers may change at any time.

Frequently asked questions

How do I verify that someone is a licensed attorney?

Find the state where they say they are licensed, open that state’s official bar or court directory, search the name (or number where the directory accepts one) and compare the listing with what you were told. If it does not match, contact the regulator.

Is there one national attorney licence database?

This page does not link to one. Lawyers are licensed state by state, so each state’s own directory is the authoritative record; the guides above link to ten of them.

Do all states use a “bar number”?

No. The terms differ: California and Georgia say bar number, Texas says bar card number, Illinois and Ohio say attorney registration number, Pennsylvania and New Jersey say attorney ID, Washington says license number, and New York has no bar number at all.

Does a clean profile mean a lawyer has never been disciplined?

Not always. Several states say their online records have limits, for example Pennsylvania before 2003 and Texas for confidential matters, so read each state’s own explanation.

Is this page a verification tool?

No. It searches nothing, does not collect what you type and only links to official directories.

Guide only — not a verification tool

This page links to state attorney directories based on each regulator’s public pages retrieved 16 October 2026. It does not check anyone’s licence or standing, it is not affiliated with or endorsed by any state bar or court, and nothing you might type here is transmitted anywhere. Use the official register linked above and confirm directly with the regulator. Not legal advice.