{
  "id": 11428025,
  "title": "Legal 500 takes down site after accidentally publishing damning barrister reviews",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/legal-500-takes-down-site-after-accidentally-publishing-damning",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-02T11:32:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/legal-500-takes-down-site-after-accidentally-publishing-damning-barrister-reviews/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Legal 500, a global law firm and attorney directory, was compelled to remove its website following a mishap wherein negative reviews were inadvertently displayed alongside the rankings of top lawyers. The publisher, which conducts evaluations of law firms, solicitors, and barristers across 100 nations, temporarily shut down the site on Friday for \"maintenance\" after it was discovered that the bad reviews were being published alongside the profiles of those who had achieved high rankings. The directory had been made accessible to the public on Thursday, but screenshots shared on social media revealed lawyers who had topped the rankings receiving zero-star reviews and harsh critiques. One high-ranking barrister was lambasted for being \"disorganized and indecisive,\" while another was criticized for \"sloppy\" written work. A review of another lawyer simply stated \"nothing of note,\" while yet another was described as \"impressive building and facilities.\" Another lawyer's review claimed that the individual was \"sexually attracted to fish.\" These reviews deviated significantly from the typical industry rankings, which the firm claims to determine through months of rigorous independent research and client feedback. The error compounded a challenging week for Legal 500 and its parent company, Legalease, as dozens of their staff had recently won an industrial dispute over pay following two and a half weeks of strike action. Legal 500 was subsequently reached out for comment.",
  "summary": "Legal 500 has been forced to take down its site after the firm mistakenly published negative reviews alongside its top lawyer rankings. The publisher, which evaluates law firms, solicitors and barristers across 100 countries, pulled its site on Friday for “maintenance” after it had emerged bad reviews were accidentally accompanying the profiles of those who [...]",
  "key_points": [
    "Legal 500 removed site due to accidental publication of negative barrister reviews",
    "Negative reviews displayed alongside high-ranking lawyers' profiles",
    "Error occurred during site maintenance after public launch on Thursday"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}