GroundTruth · Edmonton, Alberta
Fee surprise is the market's #1 complaint (26 of 80 negatives, 33%): quotes of $3,000-$4,000 that became $14,000, a $500 'rush fee' for the firm's own delay, and retainers consumed without a statement, across 14 of the 25 firms.
Communication failure is the #2 pattern: unreturned calls and emails appear in 15 of 80 negatives across 9 firms, and it is the most repeated grievance in family and estate files.
The volume personal-injury leaders (Assiff 5.0/2,108, James H. Brown 4.9/1,625) win on review count, but their negatives allege pressure to settle low - a positioning gap a contingency firm could attack with a 'your number, not our timeline' promise.
Edmonton Law Office (4.7/606) is the volume family-law player and the single largest source of negative reviews in the window (20 of 80): high intake, low follow-through is the pattern a challenger punishes.
Two BigLaw names on the map (Miller Thomson 3.8, Reynolds Mirth 3.8) hold the lowest ratings in the top 25 - institutional reputation is not protecting them in local search.
Not one of the 25 publishes prices, response-time standards, or a file-status process on Google - every differentiation angle in this report is currently unclaimed.
| Competitor | Calls emails | Bills that | Files that | Unprepared mishandled | Rude treatment | Retainers consumed | Promises consult, | Pressure settle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ #1 Chadi & Ibrahim LLP2 complaints | 2 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| ▸ #2 James H. Brown & Associates4 complaints | · | · | · | · | · | · | 2 | 2 |
| ▸ #3 Ogilvie LLP5 complaints | · | 3 | 2 | · | · | · | · | · |
| ▸ #4 Assiff Law Office8 complaints | 2 | 2 | 2 | · | · | · | · | 2 |
| ▸ #5 Andrew Law Office6 complaints | · | 2 | 2 | · | 2 | · | · | · |
| ▸ #6 UrbanLawyers4 complaints | 2 | · | · | · | · | · | 2 | · |
| ▸ #9 Pactum Law4 complaints | · | 2 | 2 | · | · | · | · | · |
| ▸ #10 MD LAW GROUP9 complaints | · | 2 | 2 | 3 | · | 2 | · | · |
| ▸ #11 Edmonton Law Office25 complaints | · | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | · |
| ▸ #12 Liberty Law LLP7 complaints | 2 | 2 | · | · | 3 | · | · | · |
| ▸ #13 Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP6 complaints | 2 | 2 | · | · | · | 2 | · | · |
| ▸ #15 Local Legal Law Offices4 complaints | · | 2 | 2 | · | · | · | · | · |
| ▸ #16 Forum Law LLP | Business, Family and Litigation Lawyer7 complaints | · | 3 | 2 | · | · | · | · | 2 |
| ▸ #19 Miller Thomson LLP9 complaints | · | 3 | 2 | · | 2 | · | 2 | · |
| ▸ #20 Ulasi Law Group14 complaints | 3 | 2 | · | 3 | 4 | 2 | · | · |
| ▸ #21 Jomha Law Office4 complaints | 2 | · | · | · | · | · | 2 | · |
| ▸ #23 Verhaeghe Law Office21 complaints | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | · | · |
| ▸ #24 BARR LLP9 complaints | 2 | · | 2 | 3 | · | 2 | · | · |
| ▸ #25 Peter B Mason Real Estate Lawyer7 complaints | · | 2 | · | 2 | · | · | 3 | · |
No Reddit signal was pulled for this run.
Google ranks the local pack mainly on relevance, distance, and prominence. It publishes no formula, and there is no way to request or pay for a better rank.
How well your profile matches the search.
How far you are from the searcher.
How well-known you are, including reviews and links.
Keep your business info up to date. Complete, accurate info is more likely to show up in local results.
Verify your business. It tells Google you are authorised to represent the business.
Keep your hours up to date. So customers know when they can visit.
Respond to reviews. Positive reviews and helpful replies help your business stand out.
Add photos and videos. Show what you offer and tell the story of your business.
Add in-store products. Your products can show in local results so customers see what is in stock.
Google gives no formula, so this is a blended estimate. We layered the published map-pack factor breakdowns from several SEO authorities and took the nearest-fit figure per group.
How well a business profile matches what someone searched for. Google reads the listing's primary category, services, and on-profile wording to decide if it fits the query.
How far each business is from the customer who is searching. Google favours the nearest qualified option, so a listing can top the pack at its doorstep and disappear a few suburbs over.
How well-known a business is. Google builds it from signals like how many websites link to the business and how many reviews it has. In Google's own words, more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.
The block of three business listings Google shows on a small map at the top of local results, also called the 3-pack. It is ranked separately from the organic blue links below it.
Our score, out of 100, for the share of the metro where a business lands in the top three. A 20 means it holds a top-3 spot at one in five of the points we scan.
Our method of running the same search from many precise coordinates across the metro instead of one spot, because local rank shifts block by block with distance. The sweep pulls measured rank via the DataForSEO Google Maps API.
Our name for the slice of the metro where a business actually holds the top three. It equals its share of voice, and answers how much ground a rival owns rather than where it ranks for one search.
The middle rank across all the points where a business appears. We use the median, not the average, because far-edge points where a listing gives up the pack would drag a mean down and misstate where it really stands.
The furthest distance from a business's base where it still holds a top-3 spot. A compact read on how far its proximity advantage carries.
Google counts reviews toward prominence and says more reviews and positive ratings can help your ranking. Review velocity is the pace a business earns new reviews over time.
The cumulative number of reviews a business holds. Google treats the number of reviews as a prominence signal, so a larger, well-rated base can help ranking.
The percent of a business's reviews that are five stars. A quick read on how clean its reputation is, alongside the headline star average.
Our label for a listing that ranks high in the pack for one search but holds very little of the wider metro. High visibility at its doorstep, thin reach everywhere else.
Our label for a business that controls real metro turf, holding the top three across a wide area regardless of its rank for one single search. The opposite of a paper tiger.
How damaging a complaint theme is, tagged high, medium, or low. Damage with no accountability sits higher than, say, a slow crew.