Client reviews
Paul R. Shalhoub’s clients write their reviews on the firm’s Google profile, in their own words and under their own names. Paul cannot edit one, remove an unflattering one, or put one there that nobody wrote.
Shalhoub Law Injury & Accident on Google — 1011 N Olive Ave, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401.
A rating is not the only thing worth checking, and it is not the most useful one. The Florida Bar keeps a public record of every attorney licensed in this state, and the Palm Beach County Clerk publishes the civil docket. Both of them answer questions a star rating cannot.
Why a testimonial on a law firm’s own website is worth less
Anybody can type a paragraph into their own site and put a name under it.
What gives a review its value is that the firm it is about cannot touch it. Nobody at Shalhoub Law Injury & Accident can edit a Google review, delete an unflattering one, or write a new one under a stranger’s name. The person who wrote it owns it, and they can change it or take it down whenever they decide to. Move those words onto a page the firm controls and every bit of that protection is gone, which is why Paul’s reviews stay where his clients wrote them.
And a business publishing reviews about itself does not produce the stars you see under a search result. Those come from the Google Business Profile. Google does not count reviews a business publishes about itself, and a firm trying to manufacture those stars on its own site is working against Google’s guidelines and can lose more than it gains. Reviews belong on a page to be read, not to decorate a search result.
Three rules apply to every review Paul publishes. It goes up unedited — no trimming to make it stronger, no fixing a reviewer’s typo, because an edited testimonial has stopped being the client’s words. It carries the reviewer’s name as it appears publicly, and a link to where they wrote it. And any review describing how a case turned out carries the same line every results claim carries: past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome, because no two injuries, no two insurers and no two juries are the same.
None of which tells you whether a particular firm’s reviews are worth anything. Six things do, and all six are visible on any profile in about a minute.
| What to look at | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| The date on the newest one | A firm with nothing in a year has either stopped asking or stopped earning them. Recency tells you more than the average does |
| Whether reviewers name a person | “Great firm” names nobody. “Paul called me back himself” is a claim the next client can test |
| Whether the same name keeps coming up | At a one-attorney practice it should be the attorney’s. At a large one, it tells you who you would actually be handed to |
| The one- and two-star reviews | Read these before the others. Two complaints about the fee are a different problem from two complaints about never getting a call back |
| How the firm answered them | A reply that argues with a client, or that mentions anything about their case, tells you how a disagreement over your file would go |
| Whether a batch arrived in one week | A run of five-star ratings with no words in them, posted within days of each other, is worth a second look wherever you find it |
How to check a Florida injury attorney in five minutes
Three public records, none of which any law firm can edit. Do this for every firm you are considering, including this one.
1. The Florida Bar profile. Every licensed member of the Bar has one, and it is published by the Bar rather than written by the lawyer. It shows the date of admission, the county and judicial circuit, law school, admissions to federal courts, firm name and firm size, and a ten-year discipline history. Search any name at the Bar’s Find a Lawyer directory. This is the single most useful minute you can spend, and almost nobody spends it.
| Paul R. Shalhoub, as the Florida Bar publishes it | |
|---|---|
| Status | Member in Good Standing, eligible to practice law in Florida |
| Bar number | 88300 |
| Admitted | 22 March 2011 |
| Ten-year discipline history | None |
| County and circuit | Palm Beach · Fifteenth Judicial Circuit |
| Federal courts | U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida |
| Law school | New England School of Law, 2010 |
| Firm size | 1 |
That last line is the one worth pausing on. “You will work directly with the attorney” is a sentence every firm’s website contains. The Bar’s record is where it is either true or not.
2. The public docket. The Palm Beach County Clerk publishes a case search at eCaseView. Search an attorney’s name and you can see whether they actually file lawsuits in this county, or whether every file closes before a complaint is ever drafted. That distinction is invisible on a website and it shows up in the money: a carrier evaluating a claim knows which firms litigate and which ones take what is offered, and it prices accordingly.
3. Check that the details match. The address and phone number on the Bar’s record should be the address and phone number on the website. A firm advertising six locations with one Bar address has one office and five phone numbers. There is nothing wrong with that until it is presented as something else.
Nine questions that tell you more than a star rating
Ask these of every firm you call. The answers differ far more than the reviews do.
| Ask | What you are listening for |
|---|---|
| Who will actually handle my case? | A name, and the same name every time you call back. “Our team” is not an answer |
| If I call in three weeks, who picks up? | Whether the person deciding things about your claim is reachable, or whether you reach an intake desk |
| Do you try cases, or does everything settle? | Whether the firm is a practice or a volume operation. It affects what a carrier offers before anyone files anything |
| How many cases are open right now? | There is no right number, but there is a wrong one, and most firms will not say it out loud |
| What is the fee, and is it in writing before I sign? | A percentage, stated plainly, with what it covers. Not “we only get paid if you do” |
| Who pays the case costs if we lose? | Costs are separate from the fee. Some firms advance them and absorb them; some advance them and bill you |
| How will you find out the other driver’s policy limits? | A written request under Florida’s disclosure statute. If this draws a blank, keep calling firms |
| What is the first thing you would do this week? | Something specific and evidence-shaped — a demand for footage, a records request — not “we will be in touch” |
| What is the weakest part of my case? | The single most revealing question on this list. A lawyer who cannot name one has not thought about your case |
Paul answers all nine himself, including the last one, on a call that costs nothing and comes with no obligation attached.
What a review cannot tell you
Reviews measure the experience of being a client: whether calls were returned, whether anyone explained what was happening, whether the person on the phone was the person on the sign. That is genuinely worth knowing, and it is what most people complain about when they complain about a lawyer.
What a review cannot tell you is whether the result was the right one. A client who was paid quickly and treated kindly writes a warm review whether or not the claim settled for half of what it was worth, because they have nothing to compare it with. The opposite happens too: a case litigated for two years to a better end produces a client who remembers two hard years. Neither review is dishonest. Neither one is a measurement of judgment.
And a result in somebody else’s case does not predict yours. Two claims with identical facts diverge on things no lawyer controls — what the treatment turned out to require, what coverage happened to exist, which adjuster was assigned, who sat on the jury. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome, and a firm promising you a number on a first call is telling you something about the firm rather than about your claim.
Which is why the page you are on sends you to three records and nine questions instead of a wall of quotations.
Common questions
Where can I read the firm’s reviews?
On Paul’s Google profile at 1011 N Olive Ave, West Palm Beach — here. Each review carries the reviewer’s name and star rating, and the firm cannot edit or remove any of them, which is what makes them worth reading.
Are the reviews verified?
They are Google reviews, left by account holders on a profile the firm does not control. That is a different and stronger thing than a quotation on a law firm’s own website, which anyone can type. Nobody at the firm solicits paid reviews or offers anything in exchange for one.
What does it cost to hire Paul R. Shalhoub?
The consultation is free and confidential, and the fee is contingent. We advance case costs, and you owe no attorney’s fees or reimbursement of those costs unless we recover compensation for you. The percentage and what it covers are written in the agreement, and you see them before you sign anything.
Could the firm edit or hide a bad review?
No. The only person who can change or remove a Google review is the person who wrote it. Paul cannot edit one, hide one, or move it down the list, and nobody at the firm writes any of them. If a review ever disappears, the reviewer took it down.
Can I leave a review?
Yes, on the Google profile, and the office will send you the link if you ask. Nothing is offered in exchange and nothing is expected. An honest three-star review is more use to the next person than a five-star one that was asked for.
How do I check whether a Florida lawyer has been disciplined?
The Florida Bar publishes a ten-year discipline history on every member’s profile. Search the name at Find a Lawyer. Paul’s profile is Bar #88300: admitted 22 March 2011, discipline history none.
Does “firm size 1” mean nobody else works there?
It means one attorney. There is support staff; there is no second lawyer your file could be handed to, and no case manager standing between you and the person making decisions. The trade-off is honest: a selective caseload is the product, which also means the firm does not take everything that calls.
Is a small firm a disadvantage against a big insurer?
It is the question worth asking, and the answer is in how a claim is actually evaluated. An adjuster is working inside a system with rules about reserves and authority, and what moves a number is the content of the file rather than the size of the letterhead. Paul spent the first part of his career defending insurance companies, which is where that view comes from.
What if I had a bad experience with another firm?
Common, and usually about communication rather than outcome: months with no contact, a case manager who did not know the file, a number produced at the end with no explanation. You are entitled to change counsel. Where a case moves, the first firm generally asserts a claim for its fees and costs out of any eventual recovery, resolved between the lawyers rather than added to your share.
Does the firm publish its verdicts and settlements?
Not on this page. A results claim should carry the case number, the venue and the date, and each one needs the client’s position considered before it is used publicly. What is published instead is the record anybody can check for themselves: the Bar profile, and the public docket in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit.
What is the fastest way to judge whether to hire someone?
Ask what the weakest part of your case is. A lawyer who has thought about your claim will tell you, and will tell you what they would do about it. A lawyer who says there are no problems with it is either not listening or not being straight, and both of those matter more over a two-year case than a star rating does.
Talk to Paul, not a case manager
Ask him the nine questions. The call is the test, and it is free either way. Consultations are free and confidential. We advance case costs, and you owe no attorney’s fees or reimbursement of those costs unless we recover compensation for you.
Call (561) 208-5058 Free case review
Shalhoub Law Injury & Accident, 1011 N Olive Ave, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. Florida Bar #88300, admitted 2011. Verified against The Florida Bar’s published member profile on 27 October 2026. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome, and nothing on this page is legal advice or creates an attorney-client relationship.