Can You Remove an Attorney Suspension From Google?

Your suspension can be over while the search results still lead with it. A prospective client searches your name and finds the published decision, a directory listing that references it, or both.

Avvo profiles can display a notice such as "This lawyer was disciplined by a state licensing authority in [year]" along with the sanction type. Official attorney records can also appear in the same search.

Those results tell someone about the discipline. They don't necessarily tell the rest of the story about your return to practice.

Google's "Results about you" tool lets people request removal of results showing personal contact information: a phone number, home address or email address.

It is not a tool for removing court or disciplinary records. A record doesn't become eligible for that tool just because it shows up when someone searches your name.

That distinction matters. Removing personal contact information and removing an accurate published disciplinary decision are not the same request.

Avvo and state directories reference official licensing records. If the disciplinary record is accurate, asking them to delete it isn't the same as correcting a mistake.

Avvo displays disciplinary information and factors discipline into the Avvo Rating. Its profile note also says that disciplinary information may not be comprehensive or updated, and recommends checking with the state bar.

Claiming an Avvo profile is free. It gives you a way to complete the profile, not a way to erase an accurate disciplinary history.

In New York, the official attorney directory provides registration information, and the relevant Appellate Division provides disciplinary-record information. Reinstatement and the historical record are different parts of the picture.

Avvo and attorney discipline: what your profile shows

Removal means the result is taken down. Suppression means stronger, accurate pages rank above it.

For an accurate public disciplinary record, suppression is the realistic goal. The record remains available, but it isn't the first thing a prospective client sees when they search your name.

I don't promise to erase a suspension. The work is to build a fuller, accurate picture of you so the old record falls off page 1.

I started with my father, Thomas A. Sirianni, Esq. He had been a New York attorney for 27 years, was suspended over an escrow account bookkeeping issue, and was reinstated.

He was our first client. Today, page 1 for his name is clear of the suspension listings. We didn't delete the public record. We built strong, accurate pages about him so the search results stopped leading with it.

That is the difference between promising removal and doing reputation work. The goal is to change what clients see first, not to pretend the record never existed.

attorney reputation defense

In my father's case, it took about six months.

That is one client's experience, not a deadline I can promise for your name. Results vary.

Before talking about timing, let's look at what actually ranks for you. That is the starting point for a useful conversation.

Suppression vs. removal: how attorney reputation repair works