# Maryland Attorney Directory Scraper (`automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper`) Actor โš–๏ธ Extract Maryland Courts attorney IDs, names, public contact details, admission dates, and bar status for CRM enrichment and compliance. - **URL**: https://apify.com/automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Stas Persiianenko](https://apify.com/automation-lab) (community) - **Categories:** Other - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Maryland Attorney Directory Scraper Scrape the public Maryland Courts Attorney Listing and turn name searches into clean attorney records with bar status, admission dates, public address snippets, phone numbers, and source provenance. ### What does Maryland Attorney Directory Scraper do? Maryland Attorney Directory Scraper searches the official Maryland Courts attorney listing at `mdcourts.gov/attysearch`. It submits the public attorney search form, parses the result table, and saves structured rows to an Apify dataset. Use it when you need Maryland attorney IDs, names, public organization/address snippets, phone numbers, admitted dates, and status values. ### Who is it for? - โš–๏ธ Legal-tech teams building attorney enrichment pipelines - ๐Ÿ“ˆ Agencies creating Maryland legal lead lists - ๐Ÿงพ Compliance teams checking public bar status - ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿ’ผ Business-development teams researching law firms and attorneys - ๐Ÿ—ƒ๏ธ Data vendors normalizing state attorney directory records ### Why use this scraper? The Maryland Courts website is designed for interactive lookup, not bulk export. This actor gives you repeatable, exportable records with search provenance so you can audit how each row was found. ### Data source The actor uses the public Maryland Courts Attorney Listing. No login, private account, CAPTCHA token, or browser session is required for normal searches. ### What data can you extract? | Field | Description | | --- | --- | | `attorneyId` | Maryland Courts attorney ID | | `lastName` | Published last name | | `firstName` | Published first and middle names | | `organizationOrAddress` | Public organization/address block | | `phone` | Public phone number, when listed | | `admittedDate` | Admission date shown by Maryland Courts | | `status` | Public status such as Active or Inactive/Retired | | `sourceUrl` | Search page URL | | `searchedLastName` | Last name you searched | | `searchedFirstName` | First name you searched, when used | | `similarNames` | Whether similar-name search was enabled | | `scrapedAt` | Extraction timestamp | ### How much does it cost to scrape Maryland attorney directory records? The actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You pay a small $0.005 start fee plus a per-attorney-record event. Formula-derived BRONZE pricing is about $0.000051 per attorney record, with higher-plan volume discounts. Your final run cost depends on how many searches you submit and how many attorney rows are saved. Use a small `maxItems` value for a first test run. ### Quick start 1. Open the actor on Apify. 2. Enter one or more last names. 3. Optionally enter first names. 4. Keep `similarNames` on for broader discovery or off for stricter searches. 5. Set `maxItems`. 6. Run the actor. 7. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, or through the Apify API. ### Input options #### `lastNames` Required list of Maryland attorney last names. The court usually returns a maximum of 10 matches per search, so use multiple surnames for larger datasets. #### `firstNames` Optional list of first names. When first names are provided, the actor searches each last name with each first name. #### `similarNames` Set to `true` to use the Maryland Courts similar-name option. Set to `false` for stricter searches. #### `maxItems` Maximum number of attorney records to save. #### `proxyConfiguration` Optional Apify proxy configuration. SHADER datacenter proxy is enabled by default to avoid Maryland Courts per-IP search cooldowns. Direct connection can work for a few manual searches but may hit a cooldown during repeated runs. ### Example input ```json { "lastNames": ["Smith", "Johnson", "Williams", "Brown", "Jones"], "similarNames": true, "maxItems": 50, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["SHADER"] } } ```` ### Example output ```json { "attorneyId": "1512160275", "lastName": "SMITH", "firstName": "AARON MICHAEL", "organizationOrAddress": null, "phone": null, "admittedDate": "12/16/2015", "status": "Active", "sourceUrl": "https://www.mdcourts.gov/attysearch", "searchedLastName": "Smith", "searchedFirstName": null, "similarNames": true, "scrapedAt": "2026-07-07T00:00:00.000Z" } ``` ### Tips for better results - Use common surnames for broad market research. - Turn off similar names for exact surname verification. - Use first names when validating a known attorney. - Increase `maxItems` only after a small test run looks correct. - Export CSV for spreadsheet and CRM workflows. ### Integrations You can connect the output dataset to: - Airtable for legal lead review - HubSpot or Salesforce for CRM enrichment - Google Sheets for compliance spot checks - Snowflake, BigQuery, or S3 for data warehousing - Internal license-monitoring dashboards ### API usage with Node.js ```js import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN }); const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper').call({ lastNames: ['Smith', 'Johnson'], similarNames: true, maxItems: 20, }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); console.log(items); ``` ### API usage with Python ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient import os client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN']) run = client.actor('automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper').call(run_input={ 'lastNames': ['Smith', 'Johnson'], 'similarNames': True, 'maxItems': 20, }) items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items print(items) ``` ### API usage with cURL ```bash curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~maryland-attorney-directory-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{"lastNames":["Smith","Johnson"],"similarNames":true,"maxItems":20}' ``` ### MCP integration Use this actor from Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, or other MCP clients through Apify MCP. Setup for Claude Code: ```bash claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com" ``` Setup for Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code: ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com" } } } ``` Example prompts: - "Use automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper to scrape Maryland attorney records for Smith and Johnson and summarize active attorneys." - "Run the Maryland attorney directory scraper for exact last name Garcia." - "Create a CSV-ready Maryland attorney lead list from these surnames." ### Legality This actor extracts publicly available information from the Maryland Courts website. Use the data responsibly and follow applicable privacy, marketing, and professional-conduct rules. Do not use the data for harassment, spam, or unlawful profiling. ### FAQ **Is this an official Maryland Courts API?** No. It is an Apify scraper for the public Maryland Courts attorney listing website. **How fast is it?** Most runs are fast because the actor uses HTTP POST requests rather than a browser. **Why do some searches return only 10 records?** Maryland Courts limits a search page to a maximum of 10 matches, so use multiple surnames or first-name filters for broader coverage. ### Troubleshooting #### Why did I get only 10 records for a last name? The Maryland Courts result page states that a maximum of 10 matches may be returned for a search. Use more targeted first names or additional surnames to expand coverage. #### Why are some address or phone fields empty? The actor only returns information published in the search result table. If Maryland Courts leaves a field blank, the dataset field is `null`. ### Related scrapers Explore more public-record and legal-data tools from Automation Lab: - https://apify.com/automation-lab/arizona-attorney-directory-scraper - https://apify.com/automation-lab/illinois-attorney-directory-scraper - https://apify.com/automation-lab/texas-bar-attorney-scraper ### Dataset exports Apify datasets can be exported as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or HTML table files. For CRM workflows, CSV and Excel are usually the easiest formats. ### Monitoring workflows Schedule recurring runs with the same surnames to monitor status changes over time. Store each dataset snapshot and compare `status` or `admittedDate` fields in your own system. ### Data quality notes Names and statuses are returned exactly as the Maryland Courts page publishes them. The actor normalizes whitespace and line breaks but does not infer missing values. ### Performance notes This is an HTTP scraper and does not launch a browser. Most small runs finish quickly because each search is a simple form POST. ### Support If a run fails or the Maryland Courts page changes, open an Apify issue with the run ID and input used. ### Changelog Initial version: search Maryland attorney listings by last name and optional first name, parse official result rows, and export structured attorney records. # Actor input Schema ## `lastNames` (type: `array`): Maryland attorney last names to search. The court returns up to 10 matches per search. ## `firstNames` (type: `array`): Optional first names. If provided, each last name is searched with each first name. ## `similarNames` (type: `boolean`): Enable Maryland Courts similar-name search (snames=on). Turn off for stricter exact-last-name searches. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum attorney records to save across all searches. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Optional Apify proxy settings. SHADER datacenter proxy is enabled by default to avoid Maryland Courts per-IP search cooldowns. ## Actor input object example ```json { "lastNames": [ "Smith", "Johnson", "Williams", "Brown", "Jones", "Miller", "Davis", "Wilson", "Moore", "Taylor" ], "firstNames": [], "similarNames": true, "maxItems": 20, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "SHADER" ] } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "lastNames": [ "Smith", "Johnson", "Williams", "Brown", "Jones", "Miller", "Davis", "Wilson", "Moore", "Taylor" ], "firstNames": [], "similarNames": true, "maxItems": 20, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "SHADER" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`๐Ÿ’พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "lastNames": [ "Smith", "Johnson", "Williams", "Brown", "Jones", "Miller", "Davis", "Wilson", "Moore", "Taylor", ], "firstNames": [], "similarNames": True, "maxItems": 20, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["SHADER"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("๐Ÿ’พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "lastNames": [ "Smith", "Johnson", "Williams", "Brown", "Jones", "Miller", "Davis", "Wilson", "Moore", "Taylor" ], "firstNames": [], "similarNames": true, "maxItems": 20, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "SHADER" ] } }' | apify call automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/maryland-attorney-directory-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Maryland Attorney Directory Scraper", "description": "โš–๏ธ Extract Maryland Courts attorney IDs, names, public contact details, admission dates, and bar status for CRM enrichment and compliance.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "SFxq5EWbkegLdS8xW" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/automation-lab~maryland-attorney-directory-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-automation-lab-maryland-attorney-directory-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/automation-lab~maryland-attorney-directory-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-automation-lab-maryland-attorney-directory-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/automation-lab~maryland-attorney-directory-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-automation-lab-maryland-attorney-directory-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "lastNames" ], "properties": { "lastNames": { "title": "Last names", "type": "array", "description": "Maryland attorney last names to search. The court returns up to 10 matches per search.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "firstNames": { "title": "First names (optional)", "type": "array", "description": "Optional first names. If provided, each last name is searched with each first name.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "similarNames": { "title": "Include similar names", "type": "boolean", "description": "Enable Maryland Courts similar-name search (snames=on). Turn off for stricter exact-last-name searches.", "default": true }, "maxItems": { "title": "Maximum attorneys", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 10000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum attorney records to save across all searches.", "default": 20 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Optional Apify proxy settings. SHADER datacenter proxy is enabled by default to avoid Maryland Courts per-IP search cooldowns.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "SHADER" ] } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```