You start by generating a code word on our verification page and sending it to Bryson via LinkedIn. He independently verifies your profile and employment records to confirm you served as an associate at the firm in question. Once verified, you receive a unique, anonymized submission token to write and submit your review directly. Once your review is submitted, you get full access to the Upward Review database.

No. While Mosaic Search Partners works with law firms in a separate recruiting capacity, Upward Review is an entirely independent platform with complete information separation. Your participation here is never shared with any employer, firm, or outside party, and no information from this platform is used in any other part of our business. Beyond that, the review database itself does not store your name, email, or any identifying information. There is no account linking you to your submission. Your anonymity is structural, not just a policy.

Any current or former associate at an AmLaw 100 firm can request to submit a review, provided they have not been promoted to partner or counsel. This platform is built exclusively for the associate perspective. You must be verified through a conversation with Bryson before your review can be submitted.

Upward Review is not an anonymous forum. It is a curated, verified platform run by Bryson Malcolm, someone who has practiced at major firms and understands the dynamics firsthand. But your safety here doesn't rest on trust alone. The platform is architected so that reviewer identities are never stored in the database. There is no account, no profile, and no record connecting you to your submission. Even in the event of a data breach, there would be nothing to link a review to a specific person. Bryson has been recognized as an expert source by the Wall Street Journal, Politico, Reuters, Bloomberg Law, The American Lawyer, and the American Bar Association, and has a track record of working with anonymous sources without a single breach of confidentiality. Every review goes through Bryson personally before it is published.

You control how much detail appears alongside your review. You can share your seniority level (e.g. "junior associate" or "mid-level associate"), an approximate timeframe for when you worked with the partner, and, if you choose, details about your ethnic or gender identity. None of these are required. Your name and any other identifying information will never be published.

Access to the Upward Review database is reserved for associates who have contributed a review. Once you submit your review, you unlock full access to browse every verified perspective in the database. This model keeps the community invested and ensures the information keeps growing. The more people contribute, the more valuable the platform becomes for everyone.

Absolutely. Upward Review is not about negativity. It is about transparency. Many associates have incredible experiences with partners and want others to know about it. Positive and negative reviews are equally welcome and equally valuable.

Upward Review is built so that your anonymity is structural, not just a policy. The review database does not store your name, email, LinkedIn profile, or any personally identifying information. Submissions are linked to randomized, anonymous tokens that cannot be traced back to you. Verification happens through a separate, informal process via LinkedIn direct message, and that conversation is not connected to the database in any way. The review data is housed in an isolated, encrypted database with row-level security, and administrative actions like approvals and deletions require session-authenticated access with automatic audit logging. Even in the unlikely event of unauthorized access, there is nothing in the system that could identify who wrote a given review.

We are focused on building a credible, high-quality database before expanding. Starting with AmLaw 100 firms allows us to ensure the verification process is rigorous and the reviews are meaningful. We may consider expanding scope in the future.