If there exists a system of rating a lawyer's performance (e.g., distill their success rate to a %), then comparisons can be made between lawyers even if the layman don't understand the law.
Yeah, but it's unclear what constitutes "success" in the case of a lawyer.
If you're a litigator, much of that will depend on the facts in a particular case. If you're drafting a contract or financing doc, it may never end up in litigation, so you'll never find out if it was a "good" contract or a "bad" one.
