We occasionally run across questions & answers that we think have universal interest and broad application. With no further ado, here is a recent question submitted by an individual located in Huntsville, Texas:

Sex In A Dressing Room: Is it legal? In a store such as JCpennies, Macy’s, or something like that? And what about public restrooms?

Continuing on the theme of the many things (besides lawyers) that can be rated comes the “Real Man’s Olympics” a rating of the “true” medal count weighted by the manliness of each event. As the site notes:

“The medal for prancing around a floor mat is not equal to the medal for super heavyweight boxing.”

Amen, brother. And that’s why synchronized diving gets negative 5 points in the manliness count.

Say what you will about the inherent sexism in a project like this, there is a certain truth to the idea amid the coronation of Michael Phelps as the “greatest Olympian ever” that it’s not really fair to compare the dozens of medals offered in the swimming events to the single medal awarded for decathlon. Again from the site, in reference to swimming:

“Why do we care what stroke they use? All that matters is who’s fastest, right? We don’t have footraces where you have to do a jumping jack between each step, or do pirouettes or anything. That would be stupid.”

Amen, again. You can adjust the weighting of the scores if you disagree with their assessments (and they ARE too hard on soccer), and keep track as the games progress.

To date in August, here are the most viewed lawyers on Avvo:

1. Charles Carnesi of Garden City, NY: Mr. Carnesi debuts on the list and leaps to first place, on the strength of his defense of John Gotti, the son of the “Dapper Don”.

2. Christopher Gneiding of San Francisco, CA: Pennsylvanians were searching for information on 27 year old Christopher Gneiding of Orefield, PA, who was killed in a car crash earlier this month.

3. Okorie Okorocha of Los Angeles, CA

4. Roni Deutsch of North Highlands, CA

5. Samuel Glover of Minneapolis, MN (demonstrating the success of Avvo’s expansion into Minnesota last week)

6. Shakespear Feyissa of Seattle, WA: Mr. Feyissa has been in the news for his “self defeating” efforts to have a university paper delete unflattering stories about him from its archives.

7. Elaine Sharp of Marblehead, MA: Ms. Sharp is defending “Lady Al Qaeda” Aafia Siddiqui

8. Marcia Caballero of Miami, FL: Ms. Caballero is running for Miami-Dade Cricuit Judge, Group 51

9. Thomas Furtaw of Lansing, MI: Sadly, Mr. Furtaw, a prominent lawyer in his community collapsed and died on stage while performing with his band Spitting Nickels.

10. Jon Mitchell Jackson of Laguna Hills, CA: Jon currently holds the Avvo record for most photographs (31)! and most How To Guides (54)!! He’s also one of the few attorneys to dress up for his Avvo profile in a tux!!!

In an article entitled, “FindLaw gaming Google, and possibly scamming lawyer customers,” Kevin O’Keefe is reporting that Findlaw has been selling links a BIG no-no in the Google Universe. Kevin covers it all quite well, so take a look. Kudos to the Oilman for breaking the story. This will be interesting to watch.

As for linking to Findlaw in this post (which would be good blogging form), I just need them to send me $1,000 and their SEO-optimized anchor text. :-)

Ah, the wild world of the worldwide web.

Mark

p.s. Matt Cutts I’m just joking about the $1,000 . . . honest

Most lawyers we run across either embrace the marketing benefits of Avvo or are indifferent to us. There’s also a vocal minority of Avvo haters – a diminishing group ever since the dismissal with prejudice last winter of Browne v. Avvo.

And then there’s this guy.

Not content to bash us for the perceived injustice of his Avvo Rating, he has insisted – via letters, faxes, and repeated e-mails, that make certain “corrections” to his Avvo Profile and update his photo with that of a certain clown. We’ve resisted doing so, for obvious reasons. However, given his persistance in asking for these changes, and the obvious time and care that went into crafting this alternate reality of a biography, we felt obliged to make the changes requested (don’t miss the “About Me” section).

We couldn’t accommodate all of his suggested changes, but visit his profile for a taste of this particular flavor of legal marketing. Or do a search for an estate planning attorney in North Hollywood, CA and decide if you want Bozo to draft your will.

Blondes have more fun… in court.

1. Miss Paris Hilton is being sued this week over the promotion of a film called “National Lampoon Pledge This!”. Hilton, who plays a sorority president in the film, was paid a million dollars to promote the film. Attorney Michael Goldberg, who filed the suit against Hilton and her entertainment company, is seeking millions of dollars in alleged lost profit. Goldberg said, “Hilton failed to attend any talk shows or telephonic or in-person interviews.”

2. Suing the Stone. “He was just doing his job when he got hurt.” says lawyer John Torjesen, who represents Peter Krause (no, not the Six Feet Under star). Krause suffered “severe and permanent injuries” while he was working on Sharon Stone’s home back in 2006. Apparently “he fell past an array of landscaping plants that masked a steep drop off”. Krause is seeking unspecified damages to cover lost income, medical expenses , pain and suffering and other causes of action.

3. Donald Trump is suing his former lawyers at Morrison Cohen for 10 million dollars for using his name without permission. The Donald claims they are in violation of a “New York Law that forbids anyone from using someone else’s name for advertising without written consent.” Morrison Cohen and one of its partners, David Scharf, “have commercially exploited plaintiff’s name repeatedly and flagrantly,” the suit declares. Trump is represented by his attorney, Morrison Stephen B. Meister.