Avvo Sued by Another Sanctioned Lawyer
Let’s face it: Lawyers don’t love us if they have a history of behaving badly. We knew this would be the case when we launched Avvo, and it is still the case today. Not surprisingly, these lawyers (in legal parlance, “sanctioned lawyers”) fear the transparency that Avvo offers and they attempt to snuff it. Now, usually they just threaten to take us to court. However, every now and then they actually sue.
Yep, that’s right . . . another sanctioned lawyer has sued Avvo. When I say “another,” you may recall that nine days after we launched Avvo (yes nine days) a sanctioned lawyer named John Henry Browne sued us for, in his view, misleading Washington consumers. Interestingly, he asked for damages for himself rather than the aggrieved consumers, but that’s another story. Fortunately, a federal judge saw Mr. Browne’s complaint for what it was and threw it out on a Motion to Dismiss.
Our current plaintiff, Joe Davis has filed a similarly misguided complaint. It is a 25-page manifesto presumably intended to bully Avvo (you can see it here). Sadly, not a word of it speaks to the real issue: that Mr. Davis was sanctioned by the Florida State Bar in 2007 and he doesn’t want you to know about it. And I get it — Mr. Davis has had some serious problems involving child support payments and failing to appear for court dates – so much so that he was twice convicted and spent eight days in the pokey (you can read more about it here). He was also found to have willfully obstructed the Florida Bar’s disciplinary process relating to these matters. I wouldn’t want people to know about these things either.
But that is not how the modern informational age works. Thanks in large part to the informational behemoths like Google and Microsoft, all sorts of information that was once locked away is being digitized and democratized for consumers. What once may have taken a trip to the courthouse or a public information request is now a simple Google search away. Those that have something to hide hate this. Those that don’t range from ecstatic to indifferent.
But here’s the kicker: Wherever you fall on this spectrum is irrelevant, because it’s not about you. It’s about those consumers who are buying your products and services. They have a right to know the good and the bad, and increasingly they demand to see it. Sites like Yelp, Zillow, TripAdvisor and Avvo have not prospered simply out of the ether. They have prospered because they give consumers more information and better guidance than they have ever had access to before. In specific regard to Davis v. Avvo, while consumers have a right to know all of the highlights of Mr. Davis’ resume (which he dutifully shares here), they also have a right to know of his misconduct.
As I have said many times before, we are shining a flashlight in dark places. Not surprisingly, some are more comfortable in the dark.
Avvo issued a press release regarding this lawsuit today. You can find it here: “Avvo Sued By Another Sanctioned Lawyer .” Thanks to everyone who has already offered their support. We look forward to a speedy resolution to this deceptive lawsuit and all of the silliness it brings.
[Note: Updated at 9:01 a.m. 8/31/10 based on comment below]
August 31st, 2010 at 7:17 am
Interesting. As I understand it, the disciplinary information is included in your profile so that people may make an informed choice as to the attorney they hire. If that attorney has been disciplined for being inattentive to a file, I can see your point. If he was disciplined because he was unable to pay child support, the area gets grayer. Did this happen because business was bad and he did not have the money to pay it or because he spent the money on something else? Again, the question is how this information makes for a more informed choice. Perhaps this could be clarified in a future post.
Also, your comment about the digital information age (“Those that have something to hide hate this. Those that don’t range from ecstatic to indifferent.”) sounds like you are channeling the CEO of Google. Some people do not want their affairs exposed on the web not because they have something to hide, but because it is none of anyone else’s business. They do have a certain right to privacy, and relevance is indeed an issue. I have not read the complaint or your response in this matter as to the details of the disciplinary action, but I do think it is important that this post should have explained why the information disclosed here was relevant to the needs of the Avvo consumer in choosing a lawyer.
August 31st, 2010 at 9:30 am
Steven, your first point is well-taken and I have added clarifying detail in my blog post above. While failing to pay child support in itself is violating a court order (which alone could get an attorney sanctioned), I am guessing the bar took the greatest issue with him violating two court orders, failing to appear for court dates and willfully obstructing the Bar’s disciplinary process. Our press release includes this detail and my blog post does now as well.
As for how any of this is relevant, we can start (and maybe even finish) with the fact that the Florida Bar chose to sanction this lawyer. If this is not important to Mr. Davis’ role as a lawyer, then why is the Florida Bar involved at all? Avvo relies heavily on the Bar’s judgment in displaying misconduct or incorporating it into the Avvo Rating. This is because the Bar is the fact-finder and arbiter in attorney disciplinary matters. They see the intricacies, nuances and negotiations that no one else sees. What we do see at Avvo is that it’s hard to get sanctioned by *any* bar and, if a bar finds a lawyer’s (mis)conduct relevant to his or her practice, then so do we.
Stepping away from the Bar process or the Avvo Rating system for a moment: If I put on my former-GC hat (I was GC at Expedia), I would want to know if my attorney had violated court orders, failed to appear for court dates and obstructed a regulatory disciplinary process. In fact, I would argue that I have a right to know. Based on this information, I doubt I would have hired Mr. Davis for Expedia’s legal matters and other consumers have a right to make a similarly informed decision.
Is there any way you could disagree?
BTW – While writing this, I saw interesting commentary come in on this from Scott Greenfield. http://blog.simplejustice.us/2010/08/31/avvo-sued-yawn-again.aspx?ref=rss
I don’t know if you know Mr. Greenfield or follow his Simple Justice Blog, but Avvo is one of his favorite punching bags. Even for those that do not love Avvo, Mr. Davis’ disingenuous intentions are clear.
August 31st, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Steven -
There is no “Right To Privacy.” You can read the entire constitution and not find a single word about it. Thats why your employer can read through your emails sent at work and why the government is free to engage in some surveillance the way they do. I think a lot of people would love for their privacy to be somehow constitutionally protected but it just isn’t. For example, there have been cases where people have been sued for taking pictures up girl’s skirts in public or using infrared cameras that can see through clothing which have been ruled in favor of the photographer because the pictures where taken in a public place. The same might be said of these Avvo reviews – they are in the public domain / the lawyer’s reputation is in the public domian…not a secret.
August 31st, 2010 at 2:07 pm
RJ–
You have a right to privacy, read some supreme court decisions. The premise is that your other, explicit rights are worth nothing without this basic protection.
Can you cite to some of the cases you mention? I’d like to look into them further/corroborate your statements (which corroboration is itself an outgrowth of the internet age, as it were).
August 31st, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Gotta love Florida! Good luck with this fight. Avvo seems on the right side of the law here, and common sense.
September 1st, 2010 at 1:12 pm
[...] responded in a blog post, stating in part “Sadly, not a word of [the Complaint] speaks to the real issue: that Mr. Davis [...]
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:55 am
Interesting. As I understand it, the disciplinary information is included in your profile so that people may make an informed choice as to the attorney they hire. If that attorney has been disciplined for being inattentive to a file, I can see your point. If he was disciplined because he was unable to pay child support, the area gets grayer. Did this happen because business was bad and he did not have the money to pay it or because he spent the money on something else?
thompson44
September 3rd, 2010 at 9:49 am
PA Bankruptcy Attorneys – I think my comment above covers your question. If the FL Bar deems his conduct relevant and egregious enough to sanction him, then so does Avvo. We rely wholly on the Bar’s judgement. That being said, it appears Mr. Davis’ failure to make court-ordered payments was only one part of the overall misconduct picture.
January 11th, 2011 at 3:32 am
Interesting. Avvo seems on the right side of the law here, and common sense…..ODD PATH
March 14th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
[...] for revealing that he had been sanctioned for professional misconduct. Needless to say, Avvo is not backing down since increasing transparency in the legal process is exactly what the pioneering website has set [...]
March 14th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
[...] sanctioned, so the Avvo rating is hardly false or misleading, which is why Avvo CEO Mark Britton refuses to back down. “We will not be bullied into censoring important information. Our mission, since day one, has [...]
October 16th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Avvo is probably the closest that we can hope for legal justice.
May I suggest investigating attorney Gregory Daniels of Clarke/Oconee County in Athens Georgia.
Daniels unprofessional, unethical, an unhuman practices to destroy parents and alienate them from their children has not limites. His lies, cohersion of minors and behavior in Court equals the modus operandi of the most hideous delinquents in the street.
Mr. Britton should go to the Superior Court of Clark County, Georgia to witness the careless job and apathy of Judge Lawton Stephens in Court.
Has your family and life or anyone that you know been destroy by Gregory Daniels?
Please, I urge you to come forward and post a blog and contact others in the same situation.