What do these fine Northeastern states have in common?

Well, Avvo launched its service in all of them today. We are very excited about this launch because it increases our coverage to 19 markets (18 states plus Washington, DC) and 80% of the practicing lawyers in the United States. It also gives us great coverage in the Northeast, adding to the already-launched states of New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Geez, it sounds like the first Constitutional Convention!

Here are some links to:

Top Rated New Jersey Lawyers
Top Rated Connecticut Lawyers
Top Rated Maryland Lawyers

For all of the lawyers in our new states, as I have said many times before, we love your feedback. So, whether you think Avvo is great or not-so-great, please let us know. It is the only way we can improve.

The Avvo train keeps rolling . . .

Mark

Seattle natives always say “July 4th is the first day of summer.” Lucky for us we’ve warmed up a bit earlier this year…because it’s supposed to rain on the 4th. But that hasn’t stopped us from pretending!

We headed to a baseball game at Safeco field to celebrate our birthday earlier in June:

And Martin got his summer gear out and has been sporting his Avvo shirt around the office:

Mark went fishing and caught a brown trout:

And we’re planning a good old fashioned BBQ for later this summer. Stay tuned for great shots from the picnic!

Drop us a line and let us know what you’re up to this summer. Hope you have a happy and safe 4th of July!

We’ve already been scooped by Seattle Trademark Lawyer, but all local legal bloggers are invited to a meetup at Avvo’s offices. Please RSVP if you are able to make it.

Where: Avvo’s offices on the 3rd Floor at 217 Pine Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenue) in Downtown Seattle

When: Thursday, June 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

What: Legal Blogger Meetup - proposed agenda to include

• What have you done to attract more readers?
• What widgets or other features have made your blog more functional?
• What resources do you consult when trying to improve your blog?
• What are your strategies in developing new content?
• What is your favorite blog (ok, other than your own), and why?

Will there be treats?

• Why, yes - beer, wine & sushi maki

I had a great day in San Francisco yesterday. I did a number of local and national interviews. The interest in Avvo grows. Here is a link to a TV interview I did with Forbes.com. For our San Francisco readers, I will also be on San Francisco’s KPIX (CBS) Saturday morning at 8:40.

Cinematically Yours,

Mark

Update 5/28 by Shalini (If you could not get enough of Mark on Forbes, check him out on the KPIX Interview)

I’m proud to announce that Avvo is powering Washington CEO’s first annual “Top Lawyers” issue. Washington CEO is Washington’s top business magazine, and this issue (their June issue) will hit newsstands at the end of this month. You can see the WA CEO press release here.

It is gratifying to have a top-notch publication like Washington CEO partnering with us. Even though we are young, the editorial staff at WA CEO intuitively understood the value of the Avvo Rating, and all of the other great information and guidance we assemble for consumers. We share the mission of helping Washington’s businesspeople choose the right lawyer.

A big thanks to the Avvo and Washington CEO teams that helped bring this to fruition. I look forward to hearing all of your compliments and complaints later this month.

Be well.

Mark

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There have been more than 1 million views of lawyer profiles on Avvo since we launched less than a year ago. And while Avvo is free to every lawyer, some attorneys have figured out how to set themselves apart from the rest and the payoff is more clients. True to our promise of treating every lawyer equally, we'd like to share these best practices with anyone who wants to optimize their presence on Avvo. On April 29th we'll be hosting a free online webinar (an online presentation combined with an audio conference). Mark and I will host, and it will be a very practical look at how to make the most of your presence on Avvo. We'll also share some of the research we've done with consumers to help you understand what they are looking for when searching for a lawyer. You'll also have an opportunity to ask me and Mark questions. Some of the topics we'll cover include:

-What factors influence a consumer's decision to hire a lawyer
-What does (and doesn't) influence the Avvo Rating
-How to optimize your Avvo Profile for search engines
-How your profile can help you connect on a personal level with potential clients
-How to demonstrate your expertise in specific areas of the law
-How to be the first attorney to interact with a potential client
-A look at recently released features such as “My Profile” and “About Me”
-An update on soon-to-be-released features

The webinar is free and will take place on Tuesday, April 29th from 12pm to 1pm Pacific time.

To register, simply click here.

A couple of weeks ago Amanda’s blog post mentioned Lawyerpalooza, a battle-of-the-bands event that takes place each year here in Seattle to raise money for music programs at local schools. We loved the idea of lawyers duking it out on stage rather than in the courtroom, and raising money for a good cause in the process. So I picked up the phone to chat with the organizer, Mike Nesteroff, an attorney at Lane Powell and part-time musician, and Avvo is now a sponsor – actually, we’re officially the “food” sponsor — of Lawyerpalooza 2008. This is the first legal event we’ve sponsored, and while not a traditional event like a CLE or conference, it seems like a fitting place to start for Avvo.

It should be a fun event that raises money for a great cause, so if you live in Seattle try to come down to the Showbox (by Pike Place Market) on Thursday, April 24th. The doors open at 5:30pm, and tickets are $20, which you can buy online at the Lawyerpalooza website or in person at the Showbox.

Hope to see you there.

Paul

Another great day for Avvo: Today we launched “About Me,” a new tab on the Avvo Profile that allows lawyers to add pictures, video and just about anything else that suits their fancy.

Why the new tab? A number of lawyers told us that their personal story, which is often relevant to their practice, is not sufficiently told by the Avvo Profile’s structured fields. Trying to remedy this was tough because everyone’s personal story is different. So we decided to abondon structure and make “About Me” a free-form forum. Whether you want to promote your zest for rock-climbing, speak to your involvement in your church, or profess your love for the duckbilled platypus, “About Me” is for you.

Another request from the lawyer community has been an Avvo page for photos and videos. Many lawyers have impressive advertisements or videos relating to big cases they want to share. Others want to show photos of their offices, staff, families, cats and so on. Well, my fellow lawyers, pine no more — you can add an unlimited number of photos and videos to your “About Me” tab, and you don’t even need to upload them to the Avvo server. You can link to your videos on YouTube or anyplace else, and for photos you have the option of uploading or linking to them. It is almost too easy.

So, lawyers, be free . . . upload as much content as you like to your “About Me” tab as often as you like. Tell us (and your prospective clients) what really makes you tick. And, if you have suggestions on how to improve “About Me,” please let us know. As with all things Avvo, we will forever continue to refine this feature.

I am reminded of the old joke, “Enough about me, what do YOU think about me.”

Mark

One of the hazards of launching in new states is that we have to return, once again, to the bottom of the learning curve. I recently saw a Florida news article reporting that Avvo has Abraham Lincoln and other dead lawyers in its database. And, once again, the implication of the latest Uncle Abe sighting was that the Avvo system is somehow flawed.

I officially have dead lawyer fatigue. Not enough to remove dead lawyers from the Avvo database, mind you; but rather, just enough to take the time to offer these four simple facts in an attempt to rejuvenate myself:

Fact #1:
Avvo has EVERY deceased lawyer in its database in the states we currently cover.

Fact #2:
Consumers will NOT see a dead lawyer in their search results or anywhere else on the site UNLESS they search for the dead lawyer by name.*

Fact #3:
Having dead lawyers in our system is NOT a flaw in our system.

Fact #4:
Having dead lawyers in our system is REALLY cool.

*Click here to see Avvo’s disclosure on the site in this regard. The disclosure is also on every dead lawyers profile page.

Oddly I feel better already; but allow me to offer some additional color around these facts:

Avvo is building one of the largest lawyer databases in the country. Our power is in the breadth and depth of our database, including the fact that our database includes EVERY person that has ever been licensed as a lawyer in a given state, whether that person is dead or alive. That is cool.

Why is it cool? Because whatever your research assignment may be regarding licensed lawyers, you can find it on Avvo. Wondering whether your disbarred lawyer has been reinstated? Check Avvo. Wondering why your uncle stopped practicing law in 1975? Check Avvo. Wondering when Richard Nixon was licensed to practice law? Check Avvo.

At Avvo, it is not our mission to judge what information should be available to consumers. To the contrary, it is our mission to offer as much information and guidance to consumers as possible. Dead lawyers means a darn big database, and we at Avvo are very proud of it.

One closing note here: If a bar does not tell us someone is dead, there is really no way for us to know that the lawyer is truly dead. Sadly, a start-up budget does not contemplate a forensics team. Still, on occasion, we will get a call or email informing us that a dead attorney still has an Avvo Rating. Our general response is that they (or, even better, the lawyer’s family) should let the bar know so that the bar can update their records. Prudently, in my opinion, Avvo relies on the bars to tell us who is in fact dead or alive.

Hopefully this will lay to rest (every pun intended) any confusion about Avvo displaying dead lawyers.

Mark

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Avvo has expanded into the mighty states of Florida and Massachusetts. Here is the press release.

I have been eagerly awaiting congratulatory phone calls from both Ted Kennedy and Jeb Bush (heck, they might even be on spring break together right now). Maybe they are waiting until they have a little more time to chat after dinner.

In their absence, I want to thank Bob Ambrogi and Kevin O’Keefe for their supportive posts regarding Avvo and our launches. It means a lot to us to have these blogging heavyweights appreciate what we are doing.

MA and FL lawyers: As I said when we initially launched last June, please send us any suggestions you have regarding our site. One of the best ways for us to improve is by listening to you - the lawyers who use the site everyday. Good, bad or neutral, our suggestion box is wide open. You talk – we listen. That has been our promise from day one. My email is mb@avvo.com.

Bringing red and blue states together . . .

Mark Britton
CEO, Avvo