Continuing our foothold in the Southeast, last night we launched in the wonderful states of North Carolina and Tennessee. Sitting side-by-side, these states add roughly 32,000 profiles to the Avvo system. Here are links to the top Avvo-rated NC and TN lawyers:
We are proud to be operating in both of these states. Whether you are a lawyer or someone looking to hire one, please send us any comments you have about the site good or bad. It is the only way we can improve.
Lawyers may have noticed that as of last week, in the “C” column of your dashboard appears a message, “Display Avvo answers and guides on your website”. Many of you who contribute to Avvo Answers and Avvo Legal Guides have clamored for the ability to syndicate this Avvo content back to your own blog or site. You now have that ability! Check out the implementation by Jefferson Coulter on his website:
So you’re an active attorney practicing law in one of the states Avvo covers and you don’t see your profile on Avvo…Are you Missing in Action? We do our best to keep our records from the state licensing authorities as up-to-date as possible, but we realize there are a lot of lawyers who are newly licensed between our updates.
Starting today (after 4:00 PST) you won’t have to wait any longer to have a profile on Avvo.
Simply fill out this short form, and you will be on your way to having your own Avvo profile which you can claim and update for free. Here’s how it works: after you fill in your information, we’ll do our magic and verify your licensing info through the state records. Once your information has been verified, you will receive your very own numerical Avvo Rating and appear in the search results where potential clients can find you!
Yep, it’s that easy! Here’s to being lost…and found!
Some lawyers have contributed so greatly to Avvo Legal Guides, which aim to help people understand everyday legal issues, that even the Avvo Content Girl (who prefers candlelight to limelight) must come out of her soundproofed editing room from time to time and publicly acknowledge them. Jon Mitchell Jackson is one of those lawyers.
Within a few days of the launch of our lawyer-published How-To Legal Guides, Mr. Jackson contributed a whopping 41 guides, and continues to churn them out a remarkable rate (the latest count is 75, but I have a feeling he won’t let up until he’s submitted at least 100).
Also notable is the sheer breadth of topics these guides cover. Wondering about how drug testing for Olympic athletes works? Jon knows. Need information about S Corporations? Jon’s got it covered. He even has advice for his fellow lawyers.
As steward of Avvo Legal Guides, Content Girl is grateful to Mr. Jackson for blazing the trail and setting the bar for volume so high. She also hopes this stands as an example (or challenge, perhaps?) to those of you who think you don’t have time to submit a How-To Legal Guide. It takes just a few minutes to create one (you’ll need to log in first) and it doesn’t have to be a tome. Feel free to keep it simple. If Jon can do 75, I have all faith that you can do one or two. (Please just watch your spelling and go easy on the Caps Lock key, for Content Girl’s sake.)
A recent Avvo Answers question asks whether a 1,000 pound Texas woman is too fat for prison. Now before you start thinking half ton criminals are a uniquely Texas problem, take a moment to consider a couple of international examples of being “too fat for prison.”
Salvatore Ferranti- Weighing in at 436 pounds, this Sicilian Mafioso is stuffed so full of cannolis that he could drop dead any second, but at least he’ll be in the comfort of his own home.
After guards complained of having to help Salvatore get dressed and of having no beds large enough for him, an Italian judge agreed to house arrest.
What? You think that’s funny? Funny how? Like a clown? Like he amuses you? Like he’s here to amuse you?
Anyway, instead of being cramped in a small cell with bread and water, now Salvatore’s days should look more like this, all thanks to his gigantic waistline:
Claude Jackson- Weighing in at 515 pounds, Australian jails were no match for this massive man down under.After Claude was convicted of smashing a glass over another man’s head in a pub, the courts decided he was simply too fat for prison.Instead, he was sentenced to community service and counseling.
Claude’s mother insists that he has a gentle heart, but trouble always seems to find him.In other words, he smashed a glass over the other man’s head in self defense.I guess someone learned the hard way that picking a fight with an Australian is a bad idea. Over in America, we learned that lesson way back in 1988:
The question begins thusly: “I went to a tattoo studio and asked for Chinese characters that say ‘courage, strength and unity’; the tattoo artist assured me he was a native speaker and would translate the sentence accurately.” Read the rest of “Tattoo Horror Story” and all the possible causes of action. J. Craig Williams omitted one possible cause of action from his answer but followed up in an email – this individual can also sue for libel.
Avvo simultaneously ventures into Razorback and Gopher country. You might ask what these two states have in common, and based on my limited research (i.e., one Google search) it appears absolutely nothing. Normally, we like to launch states together that have at least something in common, particularly geography, to increase the chance of press coverage. But that is surely not the case here. Still, both states were ready to go, so there was no use holding them back.
So whether you hail from the great white north or real hot south, take a spin through our new states. Here are the top Avvo-rated lawyers in both states:
For the Arkansas and Minnesota lawyers out there, please send us your feedback. We love to receive it and it helps us improve the product. Before contacting us however, please claim your Avvo Profile, answer at least 100 questions in Avvo Answers, and submit at least 10 Legal Guides. Just joking sort of.
After Mark’s flame mail post, (and at the risk of being entirely self-serving) I would like to share an email that was sent to our Customer Service Team:
You are awesome and I am so grateful for you and avvo. You have no idea how much you are helping every day people who can not afford a lawyer. I think so highly of lawyers now and it is all because of you and AVVO. Keep up the good work.
Thank you
Tina
When Business Week was searching for top foreclosure attorneys in the United States for their article, “Demand Surges on Foreclosure Sites”, they turned to Avvo. In an article published this past Wednesday, Business Week partnered with Avvo to feature some of the best foreclosure lawyers across the United States. The top Avvo-rated foreclosure lawyers in the U.S. are the following (in alphabetical order):
Avvo continues to get great press including a recent spot on Good Morning America. What fun.
I did a number of televised interviews while I was in New York last week. Here is another one from Dow Jones Market Watch. As more come online, I will post them in the names of reader interest and shameless self promotion.
