Some attorneys have voiced concerns on needing a credit card in order to claim their profile.  Now, given the number of lawyers who have already claimed their profile, it appears that more people are comfortable with the credit card verification than not.  Still, for everyone that may be concerned, I want to make sure that we are all on the same page. 

We use the credit card solely as part of our verification process.  We then store a randomly encrypted card number so we can flag if someone tries to claim multiple profiles – like a hacker bot.  But we cannot read or even retrieve the credit card number once it is encrypted.   Because we use the credit card just for verification, we do NOT: 

• Charge money to your card
• Run a credit check
• Sell any card information to third parties
• Store the card number 

The credit card company will put a temporary $1.00 “hold” on your card (required by the credit card company as part of the card verification), though this will disappear typically within 24 hours. You won’t be charged and Avvo doesn’t receive any payment. 

We implemented this credit card verification procedure to help keep every lawyer’s profile secure, and I think it is the most responsible thing we can do for right now. Still, we are looking into alternative ways for lawyers to claim a profile. 

Mark did a radio interview last week with the talk show host and estate planning attorney Bob Pittman.  Bob really likes the product and, on the show, he said that he likes the credit card verification process.   

Any thoughts from other attorneys out there?

It’s been fun watching lawyers claim their profiles at Avvo.com. Our research shows that lawyers like to have their photos in advertisements, just take a look at the yellow pages. One feature that we designed, which we hoped would be a fun activity for lawyers, is the opportunity to load their photo on to Avvo.com. I’ve been impressed with how quickly lawyers are updating their profile and uploading photos. By the time you view this search result, all the lawyers may have uploaded their photos. Since this morning, I have seen this search result almost completely filled up with lawyers’ photos. It’s like looking at a bingo sheet and seeing the grey thumbnails fill up with bright, colorful photos. It’s an interesting marketing opportunity for lawyers to differentiate from one another…for now. A lawyer can really standout in our search results if she has a photo. However, in time, if every lawyer has a photo, maybe the next differentiator will be photo composition, or photo background color, or subject matter.