Our ears were burning last week, when we learned that Avvo was the subject of heated debate on the ABA SoloSez message boards. We were heartened to see this impassioned defense from Jonathan Stein on a variety of issues:

• Lawyer Ratings:

Ratings are the name of the game in every profession. What do you think JD Power does for a living? Do they sit around and play tiddly winks all day?

No. Of course not. They RATE PEOPLE! Really, I promise. Go listen to some car commercial some day. Tylenol - the choice of more pediatricians. What is that? A RATING! Crest - 4 out of 5 dentists recommend it. Guess what? We call that a rating. President of the United Freaking States? Rated. Doctors?

Indian Chiefs? Teachers? All rated. Toilets? Rated. Sanitary napkins? Rated.

(Really, I checked.)

• Avvo Answers

By the way, for those of you too stubborn to visit Avvo because you are afraid they will start to track you or send out black helicopters, spend a few minutes there. There is a question and answer section. And, unlike other sites, the answers are not all “Call me for a free consultation and I can help you.” There are real substantive answers. In addition, they are launching Legal Guides where attorneys write information and consumers can read it - at no charge. Oh my gosh - education for consumer that is free to the attorney and free to the consumer. And it doesn’t matter what your rating is.

• Martindale-Hubbell

By the way, speaking of M-H, and I was before, how many consumers use it? Oh right, they use lawyers.com. Really? Funny, when I check for lawyers, the people who show up are the people who PAID TO BE THERE! Oh, and the M-H website never explains how they determine their ratings. I know, based on reviews by other attorneys. But, HOW? Explain it to me and use small words because I aint that bright! Interestingly, a law firm receives the rating of its HIGHEST RATED partner. So 10 CVs in a law firm as partners and 1 AV and the firm is rated AV. That seems fair, sure. And Peter Griffin seems svelt.

The image above is to refresh your memory as to whether Peter is svelte. Jonathan, your root beer is on the way.

What do (nearly) all of these lawyers have in common? They have complete profiles(with photos), as well as high levels of participation in Avvo Answers. Calling all attorneys - you too can be on this list next week!

1. John M. Kaman, San Francisco, CA

2. Roni Deutch, North Highlands, CA

3. John C. Quale, Washington, DC

4. Elizabeth Rankin Powell, Tacoma, WA

5. Jon Michael Zimmerman, Seattle, WA

6. William Head, Atlanta, GA

7. Michael D. Haza, Campbellsport, WI

8. Okorie Okorocham, Los Angeles, CA

9. Jason Matthew Mayberry, Tampa, FL

10. Alec Scott Rose, Santa Monica, CA

My proud Mother sent me the above clipping from the San Jose Mercury News. Always great to see lawyers waving the Avvo banner. Here is Richard Alexander’s Avvo Profile. I think his Avvo Profile photo does him much more justice!

Richard, feel free to run this ad everyday for the indefinite future.

Be well.

Mark

Thanks to all the folks who turned out for the 2nd Seattle Law Blogger Meetup. Here are some tips I learned from my fellow law bloggers:

• China Law Blog offered that writing a Blawg Review could expose you to legal bloggers outside your niche
• Employment Law Blog noted that though her blog is not regularly updated, potential clients regularly contact her for her expertise based on older posts
• Twitter is the platform of choice for Michael Rice and Randall Moeller
• Seattle Trademark Lawyer proposed using Twitter as a “microblog” for stories that he does not want to write a full- length blog post

Today the June issue of Washington CEO hits newsstands. Make sure to pick up a copy to see the list of top business lawyers in Washington.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Avvo prepared this list for Washington CEO, and it is truly unique. For the first time, you are seeing a corporate-centric “top lawyers” list that includes big firm and small firm lawyers, as well as both corporate lawyers and trial lawyers.

“Trial lawyers?” you ponder. Why would they be on the list? Well, the reality is that trial lawyers are very important to corporate America in that they are always suing corporate America. As a corporate counselor (both in-house and private practice), it was important for me to understand who the highly regarded trial lawyers were. If their name was on a complaint, it could affect how I and others perceived the quality of the case.

So enjoy the list. If you have any comments, please let us know. We can only improve with your feedback.

Be well.

Mark

LexBlog webinar for their clients to be held May 22 at 9 PDT. More details and sign-up on their blog.

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

On page 18 of this week’s Newsweek, there is an article titled “An Algorithm for Mr. Right“, covering the online dating service, eHarmony. The site’s 20 million users complete a detailed 256 question survey, “then, with the help of a complex algorithm, it matches people with much in common.” Sounds familiar.

We’ve often fielded (heated) critique that boils down to: “an algorithm is not the way to choose an attorney.” True, it should never be the only tool someone uses to choose an attorney. But, can an algorithm serve as a great starting point to help narrow down the immense potential field to a useful shortlist based on an individual’s specific requirements, just like our friends over at eHarmony? Absolutely.

According to eHarmony, every day 236 of their users get married – not always to the number one on the match list and presumably after six coffees, three movies and one long walk on the beach.

In 1958, President Eisenhower established “Law Day” on May 1, to encourage “respect for the law that is vital to the democratic way of life.”
36 U.S.C. § 113

This is a great rating of first year lawyer, Aaron Engle:

“Mr. Engle, along with his partners, recently represented me in a disability case. I used to work for law firms and therefore was a little concerned when Mr. Engle was assigned to my case, because I felt he was a little on the young side. I had no reason to be worried. Even before speaking with me he had not only read my case completely, he had memorized many parts of it. When I referenced one letter out of the 2400 pages we had, he knew exactly what one I was referring to and was able to put his hands on it within a minute or two. Whenever I called his office and left a message, he got back to me promptly, usually within a couple of hours. This is very rare in the legal world. Whenever I had a question, he answered honestly and completely and made sure I understood his answer before moving on to more questions. He kept me informed and up to date . . .” continue reading.