The controversial lawyer-rating Web site run by Avvo Inc. is bringing its rating system to the Florida and Massachusetts legal markets.
The Seattle-based Avvo announced that its Avvo Ratings and Avvo Profiles will now include every attorney in those two states. With the expansion, Avvo said it rates and profiles about 60 percent of licensed U.S. attorneys and is available in 11 states and the District of Columbia.
Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to find and research lawyers, said Avvo CEO Mark Britton, who was previously general counsel at online travel reservation company Expedia Inc.
"Avvo makes it easy for lawyers to take advantage of this shift by giving every lawyer a free online presence where they can showcase their work and attract new clients," Britton said.
Not all lawyers welcomed Avvo's launch last June. Lawyers were rankled by a rating system that categorized lawyers from "extreme caution" to "average" to "good" to "superb."
In December, a federal judge in the Western District of Washington dismissed a class action case filed against the company by two Seattle lawyers. Browne v. Avvo, No. 2:07-cv-00920 (W.D. Wash.).
Britton said the thousands of lawyers who used Avvo's services far outweigh the two attorneys who filed the lawsuit.
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Controversial Lawyer-Rating Service to Expand
Avvo hits the Fla. and Mass. legal markets
The National Law Journal
April 7, 2008
