Reviews Might Become Illegal?

Facing a lawsuit from one of the best known class action attorneys and vocal criticism from lawyers, Avvo today said it is revamping its online attorney rating system.

The Seattle startup, which launched service just 21 days ago, is dropping the numerical rating for attorneys where it only has collected limited information from state bar records. It will continue to offer numerical ratings for those attorneys that have claimed their profiles on the site or have public information available on Web sites.


The company did not immediately have the number of lawyers whose ratings will no longer appear on the site. Instead of ranking on a scale of one to 10, those attorneys where there is limited information will be given either an "Attention" or "No Concern" label.

In a blog post, Avvo Chief Executive Mark Britton said the decision was not driven by the looming law suit from attorney Steve Berman (ranked a 10 or "Superb" on Avvo).

"...We do not expect these modifications to eliminate the proposed class action lawsuit that is attempting to bomb us back to the Stone Age. We still offer the Avvo Rating. We still display, and take seriously, disciplinary sanctions. And we will continue to serve consumers with new and innovative forms of information and guidance to help them choose the right lawyer."

In an interview, Britton said that he is still a "100 percent" believer in the Avvo numerical rating.

Then why make the change?

After a lively internal debate, the former general counsel at Expedia said they decided to listen to the community of users who have been confused by the rating.

"No Web site survives if it stays in some sort of static mode. It must be dynamic and it must be responding to the marketplace in which it operates. And those Web sites that are nimble and continue to respond to the different inputs they are receiving, those are the ones that survive," he said.

Britton added that they are just trying to "build a Web site that is efficient, intuitive and responsive to our user community."

Avvo's board participated in the decision, though Britton declined to disclose the particulars of those conversations. He said the board, which includes Rich Barton of Zillow.com and Brad Silverberg of Ignition Partners, is supportive of the most recent change.

UPDATE: As a result of the changes, one of the lead plaintiffs in the case brought against Avvo, Seattle attorney Alan Wenokur, is now listed as a "No Concern." But Seattle attorney John Henry Browne, another plaintiff and one of the most vocal critics of the company, is still listed with a 5.5 rating or "Average."

In addition to the change in numerical ratings, the company said it plans to unveil a new e-mail verification system. The company has been criticized by attorneys because it required a credit card in order to make changes to profile pages. Avvo also said it plans to allow attorneys to merge multiple profiles on the site. Some Avvo users have been confused because attorneys, licensed to practice in different states, have in some cases received two different ratings.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/v...ves/117223.asp

This folks, is why most attorneys have the reputations of being scumbags.

Something that was built to help them get new business, is being abused by some who obvious thought they should have received a better ranking than they got.

Regards,

Lee