Value Index requests is “curious.”
• There are “problematic com-
pound questions” in the evaluation
form.
• A “star chamber” is created
because the feedback the index
generates isn’t shared with outside
firms.
Yet, despite his organization’s
complaints, Zeughauser also pre-
dicts that once the firms learn their
grades, the high rankings will
“show up on firm webpages.”
Ed Poll, a Venice, Calif., law firm
consultant, agrees. “When you have
a corporate general counsel give
you a five-star rating, that’s gold,”
he says. “I think the large law firms
very much do care about the ACC
[grades], and if they could find a
way to what they would consider
a professional and appropriate way
to ask for a high rating, they would
do that.”
If the ACC Value Index is suc-
cessful, Zeughauser suspects part-
ners may campaign for grades—over
lunch, on the golf course or at big-
ticket sporting events—much like
many court votes for the National
Law Journal’s list of the most-used
outside counsel.
So what can you do if a lawyer
ratings site has client ratings and
comments you don’t want associated with your firm? In many cases,
not much.
There’s no shortage of locations
for lawyer rating on the Web, each
with its own rules. Sites like Martindale-Hubbell allow firms to opt
out of client ratings or review and
reject ratings before they are posted. On the social networking site
LinkedIn, peers or clients can leave
comments about lawyers. Yelp is a
general consumer review site that
had more than 7 million reviews as
of August, including ratings and
comments for lawyers and doctors.
None of the law-specific sites
have yet reached Yelp’s prominence.
But they have gotten interest in the
legal community.
Mark Britton: “If you’re a great lawyer, you have
nothing to hide. Let your clients go out there
and speak.”
TIME TO PLAY?
“I THINK RATINGS SERVICES ARE
more of a consternation for lawyers
than they are a benefit for consumers at this stage,” Poll says.
“Consumers have knowledge that
they can call the Better Business
Bureau to see if there are com-
plaints against someone,” he says.
“I don’t think they have that with
something like Avvo, but the day
might come.”
That day might come sooner than
many lawyers expect, says Richard
Granat, whose work focuses on us-
ing the Internet in legal services
delivery.
“Just as consumers now look up
the ratings of physicians before
they select one, they’ll get in the
habit of checking a lawyer’s credentials and ratings,” says the Palm
Beach Gardens, Fla., lawyer, who
has an Avvo rating of 8. 3.
He advises lawyers to get listed
in ratings directories, and if they
offer a seal, like Avvo does, Granat
thinks lawyers should post the seal
on their webpages.
“Earned media is always more
effective than paid media; people
just believe it more,” says Dorie
Clark, a Somerville, Mass., market-
ing consultant who advises clients
on multimedia.
wards@staff.abanet.org
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF AVVO
