Daily Dicta: It's Not Easy to Rate Lawyers—Just Ask Avvo
When a solo practitioner called a "menace to the profession" by the Ninth Circuit has a higher Avvo score than Ted Olson, you know there are some flaws in the system. Avvo should thank the NY AG for forcing them to change.
September 26, 2018 at 01:15 PM
8 minute read
In the world of Big Law, Avvo is all but irrelevant. The general counsel of a Fortune 500 company is not going to consult the lawyer rating site to decide, for example, who to hire for a billion-dollar deal.
But for regular people—ones who are getting divorced or were injured or got a DUI—hiring a lawyer is not easy. A few years ago, my husband and I needed one for a real estate-related dispute, and it was a frustrating and thoroughly unsatisfactory experience.
That's where Avvo is supposed to come in. The site boasts that 97 percent of lawyers in the U.S. are rated by Avvo. “Imagine having nearly every licensed lawyer in the US right at your fingertips, the moment you need help,” Avvo's website proclaims. “Avvo has that, plus detailed profiles, reviews, and the Avvo Rating.”
But in practice, as New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood found, there are some flaws in the system.
This week, her office announced a settlement with Avvo that requires the site “to reform its attorney rating system and improve its disclosures to consumers after an investigation by the Attorney General's office revealed that the content and limits of Avvo's rating system were not clearly disclosed.” Avvo must also pay $50,000 to the state to cover the cost of the probe.
Underwood's office found that Avvo “relied on attorneys to voluntarily provide additional information to their profiles to determine rankings—resulting in those that added information to their profiles generally having higher ratings than those who did not participate.”
I'd wondered about this myself.
In the spring of 2016, I wrote about Bakersfield, California solo practitioner Gregory Mitts. Now-retired U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski tore into him in an opinion, writing that “Potential clients, who will put their lives in Mitts's hands… are entitled to know that this lawyer is not only a hazard to clients, but also a menace to the profession and to the courts.”
Yet Mitts' Avvo rating at the time was 6.8 out of 10. That's considered “good” —one up from “average,” but a notch below “very good.”
Just for kicks, I then looked at some other lawyer ratings for comparison. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Theodore Olson—the former solicitor general of the United States who has won more than 75 percent of his cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and who was named by Time magazine in 2010 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world—had a 6.5.
According to Avvo, Mitts was the superior lawyer.
Right. Thanks for the recommendation.
The thing is, Olson hadn't added any information to his Avvo profile. The NY AG's investigation suggests that was the reason for his mediocre rating.
Avvo's settlement with Underwood will help fix this flaw—and honestly, she's done the site a favor by forcing the change.
Now if you look up Olson on Avvo, he has no rating. It just says “This attorney is not active on Avvo.”
Mitts is also listed as not active—but he still has three stars.
Grant & Eisenhofer Wins Delaware Gift Card Trial
Gift cards are a big business—consumers spend $130 billion on them a year, according to advisory company CEB TowerGroup. But about $1 billion of the card balances go unspent.
Personally, I've got unused gift cards for Starbucks, Amazon, a nail salon and a local Mexican restaurant in my desk right now. It's not that I don't want them. I just kind of…forget about them.
It turns out, if you don't use the cards, the retailer can't automatically keep your money. The rules vary from state to state, but in Delaware, gift card issuers are required to turn over unredeemed amounts to the state after five years as unclaimed property.
Last week, Grant & Eisenhofer won a $3 million jury verdict—subject to treble damages plus statutory fines and attorneys' fees–against Overstock.com for failing to remit the balances. It's an interesting case that highlights what could be a vulnerable area for multiple retailers.
“This case was simple and straight-forward,” said firm co-founder Stuart Grant. “Overstock had a legal obligation to report and turn over almost $3 million dollars from unused gift cards to the state. The company knew the law and instead of following it, they intentionally tried to evade their obligation.”
Teaming up with the state of Delaware, the plaintiffs argued that Overstock tried to avoid remitting the money by entering into a contract with Ohio-based company CardFact Ltd. (now known as Card Compliant).
The alleged idea was to “transfer” the unclaimed money outside Delaware to CardFact, which would hold the abandoned property—even though the money never actually left the state. In Ohio, unredeemed gift card balances are not subject to state escheat.
The firm represented whistleblower William Sean French, a former employee of CardFact.
“We are pleased that the jury saw through the CardFact scheme and held Overstock accountable.” Grant said.
CardFact was represented by Dentons and Ashby & Geddes.
Overstock was represented by Brann & Isaacson and Harrison Harvey Branzburg.
Shout-Out: McKool Wins Death Benefits after CEO Dies on Tropical Vacation
McKool Smith litigators won a seven-day jury trial in Alabama state court, forcing an insurance company to pay $10 million for a “key man” death benefit.
In 2016, Apex Parks Group founder and CEO Alexander “Al” Weber, Jr. died suddenly at age 64 while on vacation in the British Virgin Islands. Prior to forming Apex, he had been interim CEO of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and President and CEO of Paramount Parks, Inc.
Apex had taken out a key man policy on him—life insurance that covers a key employee, with benefits payable if the person unexpectedly dies. But Protective Life Insurance Co. balked at the payout after Weber's death.
“We are pleased with the decision,” said Apex counsel Robin Cohen, who heads McKool's insurance recovery practice. “The jury weighed the evidence carefully, and their verdict affirms our position regarding Protective's failure to honor its contractual obligations after receipt of substantial premiums.”
The McKool team also included Scott Cole, Natasha Romagnoli, and Michelle Migdon. Apex was also represented by Harlan Winn III and Robert Battle of Battle & Winn.
Protective was represented by a team from Birmingham's Maynard Cooper, including Michael Mulvaney, M. Ted Holt and Katharine Weber.
What I'm Reading
Ex-Cushman & Wakefield Executive Sues Firm Over Race, Gender Claims
“Urquhart-Bradley became accustomed to playing the role of ambassador for 'diversity' at C&W, which regularly deployed her to project a public image that was at odds with a deeply entrenched culture of discrimination against women and people of color.”
Litigation Funding Icon Changes Its Strategy as Capital Pours In
Litigation funding has never been more en vogue to the investor class—but at some point, there will be too much money looking to invest in too few cases.
Class Cert Reversed in Uber Drivers' Suit Over Tip Sharing, Classification
The judges rejected the argument that the lead plaintiffs “constructively opted out of arbitration on behalf of the entire class.”
Q&A: Litigator James Brochin on Swapping Firms, Backing Kavanaugh
A friend and onetime housemate of Brett Kavanaugh, Brochin in less than a year went from Paul Weiss to his own solo law firm, and now, to Steptoe & Johnson.
$31M Award Holds Doctor, Nurse 80 Percent Liable for Botched Circumcision
The severed piece of penile tissue had been stored in a refrigerator, but there was never any attempt to reattach it, and the defendants destroyed it when they learned of the lawsuit.
Pennsylvania Justices Wrangle With Whether Drug Use While Pregnant Is Child Abuse
The state high court is weighing whether a woman should be found to have committed child abuse after she tested positive for suboxone and the baby began suffering withdrawal symptoms after it was born.
In case you missed it…
Daily Dicta: The $100K Engagement Ring, the Big Law Associate and the Tell-All Lawsuit
Every lawsuit tells a story. But this one is a soap opera, a country-western song—and a cautionary tale.
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