[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/blog\/avvo-lawsuit\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/blog\/avvo-lawsuit\/","headline":"AVVO Lawsuit","name":"AVVO Lawsuit","description":"Avvo\u2019s Business Model Faces Scrutiny Many lawyers have fully embraced use of the online legal directory, Avvo. They may highlight on their website that they have a five-star Avvo client rating or a 10.0 Avvo rating. They may also use marketing services such as Avvo Advertising or Avvo Pro. In the past, we have published […]","datePublished":"2016-05-04","dateModified":"2025-01-15","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/blog\/author\/eric-reiss\/#Person","name":"Eric Reiss","url":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/blog\/author\/eric-reiss\/","identifier":28,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6447c0fe7ba47492ebe9bc239015b011?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6447c0fe7ba47492ebe9bc239015b011?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Consultwebs","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/CW-logo-color-dark.png","url":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/CW-logo-color-dark.png","width":258,"height":44}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/legal-gavel-on-book.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/legal-gavel-on-book.jpg","height":466,"width":700},"url":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/blog\/avvo-lawsuit\/","about":["Digital Marketing"],"wordCount":1285,"articleBody":"Avvo\u2019s Business Model Faces ScrutinyMany lawyers have fully embraced use of the online legal directory, Avvo. They may highlight on their website that they have a five-star Avvo client rating or a 10.0 Avvo rating. They may also use marketing services such as Avvo Advertising or Avvo Pro.In the past, we have published articles on this blog about how Avvo can be effectively used as part of a law firm\u2019s overall online marketing campaign.However, since Avvo.com launched in 2007, the Seattle-based company has also faced its share of critics. This is likely due to Avvo\u2019s \u201clike it or not\u201d approach, as Catherine Sanders Reach of the Chicago Bar Association describes in a comment to Crain\u2019s Chicago Business.Avvo\u2019s business model has faced legal challenges as well. While the company has successfully fended off those challenges in the past, two new ones have surfaced: Putative class-action lawsuits filed in California and Illinois.Essentially, both lawsuits allege that Avvo has been using the identities and likenesses of attorneys who do not advertise or market on Avvo.com to generate revenue without the attorneys\u2019 consent.You should watch these cases as they develop to see if they end up striking at the heart of Avvo\u2019s business model \u2013 or fare as poorly as previous claims against the company.Lawsuits Challenge Avvo Advertising, Avvo Pro ServicesA San Francisco attorney, Aaron H. Darsky, filed the first lawsuit in December 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. (Docket No. 3:15-cv-05495-HSG). You can read a PDF of the complaint (as posted by the University of Santa Clara School of Law).Moria Bernstein, a Chicago attorney, filed the second lawsuit in February 2016 in Illinois\u2019 Cook County Circuit Court. (Docket No. 2016CH01631). You can read a PDF of the complaint posted by the ABA Journal. You can also see the docket at the Cook County Circuit Court website.As both lawsuits note, Avvo has compiled a free online directory of lawyers from states across the country based on information from public records such as bar admissions. Each listed lawyer receives an Avvo profile page, regardless of whether the lawyer has asked for one. A lawyer can claim the profile and manage the information that is listed or simply leave it alone.The profiles, in and of themselves, generate no revenue for Avvo, the lawsuits claim. Lawyers do not have to pay for the profiles, and consumers do not have to pay to view them.Instead, according to the lawsuits, Avvo makes money by selling advertising and marketing space on the lawyer profile pages. The two marketing services that are specifically at issue in the lawsuits are:Avvo Advertising \u2013 Attorneys pay Avvo a monthly fee, and in exchange, their ads are displayed as \u201csponsored listings\u201d that can be found within the profile pages of other attorneys, the complaints state.Avvo Pro \u2013 In exchange for a monthly fee, Avvo keeps other attorneys\u2019 sponsored listings off an attorney\u2019s profile page, according to both lawsuits.Bernstein\u2019s lawsuit, in particular, claims that Avvo Pro is meant to \u201ccoerce\u201d a lawyer into paying a marketing fee so that Avvo \u201cwill not misappropriate\u201d the lawyer\u2019s identity or sell advertising space to the lawyer\u2019s competitors.Both Darsky and Bernstein state in their complaints that they have subscribed to neither Avvo Advertising nor Avvo Pro.They complain in their respective lawsuits that Avvo, without their consent, created profile pages bearing their identities and likenesses. Furthermore, without their consent, Avvo sold marketing space on their profile pages to Avvo Advertising subscribers, the lawsuits allege.According to Bernstein, who practices family and residential real estate law, the attorneys who were sold advertising space on her profile page practice \u201cin the same geographic location and in the same practice areas\u201d as her.In his complaint, Darsky admits that Avvo\u2019s attorney listings \u201cmay be a permissible First Amendment exercise.\u201d However, he claims, \u201cAvvo\u2019s business practices go far beyond that mere exercise\u201d by using the names and likenesses of the attorneys in their directory, without their consent, to sell advertising or marketing services to other attorneys.Darsky\u2019s lawsuit points out that, according to a July 2015 Bloomberg News article, Avvo had a valuation of $650 million and raised $132 million in funding.\u201cThe revenues generated by Avvo come almost exclusively from its unauthorized use\u201d of the names and likenesses of attorneys who, like Darsky, refrain from using Avvo\u2019s advertising and marketing services, the complaint alleges.Lawsuits Bring Right of Publicity, Misappropriation ClaimsBoth Darsky and Bernstein have asserted that Avvo\u2019s business practices violate their respective states\u2019 \u201cright of publicity laws:\u201dCalifornia \u2013 Cal. Civ. Code \u00a7 3344Illinois \u2013 765 ILCS 1075.Generally speaking, those laws prohibit the use of a person\u2019s identity (name, signature, photograph, image, likeness or voice) for commercial purposes without having obtained previous consent from the person.The lawsuits also allege common law, or tort, misappropriation claims. Darsky\u2019s complaint, additionally, asserts a violation of the California Unfair Competition Law.Both lawsuits seek an injunction that would stop Avvo from using the likenesses and identities of the named plaintiffs and other putative class members. They also seek statutory, compensatory and punitive damages.Avvo Has Fought Off Previous LawsuitsAs noted above, this is not the first time Avvo has been challenged in court.Shortly after Avvo.com launched in 2007, two Seattle lawyers sued the company over its ratings system, claiming the company engaged in \u201cunfair and deceptive trade practices by falsely claiming to be objective, reliable and factual,\u201d the Seattle Times reports.Just a few months after that putative class action lawsuit was filed, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle dismissed it, finding that Avvo\u2019s lawyer ratings were a form of protected free speech.Another lawyer brought a claim against Avvo in 2010. That lawsuit, which alleged false advertising and misrepresentation, was initially filed in Florida and transferred to the same federal court in Seattle where the first lawsuit was ruled on.It failed as well. As Geekwire explains, the court dismissed the lawsuit under Washington\u2019s anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) law, which is aimed at protecting free speech rights. The lawyer who brought the claim wound up paying legal fees and a fine.How Will Avvo Fare against New Legal Challenges?Unlike those previous claims against Avvo, the Darsky and Bernstein lawsuits do not challenge the company\u2019s lawyer rating system. Instead, they attack Avvo\u2019s business model.So, the fate of previous legal claims against Avvo may not give much indication on how these latest court challenges will fare.(You might want to check out an analysis of Bernstein\u2019s right of publicity claim on Law360.com by J. Michael Keyes, a Seattle intellectual property attorney.)Josh King, Avvo\u2019s chief legal officer, described Bernstein\u2019s lawsuit to the ABA Journal as being \u201cbizarre\u201d and \u201ccompletely ludicrous.\u201d He told the Journal that he expects the case to be dismissed. To date, Avvo has yet to file an answer to Bernstein\u2019s complaint.However, according to the ABA Journal, Avvo responded to Darsky\u2019s complaint with a motion to strike under the California anti-SLAPP law. It should be noted that there is a similar Illinois anti-SLAPP law.At Consultwebs, we won\u2019t take a position on either side of these lawsuits or attempt to analyze the merits of the claims. However, because the cases could end up impacting law firms, including our clients who utilize Avvo in their marketing efforts, we do think it will be important to track the status of these cases in the months ahead. We will make sure to keep you updated as they develop."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AVVO Lawsuit","item":"https:\/\/www.consultwebs.com\/blog\/avvo-lawsuit\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]