Avvo

Market position

Described in company and press materials as a leading online legal marketplace; more than 225,000 participating lawyers as of 2015 and over 300,000 lawyers using Avvo services as of 2018, with ratings covering about 97% of U.S. lawyers. Its Q&A forum was described as the largest online. Avvo was named in Andreessen Horowitz's top 100 marketplace list. It is now one brand within Internet Brands' Martindale-Avvo network.

Proprietary Avvo Rating covering roughly 97% of licensed U.S. attorneys, combined with a large free consumer Q&A forum and client reviews, giving broad directory coverage independent of attorney opt-in (profiles are created from state bar records and are not deleted on request).

Technology

Web and mobile platform combining a lawyer directory built by aggregating public state bar and licensing records, a proprietary algorithmic Avvo Rating, a consumer Q&A forum, client review and peer endorsement systems, an iOS app for Avvo Advisor, the Avvo JD App, and Avvo Ignite, a cloud-based marketing platform for attorneys.

Go-to-market

Consumer acquisition through search-visible directory and Q&A content plus paid marketing (historically including Google and Facebook advertising), with a sales motion selling marketing and advertising products to attorneys. Post-acquisition, Avvo is sold as part of the Martindale-Avvo network's bundled legal marketing, lead generation and reputation management offerings, via legal marketing consultants and consultations.

Consumers researching legal issues and seeking representation, and lawyers and law firms — particularly solo practitioners and small to medium firms — seeking client acquisition and online visibility.

Geography

Headquartered in downtown Seattle, Washington, which it retained after the acquisition; directory coverage spans all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Parent Internet Brands is based in El Segundo, California.

History

Avvo was founded in Seattle in 2006 and launched its site in June 2007, initially financed with $13 million in venture capital from Benchmark Capital and Ignition Partners. Nine days after launch, Seattle attorneys John Henry Browne and Alan Wenokur sued over the rating system; U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik ruled the ratings were protected opinion under the First Amendment. Avvo launched a doctor directory in 2010 and sold that health business to HealthTap in 2012. In July 2015 it raised a $71.5 million Series E led by Technology Crossover Ventures, bringing total venture funding to $132 million at a reported valuation of about $650 million. Avvo Legal Services launched in 2016 and drew adverse ethics opinions in eight states. In January 2018 Avvo agreed to be acquired by Internet Brands, the KKR-owned operator of WebMD, Nolo and Martindale-Hubbell; the deal closed by April 2018, after which Britton and four other executives departed. Internet Brands discontinued Avvo Legal Services on July 31, 2018.

Risks & controversies

Avvo's rating system has drawn criticism and litigation, including Browne v. Avvo (filed June 14, 2007), which the company won on First Amendment grounds; other suits challenging ratings were similarly defended as protected opinion. The District of Columbia Bar Association objected that Avvo scraped member information from its website in violation of use restrictions and demanded removal. Avvo has been criticized for retaining profiles of deceased lawyers and refusing to delete profiles. Ethics committees in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New Jersey, Utah, Virginia and Indiana concluded that attorney participation in Avvo Legal Services violated professional conduct rules (fee sharing with non-lawyers, improper referral payments, handling of client funds, and interference with professional independence), leading to the product's shutdown on July 31, 2018. In 2022 evidence emerged of a data breach exposing email addresses of four million accounts.