Lawyer rating site Avvo made a big splash earlier this year. As legal news and as a defendant.
Now lawyer connection site HireTrade steps into the fray. As reported by John Cook of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, HireTrade CEO Neil Sandhu has a few thoughts about numbers:
We think that existing professional ratings systems, including most numerical ratings systems, result in arbitrary values as it is impossible for a numerical algorithm to really capture every single nuance of a professional’s background or decide what is the correct weight to place on different items of information such as experience, education, etc. (not to mention the fact that it appears that some of these systems merely assign higher scores to those professionals who take the time to fill out their profiles in more detail). Thus, meaningful comparisons are difficult to draw from the numerical values that result.
Furthermore, there is very little actual intrinsic value in any number generated by such a system.
Ouch!
Avvo has a bit of a head start as HireTrade builds up some momentum. The former has built up quite a number of rankings; the latter will work to expand on its hourly value concept as it goes forward.
The big part of the market for both seems to be for clients who haven’t had much experience with lawyers. Those who have could use these services for confirming information, but often rely on a personal referral in the first instance.