Judge Points Out That Lawyer Ranking Site Is Free Speech... Even If It's Dumb

from the that-whole-free-speech-thing dept

Thu, Dec 20th 2007 9:19am — Mike Masnick

Earlier this year, we wrote about a new website, Avvo, that had created an algorithm to try to "rank" lawyers based on quality. It should come as no surprise, of course, that some lawyers (e.g., the low-ranked ones) weren't particularly pleased with such a system and some of them got together to sue the site as a class action suit -- on behalf of poorly ranked lawyers around the world. While you can certainly understand why lawyers would be upset at such a site, just because you're upset about something doesn't make it illegal. And, just as judges have repeatedly pointed out that things like Google's search rankings are protected free speech as opinions, a judge has dismissed the lawsuit against Avvo, noting that the rankings are merely opinions and that's protected free speech. That's not to say that the judge thinks Avvo is particularly useful. In fact, he points out how ridiculous the rankings are -- but that doesn't mean they're illegal. Chalk one up for free speech online.

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Filed Under: first amendment, free speech, lawyers, ratings
Companies: avvo

14 Comments

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4-80-sicks, 20 Dec 2007 @ 9:26am

This makes me think of like Revenge of the Nerds or something--a bunch of laughable losers decide to take on something bigger and more popular than themselves. Of course, in the movie, they'd win. And with the movie, the audience wants them to.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2007 @ 9:38am

You have a typo
'...judge things' should read '...judge thinks'.
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- Mike (profile), 20 Dec 2007 @ 9:39am
  
  Re:
  Ooops. Thanks. fixed.
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Adam Singer (profile), 20 Dec 2007 @ 10:40am

I guess mike *is* human after all
;)
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Syn-Ack, 20 Dec 2007 @ 10:46am

Kind of Ironic
It's pretty ironic that the low ranked lawyers had their case thrown out. Adds a little credibility to the rankings in my viewpoint.
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- Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2007 @ 12:48pm
  
  Re: Kind of Ironic
  Uhh, actually it's not ironic, but it does add credibility...
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 20 Dec 2007 @ 10:48am

Haha
So, since they lost, do the lawyers still charge themselves a fee?
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SM, 20 Dec 2007 @ 10:49am

Yeah, with a site like this, there's no way to lose! Sure, you might get sued, but only by the crappiest lawyers...
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JJ, 20 Dec 2007 @ 10:49am

Judge thinks?
This would be an odd situation... Remember Lawyers (Lie-ers) become Judges...
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Ben, 20 Dec 2007 @ 11:17am

Self-fulfilling
So the low-ranked lawyers sue ... further proving their ranking for not knowing First Amendment rights.
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Tony, 20 Dec 2007 @ 11:58am

RE: Kind of Ironic by Syn-Ack
Damn, you stole my thunder! :)

And nice TCP reference there.
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Kevin, 20 Dec 2007 @ 12:13pm

Interesting...
With all of the precedents relating to free/protected speech and rankings online, you'd think that any lawyer that was worth a damn would have known that this case had no chance.

Wait a minute...

Now I get it!
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- patrick, 21 Dec 2007 @ 2:37pm
  
  Re: Interesting...
  Thanks for the chuckle!
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Fushta, 20 Dec 2007 @ 1:51pm

My Favorite Quote
Avvo says, "We're not trying to make you look bad. You're doing quite well on your own."
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