Do Attorney Rankings, Ratings and Reviews Increase the Chances of Being Hired?

Cindy Greenway, Editor in Chief of LawMarketing.com reached out to Carlton Dyce, Vice President of Peer Review Ratings and Client Review Services at LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell to get his thoughts on the importance of attorney rankings.

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The topic of attorney rankings has been a hot one for several weeks.  We've heard some say that attorney rankings, ratings and reviews don't help attorneys connect with consumers  - we've also heard others say they matter a great deal.

I reached out to Carlton Dyce, Vice President of Peer Review Ratings and Client Review Services at LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell to get his thoughts on this topic. Carlton has over 25 years of broad publishing and production experience covering data collection and database management.

Bottom line is this - whether they're buying a washing machine or buying a car, consumers appreciate the importance of ratings and rankings when it comes to making a formal decision.

The same is true in the legal space.

Today consumers are leveraging ratings and rankings to make an informed decision, and lawyers need to look at that as a way of differentiating themselves, a way to stand out. Ratings increase the likelihood of being hired by buyers of legal services, and what they do is they also provide consumers, corporate counsels and small business owners with that sort of extra reassurance.

Ratings also provide a sort of third-party validation.  Consumers like to hear reviews and feedback in verbatim from people like themselves, and what they're looking for is to see whether or not that person like them, what kind of experience they had. Was the experience someone had with that divorce lawyer the kind of experience where he or she was responsive to the specific matter or did he or she not ever call back in this difficult time.

Consider this information the next time you hear someone say that rankings, ratings and reviews don't matter.

Make the Most Of Your AV Rating!

Today's post is part of an article written by Philip Livingston, CEO of Marketing and Business Solutions at LexisNexis.  He explains the importance of achieving an AV Rating. 

Each year thousands of attorneys achieve an AV Preeminent^® rating. If you too are among the elite, you should showcase your rating to the fullest and enjoy all the benefits of this honor.

• Martindale-Hubbell actively promotes your rating so others readily understand your accomplishment. An exclusive agreement with ALM Media Properties, LLC will put AV Preeminent rated lawyers in front of more than 500,000 legal professionals across 30 different publications in 2013. An agreement with Fortune magazine and ALM highlights U.S. law firms with the highest percentages of AV Preeminent rated lawyers in its December "Investor's Guide."

• We also display your ratings on martindale.com^® and Lawyers.com^SM . Lawyers.com alone makes your rating available to 34 million unique visitors annually. To locate the best of the best, visitors can fine-tune their search by rated lawyers only.

• I strongly encourage you to proactively promote your AV Preeminent rating too. Display your rating in locations where clients, prospective clients and referring lawyers can find you: your website, your social media profiles (LinkedIn^®, Facebook^®, etc.), your business cards, at your office and elsewhere. Our associates at American Registry create elegant plaques, lapel pins, acknowledgements, ratings video and other recognition products, all designed to showcase your rating. You can find more information at http://www.mhur.com/.

• Take the time to draw attention to your two favorite ratings' verbatim feedback by promoting it to the top of your ratings display on Lawyers.com and martindale.com. You also should take advantage of the one-time opportunity to comment on each peer feedback to give clients and prospects a better understanding of you and your practice. All of this can be easily accomplished in the Martindale-Hubbell Client Service Center.

For more than 140 years, Martindale-Hubbell has proudly facilitated the ratings process to highlight lawyers who are at the pinnacle of the legal profession. If you have questions about Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings or Martindale-Hubbell Client Review Ratings, visit www.martindale.com/ratings, email ratings@martindale.com or call 800-526-4902, option 4.

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2009 Stella Awards Announced

And now for some levity on a Friday - lets examine this year's Stella Awards- (Many of which are fake by the way but always good for a chuckle.)

This year some of the most frivolous cases included the case of a Washington lawyer who filed a lawsuit against dry cleaners who lost his trousers. He demands $65,000 compensation for "mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort".

There's also the case of a woman who threw her drink at her boyfriend while sitting in a Philadelphia restaurant with him, then she slipped on the spilt drink, broke her tailbone and won her case against the owners of the restaurant, being awarded $113,500. UPDATED: this particular case was fabricated.

This year's award also went to Mrs Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma. She filed a lawsuit against Winnebago for $1.75 million after crashing her motor home, which was moving at a speed of 70mph, while she was making a sandwich for herself. She stated that the company that produced the motor home did not inform her that it is not allowed to leave the wheel when she set the vehicle on cruise control. UPDATED: this particular case was fabricated.

A woman from Claymont, Delaware, received $12,000 after suing the owner of a nightclub. Kara Walton stated that she fell and knocked out her two front teeth when she attempted to sneak in the nightclub through the bathroom window. UPDATED: this particular case was fabricated.

Surprisingly Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, managed to receive $14,500 compensation plus medical expense after he was bitten on the bottom by the dog that belonged to his next door neighbor. It seems that there's nothing wrong here, but here's a little detail - while the dog was on a chain, Mr Williams climbed over a fence and several times shot the dog with a pellet gun. UPDATED: this particular case was fabricated.

It was a successful year for criminals as well. Pennsylvania court ruled that the insurance company must pay Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, $500,000 because he received physical and moral damages after being trapped for 8 days in a garage of a family whose house he burgled.

Another thief, Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California, was awarded with $74,000 plus medical expenses after his neighbor hit his hand when Truman attempted to steal his hubcaps. UPDATED: this particular case was fabricated.

Texas court ruled that the owners of a store must pay Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas $80,000 plus medical expenses after the woman tripped over a running kid and as a result broke her ankle. The child was her own son.

During the current economic recession, lawyers warn that a lot of desperate people will most likely file even more outrageous lawsuits, reports The Telegraph. A family law specialist from California, Jim Fedalen, considers that there are going to be even more scams. "I have no doubt we're going to see a big increase in scams, such as people deliberately planting nasty objects in their sandwiches then trying to sue the burger joint," he said.

Law Marketing Association Taking Nominations

The Legal Marketing Association (LMA) is calling for entries for this year's 2009 YHA (Your Honor Awards)

The Your Honor Awards recognize creativity, execution, achievement and overall excellence in legal marketing. As the only award program of its kind, the Your Honor Awards grant you the recognition you deserve for your contributions to your firm and to your profession.

Winners will be announced during the 23nd Annual LMA Conference, to be held at the National Harbor in Metropolitan Washington, D.C., April 1--4, 2009. Winning entries will be prominently displayed at the Annual LMA Conference. Winning entries will be showcased, including a short description of the entry, in LMA’s newsletter and on the LMA Web site. Press releases announcing winners will be disseminated nationally.

Complete entry details, criteria and submission form coming soon!

DEADLINE: Wednesday, December 4, 2008

For More Info Click Here: http://www.legalmarketing.org/awards/yha/2009/index_html

Nominations Requested

Do you know a professional on the fast track? If you do, then you might want to nominate them for H Magazine's "best" list. H Magazine is seeking nominations for Professionals on the Fast Track. These individuals should have high standards, commitment to excellence, drive for success and be under 40 years of age. This person can be your peer or your successor. Nominees will be examined for inclusion in the H Magazine special focus Professionals on the Fast Track- 2008. To nominate a professional, log on to http://www.htexas.com/.

The Houston Business Journal is seeking nominations for the 2008 Best Corporate Counsel Awards program, honoring outstanding general counsel in the greater Houston area. The awards will be presented at a reception on October 14, 2008 and will be published in the October 17 issue of the HBJ.

Categories include: outstanding solo corporate counsel, outstanding corporate counsel with an attorney staff of 11 to 30, outstanding associate or assistant corporate counsel, best team effort by a corporate legal department, and many others.

The deadline for nominations is Thursday, August 21. So if you are a Houston-based attorney who actively practices inside a corporation or other private sector organizations get nominated!

Award categories, details and nominations will be accepted online at the Best Corporate Counsel nomination site. Click here