Lawyer Rating Site Faces Suit

A prominent Seattle class-action lawyer says he will file suit against Avvo, a new Web site that rates lawyers.

Steve Berman claims the site does not benefit consumers because its rating system is unreliable, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

"It is not based on any valid criteria," Berman alleged. "And, in fact, the publisher of this site should know there is something wrong."

The site rates lawyers on a 1-to-10 scale and posts consumer comments and disciplinary sanctions. It was launched by Mark Britton, the former general counsel of Expedia.

Britton defends the rating system. "For consumers, we are shining a flashlight in some dark places, and this was information that was very hard for a consumer to find until just a week ago when we launched," he told the newspaper.