What does AV rated mean in law?

Answer 1

It means that you have friends and colleagues who are in the legal profession that have told Martindale-Hubbell that you are a good lawyer. Martindale-Hubbell is part of Lexis-Nexis, a for-profit legal services company, and AV ratings are not affiliated with any official legal body.

My understanding (and I am basing this on hearsay, but I think this sounds generally correct) is that you get an AV rating if all of the following are true:

1. You have profile on Martindale-Hubbell's system, which can be either free or paid, although I am unsure as to whether free listings are eligible to receive AV ratings.

2. You have been practicing for 10 years at least.

3. You know a large number of other attorneys (this is what disqualifies most solos and small firm attorneys).

4. Of those other attorneys that you know, you feel comfortable asking a large number of them to rate you on Martindale-Hubbell's online system, which is confidential. If you are a solo, most of the attorneys you know are adversaries, so this is another problem.

5. If the other lawyers that you list actually do rate you highly, then you get an AV rating or similar, lower rating like BV or CV. There is no requirement that the rating attorneys have actually seen you practice and there is no evidence to back the rating.

I have personally known both very good and very bad lawyers with AV-ratings and without AV-ratings. For example, I knew a lawyer who had an AV-rating who never used written representation agreements, even for contingency cases. This is not only horrible practice, but also an ethics violation in my state. The only factor that appears to relate to whether someone has an AV-rating is the size of firm they are in.

Other ratings like Avvo and Superlawyers are similarly nonsense. If you are looking for a lawyer, try to find out whether prior clients are satisfied.

Answer 2

AV rated refers to a rating system used by Martindale-Hubbell to signify the highest level of professional excellence and ethical standards in the legal field. It means that a lawyer or law firm has been deemed to have achieved the highest level of legal ability and ethical standards as assessed by their peers.