I recently published a blog post over on Avvo’s Lawyernomics Blog on the topic of whether lawyer rankings on sites such as Avvo or Martindale Hubbell really matter. So that there is no confusion, I am a regular blogger on Avvo’s Lawyernomics Blog and will be presenting at Avvo’s 2012 Avvocating Conference in Seattle.

But let me get to the nuts and the bolts of it. Yes, your Avvo (or similar rating) does matter. The post describes our attempt at finding local counsel in Colorado and how one of my associates “choose” between to seemingly equally qualified lawyers based on their Avvo numbers. I found this significant because this particular associate did not know that I was a guest blogger for Avvo or that I was going to be speaking at one of their events.

I merely asked the associate to find some potential attorneys to serve as local counsel for us. He brought back several and then recommended a particular attorney because that lawyer had a much higher rating on Avvo than the others. It was enough to convince me. We retained that lawyer as local counsel and he has been great to work with.

So, returning to the ultimate question, do these types of ratings and rankings actually matter? Yes. They do. At least to some (myself and my associate included).

And, as a final note, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having client testimonials and peer endorsements. Not only do people looking for lawyers read these, but lawyers looking for lawyers read them too. That reminds me, I need to send out some more requests to clients and peers to provide testimonials and endorsements on Avvo and LinkedIn. Any press may be good press; but good press is good press.