Avvo and Attorney Discipline: What Your Profile Shows and What You Can Do

An Avvo profile can display a notice such as "This lawyer was disciplined by a state licensing authority in [year]", along with the sanction type.

Avvo collects that disciplinary information from state licensing authorities. Its profile note also says the information may not be comprehensive or updated, and recommends checking with the state bar.

That matters because a lot of people land on an Avvo profile for a simple reason: they wanted your phone number, your office address, or a quick sense of whether you handle their kind of matter. The notice can be the first thing they read.

Avvo displays disciplinary information and factors discipline into the Avvo Rating. So one record can show up twice on the same page: in the notice itself, and in a rating that takes it into account.

I am not going to tell you how much a record costs your rating or what number to aim for. Nobody outside Avvo can give you that with a straight face.

What I can tell you is how to treat it: as one input on one page, not as a verdict on your practice. For your current standing, the state bar is the source that counts.

Claiming an Avvo profile is free. It gives you a way to complete the profile, not a way to erase an accurate disciplinary history.

The reason to do it anyway is accuracy. A claimed profile is one where the practice areas, the experience and the contact information can reflect what you actually do today, rather than whatever was entered years ago.

It does not change what the disciplinary record says. Treat the claim as the starting point of the work, not the fix.

Practice areas: list the areas you actually practice now, in the words clients use. If your practice has narrowed or shifted since the record, the profile should show that.

Experience and education: current positions, years in practice, where you studied, and where you are admitted. Keep it factual and consistent with your official record.

A real photo: a clear, recent, professional photo of you. Profiles without one read as abandoned, and a face makes the rest of the page feel like it was written by the attorney it describes.

A bio written for clients: plain language about who you help, the kinds of matters you handle, and what working with you looks like. This is the part a prospective client actually reads, so write it for them rather than for another attorney.

This section is general guidance, not legal advice. Before you ask anyone for a review, check your own state's rules on soliciting client testimonials. They differ, and some require specific language or disclosures.

As a general matter: ask people you actually represented, at a moment when they are not under pressure, and do not pay for a review or offer something of value in exchange. Do not ask a client whose matter is still open, and do not write the review for them.

If a client's words need a correction, let them write it. An accurate review you did not draft is worth more than a flattering one you did.

One more thing worth saying plainly: a strong review record does not erase a disciplinary record. It adds accurate, useful information alongside it, which is a different and more honest goal.

Avvo is usually one result among several. Your state's official attorney record, the published disciplinary decision, and sometimes news coverage can all appear on the same page.

So the work is not to win Avvo. It is to build a fuller, accurate picture of you under your own name: a personal attorney website, claimed professional profiles that are complete and current, useful content grounded in your actual practice, and an accurate Google Business Profile.

I call that suppression, not removal. The public record stays available. The goal is for stronger, accurate pages about you to appear first, so the disciplinary notice is not the first thing a prospective client reads.

That is the work we did for our first client, a New York attorney who had been suspended and reinstated. Today, page 1 for his name is clear of the suspension listings. That is one client's result, not a promise about yours.

Can you remove an attorney suspension from Google?

Attorney reputation defense