The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory is one of the oldest and best-known catalogues of lawyers in the US. Firms and individual lawyers are rated for legal expertise and ethical conduct, the highest rating being “AV”.
The company confirmed they have laid off three ratings specialists, but insisted there are no plans to end its Peer Review rating system, which is based on lawyers’ and judges’ reviews of other attorneys.
The people laid off were long-term employees of Martindale-Hubbell, which was purchased in 1990 by Reed Publishing, owners of LexisNexis.
An AV rating means that an attorney has been admitted to the bar for at least a decade and is seen by his or her peers as possessing very high legal skills and ethics.
Demand for the service has dropped, since general counsel can now investigate attorneys more easily via Google and blogs.