Illinois to Avvo: Drop Dead
Illinois Supreme Court: The high court on Wednesday denied access to information about the state's 85,000 licensed lawyers to a Seattle-based company that publishes online legal directories. The court did not provide an explanation for its order. Avvo Inc. requested the data to help complete its online directory for Illinois, which also includes lawyer ratings and client reviews. The company said, "Consumers are the real losers here." The court controls a "master roll" of the state's attorneys.
The company's original request was denied by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which maintains the list.
Avvo then made a request to the Supreme Court, which owns the list.
Jim Grogan, deputy administrator for the state Attorney Registration and Discipline Commission, the state lawyer regulatory authority, told Legal Newsline in an earlier interview the list isn't available for "commercial or political" purposes.
"We're not saying the public does not have a right to know who is an attorney in the state," he said, noting that the public already has access an "accurate and up-to-the-minute" state database that shows, among other things, a lawyers' state disciplinary record.
