A recent Minnesota Litigator post recently questioned the reliability of on-line attorney ratings and reviews, highlighting a lawyer identified at “Best Lawyer in Minneapolis” on one site and ominously identified as having been cited for “misconduct” on another site (neither of which seemed particularly helpful data for choosing (or rejecting) a lawyer).
What if the Better Business Bureau gives you a “B-” “reliability rating”? Could that be defamatory? Not according to now-retired Ramsey County Judge M. Michael Monahan.
Apparently, the BBB might give a “B-” rating simply because a lawyer is in their database and they have “insufficient information” to evaluate the lawyer. (And you might not be able to get an “A+” rating unless you pay the BBB $600. (See Monahan Op. at p. 5))
Also, check out the description of the meaning of “B-” at pages 12-13 of this decision.