Avvo vs Justia is the comparison most firms land on when they pick a lawyer directory, and the two are not interchangeable: one is a brand inside a six-name portfolio, the other is a standalone company.
It compares what each publishes about ownership, pricing, contracts and reach as of October 2026, then what the advertising rules say about paying for either one.
The whole field is sorted by what you pay in the best lawyer directories; this page stays on the head-to-head.
Avvo vs Justia: two companies, not two divisions
Martindale-Avvo, the company behind Avvo, says its portfolio offers services from Martindale-Hubbell, Avvo, Nolo, Ngage Live Chat, Lawyers.com and Captorra, and its footer reads "MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands" (October 2026).
FindLaw says it became part of that portfolio under Internet Brands at the end of 2024, which puts FindLaw, Avvo, Martindale-Hubbell, Lawyers.com, Nolo and Super Lawyers under one owner.
Justia is the independent one: a Silicon Valley company that says its team focuses on marketing solutions solely for lawyers and law firms, led by Tim Stanley and Stacy Stern, who co-founded FindLaw before starting Justia (October 2026).
Justia vs Avvo is the same comparison in reverse; ownership is the part most roundups skip.
Martindale-Avvo calls Avvo "a comprehensive online legal marketplace connecting consumers and lawyers through its online directory, attorney profiles, Q&A forum, reviews", while Justia says its directory "allows any licensed attorney to have a free, full-featured, professional profile".
What each company claims about reach
Every reach number on both sides is self-reported; neither company publishes an independent audit.
Martindale-Avvo says the portfolio attracts over 25 million monthly consumers, that Avvo gets 8M+ monthly consumers, and that Martindale-Nolo receives "over 120,000 consumer requests to speak with an attorney" a month (its About page, October 2026).
Justia says its lawyer directory has over a million visitors each month (its marketing pages, October 2026).
The measures differ (monthly consumers versus monthly visitors) and the methods are unpublished.
Self-reported reach claims, October 2026
Published pricing and contract terms
Justia publishes one price: Connect Pro at $19.99 per month or $199.80 per year, which Justia says removes competitor ads from the profile page and lets the lawyer choose which reviews to feature (October 2026).
The membership includes $200 in annual Justia Credit toward Amplify, Elevate and premium placements; prices for Justia's websites, SEO, PPC and premium placements are not published, and neither are its contract terms.
Martindale-Avvo publishes one price too: ProVantage, its core "legal profile solution" with enhanced attorney and firm profiles on Martindale, Avvo and Lawyers.com, "Starting at $399/mo. for first user" (October 2026).
Everything else, leads and chat included, is priced "available upon request", and its FAQ says many attorneys have annual contracts but that for Pay-Per-Lead "you can quit at any time".
It says it does not reimburse bad leads because they are vetted, and LeadDirect's "8-15% Average Conversion Rate" comes with no disclosed definition of a conversion, so read it as a marketing claim.
Whether an Avvo profile earns its fee is its own question: is Avvo worth it for lawyers; the Justia side is in the Justia lawyer directory.
Services, published pricing and contract terms, as of October 2026, checked on each company's own website:
| What it sells | Published pricing | Contract terms | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avvo (Martindale-Avvo) | ProVantage profiles (Martindale, Avvo, Lawyers.com); LeadDirect and Pay-Per-Lead leads; ChatVantage chat | ProVantage from $399/mo for the first user; leads and chat on request | Many services annual per its FAQ; pay-per-lead cancellable; no reimbursement for bad leads |
| Justia | Free directory profiles; Connect Pro membership and premium placements; SEO, websites, PPC | $19.99/mo or $199.80/yr; other prices not published | Not published |
| More Booked Cases | Conversion testing, local SEO and managed Meta ads on the firm's own channels | $2,500/mo CRO or local SEO; $5,000/mo combined; Meta $3,000/mo plus $2,500 setup | 6-month minimum (3 for ads), then month to month; cancel by email with 30 days' notice |
Avvo or Justia for lawyers: what the rules say about paying
ABA Model Rule 7.2(a), as amended in 2018, lets a lawyer communicate information about their services through any media, and its comments count online directories among the advertising a lawyer may pay for.
Comment [2] defines a recommendation as a communication that endorses or vouches for a lawyer's credentials, abilities, competence or character, and says directory listings that list lawyers by practice area, without more, are not recommendations; sponsored "recommended" placements are where that line gets argued.
Rule 7.2(b) bars giving anything of value to a person for recommending the lawyer's services.
The two product mixes meet that text differently, per each company's own pages: Justia's published pages describe profiles, placements, SEO, websites and PPC, while Martindale-Avvo also sells leads through LeadDirect and Pay-Per-Lead (powered by Martindale-Nolo), and Martindale-Avvo's own footer says its site "does not constitute a lawyer referral service".
Comment [5] allows paying for client leads only when the generator does not recommend the lawyer, the payment is consistent with Rules 1.5(e) and 5.4, and the generator's communications are consistent with Rule 7.1; the same comment bars paying a generator that implies it is recommending you or has analyzed the person's legal problem to pick you.
ABA Formal Opinion 501 (April 13, 2022) concluded that a lawyer who kept accepting clients from a lead generator that phoned accident survivors, without training or supervising the vendor, violated Rules 5.3(b) and 5.3(c); ABA opinions are advisory, not binding in any state.
Model Rules bind no one until a state adopts them, your state's version controls, and before you sign a listing or a lead program, confirm the arrangement with your state bar's ethics counsel or an ethics lawyer.
Avvo vs Martindale-Hubbell: a comparison inside one company
Avvo vs Martindale is not a matchup between vendors: Martindale-Avvo owns both brands under Internet Brands, along with Lawyers.com and Nolo.
Martindale-Avvo says Martindale-Hubbell "has been working to connect attorneys and their clients since 1868", and it says Lawyers.com holds 1M+ attorney profiles.
One ProVantage subscription buys enhanced profiles across Martindale, Avvo and Lawyers.com, starting at $399/mo for the first user, so choosing between the two names is usually choosing a tier inside one portfolio; the real fork on this page is a $19.99 membership from a standalone company against that $399/mo starting price.
How this comparison was built
The list starts from what Google returns for this search and from the published roundups, then checks every claim on the company's own site (October 2026).
One honesty note: Avvo.com and Lawyers.com block automated reads, so Avvo's description here comes from Martindale-Avvo's own corporate pages, while Justia's comes from Justia's own marketing pages.
Nothing is scored or ranked, self-reported figures are labeled as claims, and the companies are named in text only.
Which one deserves the budget
A directory can only send you a visitor; what happens next happens on your website and in your intake.
Whoever you list with, Google's own advice about an SEO who guarantees first place is to find someone else (Google Search Central, updated June 2026).
List on a directory
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A profile, a placement or a lead flow on someone else's domain.
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The vendor counts its own metric: profile views, leads delivered, valid calls.
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Judge it with its own phone number or form, on consultations and signed cases.
Convert the traffic you own
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Your website, Google Business Profile and analytics stay yours.
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Tests on click-to-call placement, forms, online scheduling and trust signals, judged by consultations and signed cases.
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The work compounds on channels no contract can take away.
More Booked Cases is one person, Gabe Meierotto, working with US law firms only; the record behind the work is Gabe's, as Director of CRO at LaserAway from 2018 to 2023, where sitewide conversion went from 3% to 11% on a testing program that returned 210x.
CRO is $2,500 a month for one controlled test, local SEO is $2,500 a month, the pair is $5,000 a month on a 6-month minimum, and managed Meta ads are $3,000 a month plus a $2,500 setup on a 3-month minimum.
The motion starts with a free audit: a prioritized plan in 3 business days, no call required.
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Claim what is free first: Justia's pages promise a free, full-featured profile.
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Get term, renewal and cancellation in writing: Justia's contract terms are unpublished, and Martindale-Avvo's FAQ says many attorneys sign annual contracts.
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Give any listing its own phone number or form, so its consultations are countable.
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Ask what the vendor counts as a conversion before you compare advertised rates.
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Confirm the payment arrangement with your state bar's ethics counsel; your state's rule controls.
Frequently asked questions
Is Avvo a reliable source?
Avvo is part of the Martindale-Avvo portfolio under Internet Brands, and its reach figures are the company's own claims rather than an independent audit. This page does not rate directories; the practical test for a firm is whether a profile books consultations you can count.
Is Justia a reputable source?
Justia is an independent Silicon Valley company whose CEO and president co-founded FindLaw before starting Justia, and it says its team works solely with lawyers and law firms. Its traffic claims, like over a million directory visitors a month, are its own figures, so measure what a profile sends your firm.
Who owns Avvo and Justia?
Avvo sits in the Martindale-Avvo portfolio, whose footer reads MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands and whose brands include Martindale-Hubbell, Nolo, Ngage Live Chat, Lawyers.com and Captorra; FindLaw joined that portfolio at the end of 2024. Justia is independent of the group.
How much does Avvo cost a law firm?
One price is published as of October 2026: ProVantage profiles across Martindale, Avvo and Lawyers.com, starting at $399 a month for the first user. Leads and chat are priced on request, and Martindale-Avvo's FAQ says many attorneys sign annual contracts.
Is a directory listing the same as paying for a referral?
Comment [2] to ABA Model Rule 7.2 says directory listings that list lawyers by practice area, without more, are not recommendations, while Rule 7.2(b) bars paying for recommendations. Model Rules bind no one until a state adopts them, so confirm the arrangement with your state bar's ethics counsel or an ethics lawyer.
Which is better for a solo lawyer, Avvo or Justia?
This page ranks neither. What is published as of October 2026: Justia offers a free, full-featured profile and a $19.99 a month upgrade, while Martindale-Avvo says it is proud to lead digital marketing initiatives among solo practices and small and medium law firms, with ProVantage starting at $399 a month.