LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Continues Transformation with Changes to Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings

NEW YORK, NY - September 29, 2009 - LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell®, the industry leader in networking and law firm marketing, today announced more detailed information and numerical scores for its Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™. This is the newest development in the transformation of the lawyer ratings service to meet evolving demand within the legal marketplace. Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings continue to provide a measure of both a lawyer's General Ethical Standards and Legal Ability based on anonymous peer assessments of members of the Bar and the Judiciary.

Starting in September, the Legal Ability Rating will be area-of-practice-specific and rated on a scale of one to five - with one being the lowest and five being the highest - across five key criteria: Legal Knowledge, Analytical Capabilities, Judgment, Communication Ability, and Legal Experience. In addition, basic demographic data on reviewers will now be aggregated and displayed along with any narrative feedback reviewers wish to offer.

"Changes in our Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings directly reflect extensive research and feedback from the legal community regarding the methodologies and formats considered most useful to evaluated lawyers and to those who use our ratings to inform their selection of legal counsel," said Alfredo Sciascia, vice president and leader of ratings business transformation for LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell.

Objective and trusted Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings have been facilitated by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell for more than a century and are comprised of a General Ethical Standards Rating and a Legal Ability Rating. The General Ethical Standards Rating denotes adherence to professional standards of conduct and ethics, reliability, diligence and other criteria relevant to the discharge of professional responsibilities.

About the Changed Methodology
A combination of the General Ethical Standards Rating and the revised Legal Ability Rating determines the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings, which includes a certification mark, a rating term, and the newly introduced numeric rating as follows:

• AV® Preeminent™ (4.5 - 5.0)
• BV® Distinguished™ (3.0 - 4.4)
• Rated (1.0 - 2.9)

Lawyers currently rated AV® or BV® under the existing Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings program will retain their existing certification mark, and will be given the highest equivalent numeric rating and rating term in the changed program. For example, AV rated lawyers will convert to AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated, BV rated lawyers will convert to BV Distinguished™ 4.4 out of 5 Peer Review Rated. As lawyers are re-rated under the new system, their Peer Review Rating will be updated to reflect new peer assessments.

Another change for Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings is the phased out support of the CV® certification mark. Previously used to recognize newly admitted lawyers who had been recognized by their peers for achieving the Very High Criteria of General Ethical Standing, the change is being made to simplify the ratings system. Lawyers who currently hold a CV rating will no longer be listed as CV rated but instead as "Rated 2.9" until they are re-reviewed using the changed methodology. LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell has also relaxed the tenure restriction on achievement of the higher ratings so younger lawyers are now eligible to achieve an AV Preeminent or BV Distinguished Peer Review Rating.

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell has begun to communicate these changes to lawyers and law firms and will work with lawyers to facilitate re-reviews and first time reviews using the changed methodology. A series of webinars will also be scheduled in the coming days to provide more detailed information about how these changes will impact lawyers and law firms.

Ratings Transformation at Martindale-Hubbell
Changes to the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings represent an important milestone in the ongoing transformation of Martindale-Hubbell from legal directory into the preeminent online destination for legal professionals. Late last year, LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell introduced Client Review to meet growing demand among buyers of legal services for feedback from their peers about lawyers and law firms they have retained.

"The combination of our Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings and Client Reviews make martindale.com® the preeminent destination where those seeking information on counsel can get a comprehensive view of a million lawyers," Sciascia continued.