Mark S Britton

Thank you for visiting my Avvo profile! While I don’t represent clients anymore, I am the CEO of Avvo. I am very proud of Avvo, as we have created a true win-win service for both consumers and lawyers. For consumers, we empowering them to handle their legal matters with confidence. And, for lawyers, we give them free profiles to set themselves apart and attract new clients. Pretty neat stuff.

Avvo . . . Ratings. Guidance. The Right Lawyer

Telling all of you "About Me" is a bit of a challenge because I am a pretty boring guy.  Still, let me see if I can offer up some lesser known facts regarding Avvo’s CEO:

• I am surrounded by lawyers.  My wife, Brigid, is a lawyer.  Her father is a lawyer, and three of her four siblings are lawyers.  Brigid’s only sister is also married to a lawyer.  My mother attended law school and clerked for the Montana Supreme Court (she is now a high school French teacher in the Bay Area . . . sitting behind a desk for 12 hours was simply not for her).  My Uncle is a judge in Tucson.  Family reunions often feel like a national meeting of the ABA . . .

• My wife is a veteran of the law firms of Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells), Bogle & Gates (now defunct) and Dorsey & Whitney (absorbed a large part of Bogle & Gates).  Apparently she was opposed to working at any law firm with more than two names.  She now has emeritus status with the Washington Bar and does pro bono work for the Northwest Justice Project one day a week.

• My father-in-law and brother-in-law are trial lawyers in Michigan (just a few car accident cases filed in the World’s Motor Capital).  As a career-long corporate lawyer, personal-injury lawyers used to give me the hives because they were always suing my clients.  My in-laws afforded me an objective, inside look at “the other side," and it was eye-opening.  The number of people they help, the problems they solve – it is an honorable torch they carry.

• I have a brother who is a doctor near Lake Tahoe and a sister who teaches grade school in the Bay Area.  Oddly, my brother is not crazy about lawyers; but at least my sister is indifferent.  She is crazy about Avvo, however – especially Avvo Answers, where she has asked a number of questions about a business she is thinking about starting.  

• My dad is in the cattle business in Butte, Montana.  Growing up he owned the local stockyards, as well as a trucking business and livestock order-buying business (it’s kind of like being a stockbroker with real animals).  My Dad is a great businessman, and so much of what I learned about business came from being around him and, during my college years, working for him.

• I have three little boys that one of my friends calls “The Assassins.”  They are about as high-energy as children can get, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  As they mature, their lust for life will serve them very well.  My middle son has already declared that someday he will be a lawyer.  I have yet to give him the “law is a jealous mistress” speech.

That’s probably enough for now.  You can find more of my ramblings on the Avvo Blog.