Some 8m people are each month visiting Avvo, the site which promises to connect consumers to a lawyer on the phone within 15 minutes – and numbers are expected to rise as a new app allows mobile callers to upload the photo of a document.
Avvo was started nine years ago and is now generating 500,000 client-lawyer contacts a month. The new app enables mobile-users to show an employment contract or other document they want advice on by taking a photograph and uploading it. Avvo charges US$39 for a session of 15 minutes.
Small business advice
Founder and chief executive Mark Bretton says that growth is now happening at an ‘extraordinary rate’. Seattle-based Avvo had about 125 staff a year ago and now has 250. The service is now available in nine US states, covering nine areas including family, small business and criminal defence. Source: Seattle Times and Avvo
