Davis v. AVVO, Inc.

345 F. Supp. 3d 534
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 19, 2018
Docket18-cv-2835 (JGK)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 345 F. Supp. 3d 534 (Davis v. AVVO, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. AVVO, Inc., 345 F. Supp. 3d 534 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

JOHN G. KOELTL, District Judge:

The plaintiff, Kevin Davis, brings this action on behalf of himself and a class of similarly situated individuals against the defendant, Avvo, Inc. The plaintiff alleges that the defendant, through its website, has engaged in and contributed to false advertising in violation of Lanham Act § 43(a), 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), and New York General Business Law ("NYGBL") § 349. The defendant has moved to dismiss the plaintiff's complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For the reasons explained below, the defendant's motion to dismiss is granted .

I.

In deciding a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), the allegations in the complaint are accepted as true, and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in the plaintiff's favor. McCarthy v. Dun & Bradstreet Corp., 482 F.3d 184, 191 (2d Cir. 2007). The Court's function on a motion to dismiss is "not to weigh the evidence that might be presented at a trial but merely to determine whether the complaint itself is legally sufficient." Goldman v. Belden, 754 F.2d 1059, 1067 (2d Cir. 1985). The Court should not dismiss the complaint if the plaintiff has stated "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

While the Court should construe the factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, "the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations *539contained in the complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions." Id. When presented with a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), the Court may consider documents that are referenced in the complaint, documents that the plaintiff relied on in bringing suit and that are either in the plaintiff's possession or that the plaintiff knew of when bringing suit, or matters of which judicial notice may be taken. See Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc., 282 F.3d 147, 153 (2d Cir. 2002).

II.

The defendant is an online platform that maintains individual profiles of attorneys. Compl. ¶ 4. Consumers can use the defendant's website to access information about, find, and vet attorneys. Id. ¶¶ 4-5. The individual attorney profiles often contain client and peer reviews, as well as a numerical "Avvo rating," which is derived by criteria defined by the defendant. Id. ¶ 6; Def.'s Mem. Ex. A. The defendant's website includes profiles for attorneys who pay the defendant for advertising and related services and attorneys who do not. Compl. ¶ 41.

The plaintiff is a licensed attorney who practices law in New York and does not pay the defendant for its services. Id. ¶ 16. He alleges that through various aspects of its website, the defendant engages in, and induces attorneys to engage in, false advertising. According to the plaintiff, attorneys who pay the defendant (1) receive higher Avvo ratings than similarly qualified nonpaying attorneys, although the defendant represents its ratings as objectively calculated, id. ¶¶ 34, 36; (2) receive a badge reading "Pro" laid on top of the headshot in their profile, id. ¶¶ 59-60; (3) are touted in the defendant's advertising as "highly qualified," "the right," or the "best" attorneys, id. ¶¶ 39, 57, Opp'n at 2; and (4) have positive client reviews spotlighted and negative client reviews removed or blocked, Compl. ¶¶ 66-68.

The plaintiff contends that these paid-for advantages make paying attorneys falsely appear more qualified than nonpaying attorneys, thus diverting business away from, and causing reputational harm to, him and other attorneys who do not pay for the defendant's services. Id. ¶¶ 69-73. The plaintiff adds that the alleged misleading portrayal of paying attorneys is particularly impactful on nonpaying attorneys because the defendant's website has a prominent internet presence. Id. ¶ 70. But the plaintiff does not offer any particular facts linking the defendant's allegedly misleading conduct to any lost business or reputational harm for the plaintiff.

The defendant has moved to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The defendant contends that its Avvo ratings are opinions protected by the First Amendment to the Federal Constitution and Article 1, Section 8 of the New York State Constitution. The defendant also argues that the plaintiff's Lanham Act and NYGBL § 349 claims fail because, among other reasons, labeling attorneys as "pros" and using phrases like "highly qualified" is nonactionable puffery, and the plaintiff has failed to allege that he plausibly suffered any injury.

III.

To establish false advertising under Lanham Act § 43(a), a plaintiff must (1) demonstrate that the challenged statement is either literally false or, though literally true, likely to confuse or deceive consumers; (2) show that the defendant misrepresented an inherent quality or characteristic of a good or service; (3) show that the defendant placed the false or misleading statement in interstate commerce; and (4) prove that the plaintiff was injured as a result of the defendant's misrepresentation, *540either by a diversion of business or a loss of goodwill associated with the plaintiff's goods or services. Merck Eprova AG v. Gnosis S.p.A.

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Bluebook (online)
345 F. Supp. 3d 534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-avvo-inc-ilsd-2018.