Analyzing LegalZoom's Advertising Practices
There is a blog post at For Connecticut Lawyers which analyzes LegalZoom's deceptive advertising practices that are designed to persuade consumers that purchasing legal documents from LegalZoom is the same as a service from an attorney. The post examines the hidden nature of the disclaimer notice that LegalZoom cannot give legal advice, and questions what "Put the Law on Your Side" - [ Legal Zoom's tagline] means when proclaimed by a non-lawyer, legal document preparation services organization. Since LegalZoom's staff members cannot provide legal advice when they review a document one could ask the question: What they really do and what justifies the relatively high cost of a LegalZoom's services? How are LegalZoom's services different from a legal form that is purchased from an on-line legal form web site such as US Legal Forms, which are available at much less cost?
What is interesting about LegalZoom's product offering is that it offers more than just document production, rather it offers documents plus services. Take a look at its incorporation offering and you can see the workings of the company:
You complete the questionnaire and then pay the fee.
The document is not immediately created, but is created for you (by who?) and then sent to you for signing. Then LegalZoom will file the documents with the appropriate Secretary of State.
In this regard, LegalZoom is more like the Do-It-Yourself incorporation services we have seen for years. But what differs is that step between your answering questions online and your getting a document back into your hands. Who is taking your answers and fitting them into the proper set of forms? Who is selecting the forms in the package that you will need?
What makes a DIY document, one that you select, that your complete and download, and then process (i.e., file) yourself, different from the intervention and services that LegalZoom offers? I think that in that difference is the true cause for concern.
What is interesting about LegalZoom's product offering is that it offers more than just document production, rather it offers documents plus services. Take a look at its incorporation offering and you can see the workings of the company:
You complete the questionnaire and then pay the fee.
The document is not immediately created, but is created for you (by who?) and then sent to you for signing. Then LegalZoom will file the documents with the appropriate Secretary of State.
In this regard, LegalZoom is more like the Do-It-Yourself incorporation services we have seen for years. But what differs is that step between your answering questions online and your getting a document back into your hands. Who is taking your answers and fitting them into the proper set of forms? Who is selecting the forms in the package that you will need?
What makes a DIY document, one that you select, that your complete and download, and then process (i.e., file) yourself, different from the intervention and services that LegalZoom offers? I think that in that difference is the true cause for concern.
It's actually pretty interesting. They also have a ProxyLaw department that offers the same services to actual attorneys who then turn around and charge their clients an extremely high marked up rate. LegalZoom puts the attorney letterhead on the package and sends it off and the attorney’s client is none the wiser.
As for the company structure, will besides a few actual attorneys who work there, it pretty much runs itself like a legal sweatshop employing a bunch of want to be attorneys who either didn't try, or simply just couldn't pass the bar.
Actually, if it wasn't for the famous, or infamous depending on whether your an OJ fan or not, Robert Shapiro (who buy the way owns about 30% of the company, makes no directing decisions, and is pretty much the face on the cereal box), LegalZoom probably would not have made it to the frontline of KFI's advertisements. Certainly, co-founders Brian Liu and Brian Lee, the guys who actually run the company, would not have made it on their name recognition alone.
In summary, despite much criticism in respects to helping attorneys perpetuate would should but is not legally called fraud; LegalZoom runs a successful business with their ability to generate free publicity during start up, locking in customers who need updates while making it expensive to switch to other competitors with the use of proprietary documents causing the competition to have to re-create the whole document for their clients. LegalZoom.com is a one stop shop for your legal services if you want to avoid paying high attorney fees. Your other alternative is to take my method and really, "Do it yourself." I mean how hard is it? Most of the people who fill out these forms in the company have about the same amount of legal experience, if not less, than you, and you can download all of the court forms you want for free at USCourtforms.com. Don't let me go off on a tantrum about how that little company has also cornered the market.
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Hello,
I am not an attorney but recent customer of legal Zoom. I actually have to call back to them because in spite of payment and talks back and forth i still have no last will and testament in my hands, but about 6 Living wills.
Someone was rude to in terms of wanting few extra copies of which i even said i would pay for.
What the man on the other end of the line did not know is that in the state of Ohio each will should not be a copy but all originally signed at the same time. I asked for copies so that they were all on the same type of paper so it didn't look like i signed them at different times or anything that anyone could wonder about. The copies are to keep the same color paper and so that i can sign all 4 copies at the same time. They seemed oblivious as to why i wanted or needed to do that. Yet, when had an attorney no one was oblivious.
I got little nasty message from some worker over the asked for copies. I Got impression with the goods i have recieved thus far, that your blog has to be true. I have fortunatley a couple living wills that are correct and a few that aren't. It largely depends who is working in that office that day. I do kind of feel it was a waste of money but am calling back to see about my Last will and testament. To see if i get a hassle.
I also noticed in the living will that some have a key paragraph in it and some do not. I am obviuously keeping the ones with that key paragraph in it and tossing the others. I just thought the guy didn't have to be nasty on top of it. I am disabled and harder for me to get to make copies. This seemed an issue with the last person i called. So now until i call, i have no last will and testament. I am hoping to resolve that soon.
I will say it is nice to have a service somewhere because i live in an area where attornies knows each other. If one talks to the otehr it's amess. I wanted to find some place i could just get this done. I also knew from past experience that alot of crooks as attornies out there. I learned from a nice attorney that shold not charge more then few hundred dollars for a basic will. I had one ask for a thousand dollars. MY thoughts on the matter. Take care.
Lastly, legal zoom was suppossed to mail me a last will and whoever in the office mailed me a bunch of living wills instead. Connie