Analyzing LegalZoom's Advertising Practices

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Richard Granat

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?

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eLawyering Task Force Conference Call

Posted on December 28, 2008 by Richard Granat

For those of you who are members of the eLawyering Task Force of the Law Practice Management Section of the ABA, this is reminder that there is a Task Force Conference call on January 9, 2009 at 10:00 A.M.

Our agenda includes a discussion on standards and best practices for elawyering and delivering legal services online.

Members of the American Bar Association, who wish to become members of the Task Force should contact Marc Lauritsen, Co-Chair of the Task Force at marc@capstonepractice.com directly. In order to be eligible for membership you also have to be a member of the Law Practice Management Section of the ABA. 

 

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The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services

Posted on December 1, 2008 by Richard Granat

 Richard Susskind's new book, The End of Lawyers?: Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services was just published by Oxford University Press, in the United Kingdom. I received a copy from my associates in London today, and US distribution should begin within 10 days.  For law firms thinking about the future of the legal profession, this book should be mandatory reading.

Susskind sees the legal market as “broken.” Access to justice is available only to citizens who are very poor or very rich. The cost of dispute resolution in the courts often exceeds the amount at issue. Small businesses invariably claim that mainstream legal services are beyond their budgets. And even the world's largest companies and financial institutions are seeking radically new ways of meeting their legal needs.

Susskind argues that, in this time of grave economic uncertainty, the market will no longer tolerate traditional, expensive lawyers who handcraft tasks that can be better discharged with the support of modern systems and techniques. He claims that the legal profession will be driven by two forces in the coming decade: by a market pull towards the commoditization of legal services, and by the increase of disruptive, Internet-based technologies. The threat here for lawyers is clear - their jobs may well be eroded or even displaced.

Susskind challenges the legal profession to ask what elements of their current workload could be undertaken more quickly, more cheaply, more efficiently, or to a higher quality using different and new methods of working. Susskind argues that if automation can streamline certain legal tasks and that the market will forces lawyers to adapt to the "digitization"  or they won't survive.

I am still working my way through this important book, so will have more to say in future blog posts when I finish it.

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