Lawyers beware: free legal help has come to the Web.
Attorneys everywhere will tell you there's no shortage of people seeking free legal advice. But increasingly, the Internet is giving them what they want. Among various Web sites offering legal information, a new company claims that by New Year's Day it'll offer free, one-on-one chats with a licensed attorney on its Web site -- available 24 hours a day.
The Web site, which currently operates 13 hours a day, is run by USlaw.com, which last month completed a first round of funding led by Grand Central Holdings. Other funders include Broadview Associates and 14 lawyers and principals of five "prominent" venture capital firms, according to Warren Haber Jr., Grand Central partner and chief financial officer. Mr. Haber wouldn't disclose the size of the investment.
According to Mr. Haber, USlaw.com officials hope eventually to raise a much larger round of capital, which will be used for branding, marketing, and forging partnerships with Web portals. He says an initial public offering is feasible within a year.
IN BRIEFUSlaw.com, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, incorporated in June and a month later named its chief executive officer, Neal Simon, who was chief operations officer of William Kent International, an Arlington, Virginia-based management consulting firm. In law, "we think there's a huge unmet need in the consumer space," Mr. Simon says.
Mr. Simon observes that America has become a litigation-obsessed nation, spawning nearly a million lawyers, a big legal publishing industry, television programs, and even a cable TV channel. USlaw.com hopes to profit from that interest with its Web site.
Mr. Simon says USlaw.com targets consumers and small-business owners who are seeking guidance on their legal problems. He emphasizes that his company provides "legal information" rather than "legal advice." Lawyers employed by the company "aren't practicing law, they're dispensing legal information," he says. "They'll identify key issues, talk about options, the different kinds of results people may expect. They're more teachers than actual lawyers practicing law."
Mr. Simon must be heeding the advice of his own legal counsel. Strict laws govern legal practices, attorney licensing, and attorney-client relationships. Complicated too are licensing requirements, which vary by state, and laws, which vary by municipality and region. Attorneys also face the ever-present danger of being sued for malpractice.
THE LETTER OF THE LAWBy offering information instead of advice, USlaw.com hopes to function more like a resource than a professional service, skirting the strict regulations and accompanying liabilities. However, distinguishing between the two may honor the letter of the law more than the spirit.
"They've got to skirt the line between provision of information, that anyone can do, and provision of advice, that someone licensed can do," says Margaret Jane Radin, a Stanford University law professor specializing in law and technology.
The line between advice and information is often fuzzy and ever-evolving, especially when it comes to new media. Stephen Bundy, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, says a Texas court earlier this year ruled that a legal advice CD-ROM software product sold to consumers constituted an unauthorized practice of law, which prompted legislators to revise statutes to enable sales. "Some of these kinds of issues will arise when you put together a Web site," he says.
USlaw.com employs a system that allows Web site visitors to register, then through a pop-up window conduct an online, one-on-one dialogue with a USlaw.com attorney. Mr. Simon says the chat is confidential, with a licensed attorney screened by the company.
Attorneys conducting chats are affiliated with Lawcorps Legal Staffing, based in Washington, D.C. The founder of Lawcorps, Gustavo Bessalel, helped launch USlaw.com, with help from Venture Consultants and from Dispute Resolutions.
USlaw.com employs the attorneys, paying them a salary less than the $90 to $500 an hour fees charged by corporate law firms, Mr. Simon says. Future compensation may include stock options, he says.
The company hopes to make money through advertising on the site and by selling documents such as do-it-yourself car lease agreements, employment contracts, and sales contracts. The company is offering the documents free of charge until the end of January. Afterwards, it'll begin charging a fee.
According to Mr. Simon, a USlaw.com-sponsored survey showed people most desired direct communication with a lawyer when seeking legal advice. Those results apparently are translating into strong demand. Since launching the Web site a month ago, USlaw.com site traffic has far exceeded expectations, Mr. Simon says. Between 5,000 people and 10,000 people already have registered to use the company's services.