Skip to main content

Suit Claims LegalZoom's Document Prep Is Unauthorized Practice - News - ABA Journal

Several plaintiffs in Missouri are seeking class-action status in an effort to sue Legal Zoom. They claim that the services they received were legal in nature and should have been performed by an attorney licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction. Since they were not, they want a return of their fees and costs (and the triple damages allowed by the consumer protection law of the State). The lawsuit cites a North Carolina matter that held LegalZoom had engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.

It is not clear what the full motivation is behind this lawsuit. Many attorneys resent online services that offer document preparation for very low prices. The lawsuit may be a way for attorneys to get back at Legal Zoom for "stealing" their business.

However, it is rarely a good idea to attack a low-cost provider in an effort to boost your own business. Local stores are generally advised not to try to beat WalMart on prices - they cannot win that fight. Instead, small businesses can beat low prices with exceptional service and high quality goods.

That is what a licensed attorney can do for you, that an online service cannot. You can get a document prepared for a small fee online, but is it really the document you need? Is there something else you may need that you don't even know about? Only a licensed attorney can give you legal advice on your particular situation. Document preparation is easy, giving good legal advice is not.


Here is the ABA Journal article about the suit with links to the complaint itself.


Suit Claims LegalZoom's Document Prep Is Unauthorized Practice - News - ABA Journal



[We are not commenting on the merits of the lawsuit, nor criticizing Legal Zoom.]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WILL YOU REALLY NEED LONG TERM CARE?

By Edward H. Adamsky             “The potentially catastrophic consequences of becoming disabled and needing long-term care is arguably the gravest financial risk that older adults face” says an Urban Institute report. But, will it happen to you? And, if so, have you saved enough money to pay for it? These are the worries we all face as we age. This is a worry even for younger folks because an accident or illness could trigger the need for care at any time.             The Urban Institute report shows that even though there are 6 million older Americans who need assistance with their activities of daily living, only about 500,000 folks are actually in nursing homes. Some use paid at-home care and many rely on unpaid family care. It seems that your chances of needing and paying for expenses care are relatively low. The stated average cost in the report is $138,000 for the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Clifton B. Kruse, Jr., Leading Elder Law Attorney, Dies at 74

Clifton B. Kruse , Jr., a revered elder law attorney who was admired as much for his kindness and generosity to fellow practitioners as for his grasp of the law, died December 30, 2008, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was 74. The cause was complications from Alzheimer's disease. For many in the field, Kruse set the standard for all that an elder law attorney can and should be. One of elder law's founding fathers, he combined a gentlemanly charm, warmth and caring with one of the sharpest and most ethical of legal minds. Wrote Arizona elder law attorney Robert Fleming in a tribute , "In my third of a century of elder law practice I have never met another lawyer who managed to pull together sophistication, heartfelt empathy, intellectual rigor and courtly manner in the same fashion Clifton Kruse projected. He did it, to all appearances, effortlessly. He was a friend and mentor to many in the elder law community (I count myself among those legions)." Kruse was the e...
1 comment
Read more

Only one EIN per day!

The IRS has announced that representatives (lawyers, and others like me) can only obtain one tax ID number per day from now on.  They are known as Employer Identification Numbers or EINs and they are used for trusts, estates, businesses, and other entities that need a number for tax purposes but are not a person with a Social Security Number.  The announcement did not say that individuals cannot get more than one per day, just representatives. In most cases, this won't be a problem for me.  I usually only get one at a time when an estate or trust is created and needs one. But, there have been occasions when we created two trusts or two LLCs in one day and wanted two numbers.  Now it will take another day to get them (unless I ask the client to do it for him or herself.) The stated reason was to make the system work fairer and more smoothly.  I guess a few people were gumming up the system with lots of EIN requests. I don't know who those people wer...
Post a Comment
Read more