Unbundling and the Rural Client

Many rural communities continue to face a legal services crisis.  Some communities simply don’t have enough lawyers.  Alternatively, there are enough lawyers, but their fees exceed the amount that clients can or wish to pay.  But now, according to this story, one innovative firm, The Law Shop located in Van Meter Iowa has a solution: unbundled…

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Ethics Ruling Drives Clients Into the Arms of Legal Zoom

Via Michael Frish of the Legal Profession Blog comes another stupid ethics decision destined to put the kibosh on unbundled legal services and drive clients straight into the arms of Legal Zoom. Briefly, the sad facts. The lawyer who is the subject of the ethics decision is a solo practitioner serving the Polish community in…

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Layaway Plan for Legal Services

Everyone is familiar with layaway plans. Most common in the context of retail (think Toys R Us  or Walmart, to name just a few), layaway plans give customers the option of depositing a fraction of the cost of the item they want to buy, and paying the balance over time. Meanwhile, the seller sets the…

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Make Money Mondays: Mini Legal Service Packages, Take Two

Most lawyers are familiar with, and skeptical about offering mini legal services packages – which is really just a fancy name for unbundling . In other words, in contrast to a full service experience, from advice about a particular corporate entity or estate plan to drafting the plan, filing it with the Secretary or Probate Office…

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Future Fridays: Solo, What’s Your Future of Law?

These days, the legal profession is obsessed with the future of law. Burning questions — like”Will robots will replace lawyers?” or ”Can big data can predict case outcomes?”  or ”Are we ever going to even come close to ensuring access to justice?” — occupy thought leaders and academics and legal technology companies, and dominate conversation…

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