Most of what now passes for unbundled legal services takes the form of providing forms for fees rather than any substantive legal advice. We see online forms processors, We The People-style storefronts advertising quickie divorces and wills, and LegalZoom bringing “simple” things to the public. In one sense that’s a great idea – after all, why should I pay a lawyer $300 to do a simple Power of Attorney so I can go on vacation and not have to worry about the mundane stuff of life? Hiring a lawyer would surely be overkill when I could log on, grab a file, fill it in, and be done with it.
On the other side of the coin, you’ve got well-intentioned and otherwise intelligent people reducing the expertise to a fill-in PDF document. Maybe their estate needs as so simple that they can do it on their own without a lawyer – but how do they know? That’s probably why Charles Kennedy said in a recent comment here that:
The Courts in response to the unbundling by some attorneys are pulling into Court the lawyer who sells the form and requires the attorney to represent the party in the legal action.
The Courts are not at all on the same page. They want everyone to have counsel as it makes the Court’s work much simpler.
The court’s work does become easier, but in hauling the lawyer into court the unrepresented party is (theoretically) assured of competent legal representation. Good for the public, good for the court. And a stern warning to the lawyer, too.
But here’s the thing: unbundled legal services are not bad for the public in and of themselves. Rather, it is the execution of the business model that fails the public in many respects.
Imagine, if you will, a humble law office. In said office is a lawyer, skilled in his trade (let’s say he’s an estate planning lawyer). The lawyer receives an inquiry from a prospective client, and sets up a consultation appointment. During the appointment the lawyer determines that the client needs a Power of Attorney for day-to-day things, a living will, a health care proxy, and a full-blown Last Will and Testament. The first three documents are simple, and so the lawyer directs the client to a CD with some PDF forms and instructions. The Last Will and Testament, however, is another story – it’s going to need a lawyer’s firm hand and direction.
The client walks out with a $25 CD and a retainer agreement for the Last Will and Testament to be handled by the lawyer. In other words, legal representation and guidance based on the needs of the client.
This is a proper business model for unbundled legal services, not the one of, “Set the public loose in a bookstore and let ‘em figure it all out for the low, low price of $29.95.” The problem is that many courts don’t understand that not all unbundled legal service offerings are the same, and the decision to unbundle may be made by a lawyer only after proper consultation and assessment of the client’s needs.
What do you think? Are unbundled legal services just bad all around, or is it simply the business model undertaken by some companies?
Photo courtesy of sylvar.
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