DesktopLawyer's global ambitions - sites are planned for Australia, Canada and South Africa - hinge at least in part on Epoch Software's expected initial public offering on the U.K. Techmark exchange later this year. Plans for an earlier IPO were scratched after the recent tech-stock slide.
The site is moving first into former British colonies, since the legal systems are based on English Common Law. The vast U.S. market with its litigious reputation is clearly the Cohens' big prize, though the complex state bar system and strict unauthorized-practice laws could hinder DesktopLawyer's ability to use its document assembly software.
Web-based legal services in the U.S. all entail contacting a lawyer, which makes them more costly. AmeriCounsel.com's flat-fee divorce services start at $389, four times the Cohens' price. Jonathan Slater, president of AmeriCounsel, says he admires DesktopLawyer's cost-saving innovations but says the software would violate U.S. law.
Slater adds that the Cohens will have trouble marketing their service: "They don't have brand recognition - something that's much harder and costlier to create in the U.S. than in the U.K." Central to AmeriCounsel's brand is Arthur Miller, eminent Harvard Law School professor and "the single most recognized, noncontroversial lawyer in America," says Slater.
Richard Granat, CEO and founder of MyLawyer, is the most pervasive U.S. player on the Net, with four legal sites. He also chairs the American Bar Association's Tech200 TaskForce, which is developing recommendations for "how lawyers can use IT to serve the ... broad middle class who have been priced out of the legal-services market."
After encountering DesktopLawyer six months ago, Granat says he quickly concluded the Cohens were the guys to beat - or join. The newly merged company will launch the U.S. version of DesktopLawyer around May 15, and plan to market its software package to U.S. firms.
After researching the legislative obstacles to launching the document-customization model in the U.S., Granat thinks there's a loophole in the law: "Our activity is fully protected by the First Amendment and constitutes a form of publication, even though the publication in this case is digital and interactive."
Peter Kennedy, an attorney in Austin, Texas, agrees. He successfully defended Nolo, a publisher of self-help legal books, against a suit filed by the state, and suspects Rapidocs could also be protected by the First Amendment. "When someone logs on to a fully automated site where there isn't an exchange between two people, there isn't the presumption of an attorney-client relationship. This doesn't constitute a practice of law in violation of unauthorized practice."
Legal ethics experts Russell Pearce and Mary Daly of Fordham University School of Law add that DesktopLawyer's service will appeal to state legislatures since it benefits consumers. But Pearce accuses the ABA, which opposes the use of software like Rapidocs, of functioning as a cartel intent on preserving the livelihoods of lawyers at the expense of consumers.
"The real travesty is the denial of equal access to legal services for low- and moderate-income people by the organized bar," Pearce says.
The Cohens certainly have a knack for creating controversy. With America's thirst for legal theatrics, the launch of their site in the U.S. will likely ignite a new round of headlines and free publicity.
Casey O'Brien Blondes writes about the Internet Economy in Europe.
