LegalMatch

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LegalMatch is a private U.S. corporation established in 1999 as a free, online legal matching service to help individuals and small businesses find prescreened local lawyers & attorneys build their legal practice. LegalMatch was started in a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, California, by a legal graduate of Boalt Hall, the (University of California, Berkeley School of Law). LegalMatch has satellite sales offices in Los Angeles, CA & Austin, TX. LegalMatch has approximately 80 employees and operates in all 50 United States. LegalMatch pioneered the Online Legal Matching Industry.

How LegalMatch works

People come to LegalMatch because they need help finding an attorney for their legal problems. LegalMatch addresses all areas of law, including family law, criminal law, real estate, bankruptcy, personal injury, immigration, and intellectual property. Annual membership fees for attorneys run from $2,400 to $100,000, depending on the type of law they practice and their location. Users looking for a lawyer pay and they're under no obligation to hire an attorney. People interested in finding a lawyer follow three steps:

1. Clients present their case: People begin by confidentially answering questions online at the LegalMatch website. The case intake questions are designed by attorneys to guide the user through the process, just as a lawyer would during an initial consultation.
2. The client's case is then matched with lawyers: Immediately after the case is presented, an instant e-mail notification is sent to all lawyers in the specific practice area and geographic location. Lawyers review the case information but are not shown the client's identity. Lawyers decide which cases interest them and send a response to the client.
3. Clients pick the right lawyer based on the responses: All lawyers who respond include a personal message to the client detailing their relevant legal experience, fee structure, and how they can help. The client can review each lawyer's profile for his or her specific legal experience, practice areas, ratings, fees, and educational and professional affiliations. Then the client contacts as many or as few lawyers as they feel will best help their case.

LegalMatch LegalCenter

The LegalMatch LegalCenter is a legal resource for consumers. It includes a law library, legal tips, legal forums, legal blogs, and a newsletter. All of these sections allow people to find out more information about their legal problems.

The focal point of the LegalCenter is the Law Library, which maintains over 3000 articles on a variety of legal topics. All articles are written specifically for the average person with a legal problem.

LegalMatch vs Casepost

For quite some time, LegalMatch has been in a fight with a competing company named CasePost. In 2004, Dmitri Shubov, the founder and then CEO of LegalMatch, plead guilty to illegally accessing the voicemail system of Casepost and was subsequently fined $5000 fine, sentenced to two years probation. LegalMatch and CasePost then settled their fight and issued a joint press release to that effect. As he was indicted, Shubov resigned as CEO in May of 2004. Donny Randal (Randy) Wells was appointed as the interim CEO of LegalMatch. In June of 2005 Wells was fired from LegalMatch and was replaced by Laurie Ziffrin. On August 1, 2005, Wells joined CasePost as their new CEO.

LegalMatch sued Casepost in January 2006 alleging they recruited LegalMatch's employees and stole trade secrets.

Randy Wells in turn has twice accepted disciplinary actions from the NASD in 2001 and 2002 where he lost his license, was prevented from having contact with other brokers and was fined a total of $30,000.

LegalMatch vs Pine Tree Legal

On February 28, 2006, a lawsuit was filed against LegalMatch on behalf of Pine Tree Legal Assistance. Pine Tree Legal Assistance is a non-profit organization based in Maine that provides legal assistance to the poor. LegalMatch was accused of serving up PPC ads triggered by the keywords "pine tree legal" and "pine tree legal assistance" and was also using those keywords in the headlines of their ads, allegedly confusing searchers who were in fact looking for Pine Tree Legal Assistance. The case was settled shortly after it was filed without any monies changing hands. The law suit was described in a mutual press release by the two parties as “more of a misunderstanding than a lawsuit.” In that mutual press release LegalMatch is quoted as saying, “we [LegalMatch] are working with the nation’s major search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and MSN, to make sure non-profits are not part of our multi-million dollar search engine marketing program. We have the greatest respect for non-profit agencies that service people’s legal needs.”

References

• Dimitri Shubov indicted for tampering with Casepost's voicemail May 17, 2004
• Joint press release with CasePost on the LegalMatch site October 27, 2004
• The same press release on the CasePost site November 2, 2004
• Press release about Laurie Ziffrin replacing Randy Wells as CEO of LegalMatch June 29, 2005
• Press release about Randy Wells joining CasePost Aug. 1, 2005
• LegalMatch vs CasePost Forbes. Strangely dated 02.13.06, accessed January 27, 2006
• LegalMatch vs CasePost San Francisco Business Times, January 23, 2006
• Randall Wells accepts disciplinary actions from NASD February 2002
• [1] Second disciplinary action against Donny Randall Wells, January 2001.
• Fees charged by LegalMatch to member attorneys November 23, 2005
• Mutual press release about settlement between LegalMatch and Pine Tree Legal from Pine Tree Legal website. Mar. 21, 2006
• California State Bar information about Bus. & Prof. Code §6155: "Lawyer Referral Service—Ownership, Operation; Formulation and Enforcement of Rules and Regulations; Fees Undated
• Article on the Online Legal Matching Industry - "The Future of Client Acquisition Is Upon Us" October 6, 2006
• Press release about LegalMatch opening Austin, TX office October 20, 2006

External links

• LegalMatch Home page
• "LegalEase" - article from The Oprah Magazine August, 2006
• "Help for Battered Women" - article from Oxygen Magazine September, 2006
• LegalMatch Press Releases