Looking for Online Legal Services
Range of legal services offered by the provider: Most of the online legal services profiled in this article – including our top choice, Rocket Lawyer – attempt to cover all the legal matters an individual, family, or business may need to deal with. Other services in this category are LegalShield, our pick for best budget online legal service, LegalZoom, which we choose for IP protections, and ZenBusiness, named best for small businesses. Their business services include business formation documents, business contracts, compliance management, and tax documents. For consumers, the services provide help with estate planning, wills and trusts, marriage and divorce, health and medical, and personal and real property.
By contrast, services such as Nolo and LegalNature are designed to help individuals and businesses research legal matters and prepare legal documents on their own. Upcounsel serves as an online platform, letting companies bid for legal services from established law firms and use the service to manage all of their legal documents. IncFile, our choice for business formation services, emphasizes the legal requirements of getting a new company up and running.
Quality and accuracy of the legal documents generated: An important feature of online legal services is attorney review of important documents and contracts to ensure they are accurate and meet all legal obligations. A risk of using a DIY legal service is having a contract or other business or tax form ruled invalid due to an error in its format or content. Vendors such as Rocket Lawyer, LegalShield, and LegalZoom work with networks of attorneys for consultations and document reviews. However, the DIY services offered by Nolo and LegalNature provide no vetting of your resulting documents by an attorney, which increases the risk of the document being invalidated.
Guidelines for ensuring the accuracy of legal documents include identifying the purpose and audience of the document, providing all required facts and details, following the correct style and format, and supplying sources for technical material. The documents must also be comprehensive but concise, and they should be reviewed by an area expert prior to being distributed. Use of templates reduces the chances of an error in content or formatting, while also ensuring all required elements are present.
Pricing and affordability of the services: Online legal services are sold in two ways: as part of a subscription or membership and individually. Most of the vendors in our round-up give customers a choice of signing up for a membership billed monthly or yearly, or purchasing their services on an à la carte basis. For example, LegalZoom, our choice for best IP protection, sells plans for business customers and consumers that include 30-minute consultations with attorneys on new legal matters, attorney review of a limited number of legal documents, and discounts on other legal services available via the company’s attorney network. Its legal services can also be purchased separately, such as wills and power of attorney for families, and contracts and other forms for businesses.
Legal service plans for businesses range from $25 a month to $100 a month, while those for consumers are priced slightly lower. Individual legal services range from free form and document templates to standalone offerings costing hundreds or thousands of dollars, such as trademark registrations, registered agent services, and patent applications.
Availability of attorneys to consult with directly: Services such as Rocket Lawyer, LegalShield, and LegalZoom work with networks of attorneys who provide consultation and document reviews, either as part of one of the vendor’s packages or as a standalone service. Others, including ZenBusiness, IncFIle, and LegalNature, don’t offer links to attorney services and rely instead on automated document checks based on their template libraries. Nolo separates its Find a Lawyer service from its library of forms, publications, and software. By contrast, Upcounsel relies entirely on its attorney network to refer its customers to established law firms, while it provides a document management platform for its clients.
While having access to an attorney via an online legal service gives greater assurance of a clear and accurate assessment of your legal needs, many businesses and individuals prefer to choose their attorney themselves rather than having one selected for them. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provides information on finding an attorney in your state, including the questions you should ask, and the availability of legal aid and pro bono services.
Availability of customer support services: Most of the online legal services in our roundup provide telephone support during extended business hours on weekdays, and some offer telephone support for limited hours on weekends. All the services feature FAQs and searchable knowledge bases to help you find answers on your own, as well as email and/or chat support. Rocket Lawyer and LegalNature allow 7-day free trials, and both firms also provide 30-day money-back guarantees; LegalZoom’s money-back guarantee applies to your 60th day of service.