12/1/2010
A new online service promises to make the process of searching for attorneys and legal advice expeditious. However, it also has the potential to disrupt the entire profession’s basic practices.
Change has always been resisted by the legal industry. In San Francisco, however, a startup is developing an online quora for legal questions, which potentially could upset the most basic business practices of the legal industry.
Named LawPivot by its developers, it allows businesses to submit confidential questions to attorneys that are perceived as experts in various areas. Presently, the online service does not charge the users any particular amount. However, the CEO of the online service, Jay Mandal, says that plans for charging a flat fee for the use of their service may begin as early as next year.
Interestingly, attorneys who respond to the queries posed by businesses or individuals do so for free. What is more amazing is the fact that these attorneys are not just any lawyers who are enjoying their retirement by answering questions. All of them are either currently working, or have previously worked at some of America’s top 100 law firms. Mandal himself is the former lead attorney handling mergers and acquisitions at Apple.
The new system being introduced by LawPivot makes clear sense for businesses. In-house attorneys are almost non-existent in many smaller companies. Although some of these smaller companies do have in-house attorneys, they do not usually have the necessary expertise in areas that most often affect the operations of the companies they work with.
While LawPivot is keeping its focus on the technology industry for now and allowing various businesses to join the service through invitation, the place is to ultimately expand to areas like health care, finance, as well as insurance.
