Historic Utah and Arizona Changes Have Legal Marketplaces, Tech Providers Eyeing Expansions
While legal tech and online legal marketplaces are considering service expansion, there's a likelihood their services may cater more to the commercial market than bridging the access-to-justice gap.
September 21, 2020 at 10:30 AM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Legal Tech News
If COVID-19 wasn't enough of a game-changer in the legal industry, Utah and Arizona's August announcements allowing nonlawyers to provide some legal services in their states has made 2020 even more eventful. Encouraged by the growing momentum to give nonlawyers a bigger say in legal services, legal tech companies and online legal marketplaces are seizing the moment.
Less than a month after Utah's announcement, Rocket Lawyer Inc. announced it was participating in the state's pilot program. To be sure, Rocket Lawyer likely won't be the last, as legal tech providers and online legal marketplaces say they are actively considering expanding their services in Utah and Arizona. But risks do remain when allowing non-law firms to provide some legal services, and most new services may only provide commercial legal services instead of the access to justice solutions state regulators say is needed.
For companies that were already providing legal services for consumers and small businesses, the Utah and Arizona decisions provided new opportunities to expand into markets that have been repeatedly documented as lacking access to lawyers. In a press statement, LegalZoom.com Inc. said it was considering expanding services in Utah and following developments of Arizona's new "legal paraprofessional" license.
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