The Slow Road to an Attorney
It’s been some time since I checked in with my experiment to obtain a Will, whether from LegalZoom or from a local estate planning attorney. When I last left off, I had dragged my wife into this experiment and asked her to find an attorney for us. After five weeks, we have the name of one attorney in Northfield, where my wife works. What’s the problem? None, really. I actually imagine this rather long process is typical when most people — especially non-attorneys — think about finding an attorney when they don’t believe they really need one. Here’s my wife’s process so far:
- Asked me for the name of an attorney;
- Sent an e-mail around to colleagues at her work for the name of an attorney;
- Do nothing else and give up.
As you can tell, she’s not exactly excited about the prospect of finding and hiring an attorney. I asked her about the option to pay for a Will online, without the need to find an attorney, and she enthusiastically agreed it was a better deal and Given I could get a Will for less than $100 or pay five times that amount, LegalZoom makes a compelling case for its services.easier to complete. She stated flatly that she’d rather do that instead of look for an attorney. It’s a hassle to find an attorney, she said, adding that there are also issues of trust in hiring someone you do not know and that convenient and “anonymous” nature of the online process made it more appealing. She’s also not convinced we need a Will and also thinks that, given the options of either 1) purchasing one online or 2) taking the time to make an appointment, meet with an attorney, and follow through with possible additional appointments with the attorney, she’d take the online option any day. Who wants the hassle of taking time off from work or making multiple appointments?
I also have to admit that I’m a bit nervous about cost. Our online Will, though certainly far from perfect, was $79.00. In making informal inquiries myself, I’ve heard of costs from around $500 to “thousands” for an estate plan, and these costs are greater because most attorneys do more than just “draft a Will.” But it’s the unspecified cost and the potential unknown “upsell” that may scare a lot of people away from considering an attorney. Given I could get a Will for less than $100 or potentially pay five times that amount for a broader (and, admittedly, more refined product), LegalZoom makes a compelling case for its services. Combined with the inability to get a fairly quick and solid answer online from nearly any attorney about cost, LegalZoom’s specific and quickly available fixed cost is also compelling. I know within five minutes a simple Will costs $79.00 and any other “upsold” products cost $35 to $100 or more. Getting the answer of “depends” from an attorney about cost is not terribly responsive to those consumers concerned with, well, cost.
What’s the lesson so far? To me, the LegalZooms of the world are the innovators, filling a specific and growing market niche, or as LegalZoom’s counsel indicated in a letter to me: “LegalZoom provides this service within the financial reach of many individuals who could otherwise not afford to hire an attorney, or who would prefer to spend limited income elsewhere.” Attorneys watching LegalZoom and others can certainly lament the fact that they may be losing some business to non-lawyer online services, but I’m not so sure that business was coming your way in the first place. But maybe it should. Ultimately, what can an attorney do to compete with LegalZoom or LawDepot, or attract more clients that otherwise do not consider hiring an attorney?
The questions are about cost and efficiency, from both the consumer and attorney’s perspective. A consumer wants the cost upfront, or at least a package of costs from which to choose. A transactional process such as estate planning also needs to be easily identified and understood, as in “I pay this, you do that, and it will take this long.” For an attorney, technology is critical to bring down the cost and time to handle a matter, whether that technology involves document assembly, online appointments, or the delivery of services electronically. It will also involve innovation in the delivery of services on an a la carte basis, allowing the consumer to choose from a wide range of services, with the obvious option for the attorney to offer premium services beyond the basics of drafting a Will. In other words, despite the gnashing of teeth about LegalZoom, we actually need to be more like LegalZoom to attract clients.
All that said, we’re still looking for an attorney. It’s a slow road, but I hope to have another update soon.
Rania Combs
By using virtual law office software, attorneys have already started harnessing technology to make legal services more accessible and affordable.
I am a Texas attorney with a completely Web-based law firm that helps people prepare their wills, trusts and estate plans online. The online nature of my firm allows clients to communicate with me at any time of the day it is convenient for them through their own secure homepage. Because I don’t have costly office space to maintain, I am able to provide high quality legal services at reasonable rates, which are always agreed to in advance.
But in stark contrast to LegalZoom, I can evaluate my client’s unique circumstances, advise them on the best way to protect their families, and preserve and distribute their assets, and tailor their estate planning documents to reflect their estate planning goals. According to it’s own disclaimer, LegalZoom cannot do that.
People who use LegalZoom usually end up with a false sense of security because they believe their estate planning documents will do what they are supposed to do. Unfortunately, any mistakes, such as the ones mentioned in the comments to your previous post, won’t become evident until after they become incapacitated or die. And the people left to deal with those mistakes are usually the people the documents were supposed to protect.
For example, as an attorney, you noticed that one of your children was left out of the testamentary trust. But I would venture to guess that many people without your educational background would not have. A LegalZoom will may be cheap, but it’s not worth the paper it’s written on unless it will do what it is supposed to do.
For more information about the risks of using LegalZoom, see The Problem With LegalZoom (And Other Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning Solutions).
Jody Cohen Press
Let me start off by disclosing that I am an estate planning attorney.
I reviewed Greg’s LegalZoom will and spent almost two hours itemizing all of the problems with it. I firmly believe that if Greg & his wife execute those wills, their children/heirs and fiduciaries will spend far time & money in probate court to fix them than if they hire an estate planning attorney to do it right while they’re alive.
Health care directive & powers of attorney are more than just up-charges—they’re integral parts of a complete estate plan. Estate planning is more than just planning for your death; it’s also planning for your incapacity while you’re alive.
People should spend at least as much time planning their estates—planning for their children, as they do planning their vacations.
For those who believe DIY is better than hiring a professional, here’s a quote I saw on the side of a plumbing truck: “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, hire an amateur.”
Paul Landskroener
I’m not quite sure what you’re doing here, but if you’re saying you can’t find a lawyer willing to write your will or quote a fee in advance, I’d be happy to do both. I agree with you that services like LegalZoom presents a formidable challenge to the old paradigm, which is too bad because there are many, many people of modest means who need wills — simple, basic wills — who are paralyzed because they don’t know a lawyer, don’t know how to find a trustworthy one, are scared by the uncertain cost, and can’t afford to take time off work and drive to the lawyer’s office. I’m doing my bit to serve those folks.
Gregory Luce
Thanks for the comment. It’s not so much that I cannot find an attorney — I know skads of them– but more that my wife, who is not an attorney, is having a hard time finding one. She reports that it’s a hassle and perhaps not worth the time and investment, which made LegalZoom look attractive to her. My overall judgment on the relative quality of the services I get, whether from LegalZoom or an attorney we find, is still very much up in the air. But it’s good to hear that attorneys like you are out there and understand the issues.