Legalise It: Interview with MyLawyer.co.uk

A new service has been launched which enables members of the public to generate their own legal documents and have them verified by trained lawyers without having to leave the comfort of their computer. New Media Knowledge met the founders to learn more.

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Anyone who has dealt with lawyers may not necessarily associate the words ‘technology’ with their sector, but a new service aims to revolutionise the way the legal profession operates. <a href="http://www.mylawyer.co.uk/">MyLawyer.co.uk</a> launched in January this year with the intention of enabling users to interactively create their own legal documents online and connect them with a relevant law firm which can liaise with the user, and review and amend documents to accurately reflect their requirements. Grahame Cohen is joint CEO of MyLawyer.co.uk and <a href="http://www.epoq.co.uk">Epoq</a>, the firm behind the site. NMK caught up with him to learn more about Web 2.0 and the legal system. What was the inspiration for MyLawyer.co.uk? As a legal technology business we wanted to combine our document assembly technology and our legal content in a model that would lower the cost of preparing complex legal documentation with the reassurance of respected law firms as an integral part. Essentially creating the UK’s largest virtual law firm, this became MyLawyer.co.uk. What was out there on the market already and how does MyLawyer.co.uk differ? There were two primary types of online offering. The first were matching services, where you provide your information and legal question and the site matches you with a local solicitor. The downfall of this is that you are simply back into a traditional handcrafted scenario with no technology, Web interface or cost savings.  The second are generally online Word files or PDFs for download. These are cheap and very risky as they are unlikely to suit the user’s legal circumstances and come with no legal assistance. In fact, if you read the terms and conditions of these sites they generally recommend you to seek legal advice! MyLawyer.co.uk differs by being a true Web application that allows us to offer lower fixed prices than a traditional law firm – the system will interview you and you can see the document take shape instantly on screen as if you were watching your solicitor draft it in front of you – then the law firms take over and advise further, making any amendments to fully reflect the users circumstances, this is all managed through a Web interface. <img src="/pictures/0000/0191/Grahame_Cohen2.jpg" border="0" alt="graham_cohen" title="graham_cohen" /> Explain a little about the process for the first time user. The entire site has been carefully crated to give users an intuitive and reassuring journey that keeps the user experience at the heart of the service. There is no need to register to use the service at the beginning so users can visit the site and begin completing their chosen legal document immediately. Users are interviewed by the intelligent technology, being asked the same questions as they would if they were in a solicitor’s office. As they answer each question, their document alters in real time, onscreen, reflecting the response. Consequently users are able to see the draft of their legal document prepared as they sit in front of their PC.  Once completed, users can choose to save their document by completing minimal registration details or they can choose to pay for the document – requiring fuller registration – at which point their case will also be allocated to one of the MyLawyer network of law firms. The system automatically finds the most appropriate law firm for the user - who can also override this choice and pick from the panel if they choose - and securely forwards the document to the lawyer. The lawyer will then review the document for absolute accuracy, will contact the user by email or telephone and make amendments to ensure the document exactly matches the user’s requirements. A final draft is securely transmitted back to the user through the website with full instructions on how to sign their document. What are the advantages of this system over traditional legal practices? MyLawyer offers users a host of positive benefits that compare with traditionally accessing legal services via visiting a solicitor: Control – the user can control the legal process in a way never before available. For the first time the public can choose when to commence the process to instate their legal document and how to interact with a lawyer. Time – MyLawyer delivers final documents in a much speedier time than lawyers.  From the time the user transfers their draft to the MyLawyer law firm, completion times generally take less than a week, this compares very favourably with High Street practice that often requires multiple visits to solicitors and several weeks wait before a document is complete. Also, the user does not have the hassle of wasting their ‘day time’ in visiting a solicitor to commence their document. There is no need to wait for an appointment, no need to travel to a solicitor’s office and no need to wait for documents to be mailed in the post. Cost – Savings of at least 30 per cent on traditional High Street fees Transparency – Web services are bringing fixed costs, service levels and new customer service charters that have never been witnessed in the provision of legal services. Knowledge – the service provides users with a comprehensive and free legal guide around all areas of law and with their document, a specific guide to the area of law the user is engaging in. Satisfaction guarantee – We believe MyLawyer is the only law firm-backed service that offers a money-back guarantee. How equipped is the legal sector for the Web 2.0 era? I remember the frustration when buying my flat where lawyers were posting letters to each other! This was 2005!   The legal sector is just now waking up to the Web let alone Web 2.0. I will qualify that by saying the firms we are working with on MyLawyer.co.uk are in the Legal 500 [the top 500 law firms in the UK], we have found them to be technically savvy and have significant resources. However the bulk of the profession made up of smaller firms need to catch up and its technology like ours that can help them.

2009-03-31T11:44:00+01:00

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Legalise It: Interview with MyLawyer.co.uk

2009-03-31T11:46:43+01:00

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