HI Jonathan:

I hope you are well.

I wanted to make you aware of recent developments by the organized bar to regulate or prescribe “best practices’ for legal document providers and online document assembly companies.

I have made my views known here: https://www.richardgranat.com/single-post/2018/07/20/Online-Legal-Document-Providers---Bar-Plans-To-Regulate

Attached to this email is the most recent proposal for a resolution to be passed by the ABA House of Delegates at their mid-year meeting and a proposed regulation from Washington State which is now open for comment.

Yesterday I gave a briefing to the LSC Advisory Committee to the LHI team about these developments, and the plan is to have a follow-up meeting to frame a response at the tech conference in New Orleans in January which you should participate in (If you are attending you should participate and Jane will likely send you an invitation).

A number of ABA Sections are framing a response to the New York State approach and will object to it formally, including the Center for Professional Responsibility, the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services (if which I am a member), and the Law Practice Division of the Aba (I am also on the Council for this group). (See ABA Letter attached to New York State Bar).

These developments affect the future development of your organization/company. For example. The requirement that a document provider waive the “as is” warranty will in my opinion dry up venture capital investment in legal technology companys and insurance companies will refuse to provide Internet liability insurance to software provider’s unless there is an “as is” warranty in place. The “class action” access for consumers is troubling as I can see lawyers organizing class action suits against potential competitors such as www.hellodivorce.com . http://www.uslegalforms.,com, http://www.rocketlawyer.com and others.

The “resistance” by document assembly companies and form providers in the private sector is being organized by Tom Gordon from www.responsivelaw.org – the consumer’s voice in the legal system – so by this email I am introducing you to Tom Gordon. Tom meet Johnathan Pyle  the developer of https://docassemble.org/.

Also could you forward this email with its attachments to some of users as they will be affected by these developments.

Regards and thank you.

Richard

Richard S. Granat, Esq.
www.richardgranat.com

Advisor/Consultant on Online Legal Services

Direct:  561 - 622-9971
Cell: 561-214-1306
E-mail: rich@granat.com   | Blog |
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