LegalMatch

LegalMatch is a private U.S. corporation established in 1999 as a free, online legal matching service to help people find prescreened local lawyers & to help attorneys get leads matching their legal specialty. LegalMatch has satellite sales offices in Los Angeles, CA & Austin, TX. LegalMatch has approximately 80 employees and operates in all 50 United States. LegalMatch pioneered the Online Legal Matching Industry.

How LegalMatch works

People come to LegalMatch because they need help finding an attorney for their legal problems. LegalMatch addresses all areas of law, including family law, criminal law, real estate, bankruptcy, personal injury, immigration, and intellectual property. Annual membership fees for attorneys run from $2,400 to $100,000, depending on the type of law they practice and their location. LegalMatch's lawyer search is free to users, paid for by the lawyer membership fees. Users looking for a lawyer are under no obligation to hire an attorney. People interested in finding a lawyer follow three steps:
# Clients present their case: People begin by confidentially answering questions online at the LegalMatch website. The case intake questions are designed by attorneys to guide the user through the process, just as a lawyer would during an initial consultation.
# The client's case is then matched with lawyers: Immediately after the case is presented, an instant e-mail notification is sent to all lawyers in the specific legal practice specialty area and geographic location. Lawyers review the case information but are not shown the client's identity. Lawyers decide which cases interest them and send a response to the client.
# Clients pick the right lawyer based on the responses: All lawyers who respond include a personal message to the client detailing their relevant legal experience, fee structure, and how they can help. The client can review each lawyer's profile for his or her specific legal experience, practice areas, ratings, fees, and educational and professional affiliations. Then the client contacts as many or as few lawyers as they feel will best help their case.

LegalMatch LegalCenter

The LegalMatch LegalCenter is a legal resource for consumers. It includes a law library, legal tips, legal forums, legal blogs, and a newsletter. All of these sections allow people to find out more information about their legal problems.

The focal point of the LegalCenter is the Law Library, which maintains over 3000 articles on a variety of legal topics. All articles are written specifically for the average person with a legal problem. Many of the articles have been translated into Spanish [http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/long-es/?] , but are not listed in the regular navigation.

LegalMatch vs Casepost

In 2004, Dmitry Shubov, the founder and then CEO of LegalMatch, plead guilty to illegally accessing the voicemail system of a competitor, Casepost, and was subsequently fined $5000, sentenced to two years probation and disbarred. LegalMatch and CasePost then settled their fight and issued a joint press release to that effect. As he was indicted, Shubov resigned as CEO in May of 2004. Donny Randal (Randy) Wells was appointed as the interim CEO of LegalMatch. [cite news|url=http://newsroom.eworldwire.com/wr/080105/12381.htm|title=Press release|date=2005-08-01|publisher=Legalmatch.com|accessdate=2008-08-31] In June of 2005 Wells was fired from LegalMatch and was replaced by Laurie Ziffrin. [cite news|url=http://www.legalmatch.com/content/pressReleases/06-29-05.html|title=Press release|last=LegalMatch.com|date=2006-29-05|accessdate=2008-08-31] Wells alleged that Shubov, still the majority shareholder, was running company behind the scenes and LegalMatch was “trying to convince the public that a convicted felon doesn’t run the company,” [cite news | last = Lubove | first = Seth | title = GrudgeMatch.com | publisher = Forbes.com | date = 2006-02-13 | url = http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/0213/064a.html?_requestid=746 | accessdate = 2007-04-10] On August 1, 2005, Wells joined CasePost as their new CEO. [cite news|url=http://eworldwire.com/pressreleases/12381|title=Press release|date=2005-08-01|publisher=CasePoint|accessdate=2008-08-31]

LegalMatch sued Casepost in January 2006 alleging they recruited LegalMatch's employees and stole trade secrets.

Footnotes

References

*cite news
title = Industry Wrap-ups: Law
publisher = San Francisco Business Times
date = 2006-01-23
url = http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/business_services/legal_services/2006/01/23/sanfrancisco_newscolumn7.html
accessdate =
*cite news
title = AbdulJaami, PLLC Reports Progress in LegalMatch.com Litigation
date = 2006-02-02
url = http://emailwire.com/release/AbdulJaami-PLLC-Reports-Progress-in-LegalMatchcom-Litigation.html
accessdate = 2007-04-10
* [http://searchsmb.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid44_gci1147522,00.html Fees charged by LegalMatch to member attorneys] November 23, 2005
* [http://www.law.com/jsp/law/sfb/lawArticleSFB.jsp?id=1160125526801&rss=SFB Article on the Online Legal Matching Industry - "The Future of Client Acquisition Is Upon Us"] October 6, 2006
*cite news
last = Smith
first = Pam
title = No Love Lost Between Internet's Legal Business Matchmakers
work = The Recorder
publisher =
date = 2006-04-27
url = http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1146051863877
accessdate = 2007-04-10
*cite news
title = Q&A: LegalMatch Executives
publisher = Red Herring
date = 2006-07-26
url = http://www.redherring.com/Home/pages/print/posts/?bid=42e04b1c-dead-47c4-8aba-e63c44a7a476&mode=Full
accessdate = 2007-04-10
*cite news
last = Dahl
first = Dick
title = Services try to connect lawyers and client
publisher = Journal Record
date = 2006-11-20
url = http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-26814884_ITM
accessdate = 2007-04-10
* [http://www.legalmatch.com/content/pressReleases/06-29-05.html Press release about Laurie Ziffrin replacing Randy Wells as CEO of LegalMatch] June 29, 2005

External links

* [http://www.legalmatch.com LegalMatch Home page]