LEGAL ZOOM - Why We love it!
Legal Zoom will:
1. File a Provisional Patent Application for $199.00;
2. File a Trademark for $159.00; and
3. Form an LLC for $359.
So why would we love them?
Because those who used Legal Zoom for any one of these items will eventually find their way to us or some other attorney to fix the mess they got into using LegalZoom. Peter and I figure we have earned well over $10,000 fixing problems resulting from the use of Legal Zoom; where we would only have made about 4-5,000 if the respective parties had come to us in the first place to have the associated paperwork properly prepared and filed! Also, you should know that there were several people for whom we could not fix the mistakes including a person who had lost is right to file for a patent based on a misunderstanding concerning what protections Legal Zoom's provisional patent filing really provided him.
Notice I didn't say that LegalZoom messed up: they don't! All LegalZoom does is file documents based on the information you give them. They do not offer ANY LEGAL ADVICE! In fact, the people that work on your filings are not attorneys and they cannot by law give legal advice. If you don't believe me, check out Legal Zoom's own Disclaimer at http://www.legalzoom.com/universal/disclaimer.html, which states:
"LegalZoom is not a law firm, and the employees of LegalZoom are not acting as your attorney. LegalZoom does not practice law and does not give legal advice. ... Instead, you are representing yourself in any legal matter you undertake through LegalZoom's legal document service. ... At no time do we review your answers for legal sufficiency, draw legal conclusions, provide legal advice or apply the law to the facts of your particular situation. This website is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney."
Incidentally, the last sentence is in fact theirs, and yes, they did emphasize it in BOLD. The interesting thing is they claim to save you over $1500 in filing a Provisional Patent Application over using an attorney YET in their disclaimer they admit they are no substitute for an attorney. Are Legal Zoom's representations misleading? In my opinion, you betcha!
I wonder why one would even use Legal Zoom. If you don't want to pay an attorney, why would you throw away money on a document preparation service that does no more than fill out a form and check for spelling errors? Afterall, you could just as easily go to your State's secretary of state's web site and file your own incorporation or LLC formation papers without much difficulty and avoid paying LEGALZOOM anything at all. The same goes for filing a Trademark or a Provisional Patent Application at www.uspto.gov.
The fact is MOST people that use Legal Zoom don't read the disclaimer and actually believe that Legal Zoom is looking out for them much in the same way an attorney would. Some may even believe the Robert Shapiro is their attorney.
In truth, the reason you use an attorney is not to merely fill out forms BUT to use our knowledge to prepare documents in a manner that is of maximum benefit to you. You hire an attorney because we know stuff that you do not: stuff learned through years of schooling and experience. We do not charge hundreds of dollars an hour because we want to stick it to our clients: we charge hundreds of dollars an hour because that is what other clients and other consumers of legal services have determined our advice and services to be worth.
In the long run, as several former clients of LegalZoom have found out, we may actually be less expensive than the alternative.
While Legal Zoom may be good for our pocket book, they may not be good for yours. While we may have reason to love them, you have a reason to hate them. So given the foregoing statements, why are so many people using Legal Zoom and why am I writing an article telling them why they shouldn't?
Let me just end this post saying that we welcome all former Legal Zoom customers and we are more than happy to help you fix any mistakes made as a result of using LegalZoom.
Good Day,
4 Comments:
Why would anyone want to use Legal Zoom’s services?
Legal Zoom is a legal document service and I knew that when I decided to use them to incorporate and trademark a business name and logo a little over a year ago. I could have approached my attorney to process the paper work, but I reserve her for the heavy hitting procedures. In fact, she recommended that I use Legal Zoom to free up her time for all the other legal mumbo jumbo I was going to face after launching the business. Although it’s true that Legal Zoom may not be for everyone, it has definite benefits for many. I believe that it is the responsibility of the individual to figure out what level of service can best be served by Legal Zoom. I’m no lawyer and have no plans of becoming one, but I know when I can do something on my own and when I need professional help.
My attorney charges me a pretty penny for her work and is there for me when I need her. She provides me with peace of mind and I have her to fall back on should something go wrong. In all fairness, Legal Zoom prepares legal documents, so I don’t have the same expectation of them as I do of my attorney. Whenever I’ve dealt with Legal Zoom, they have been upfront, never providing legal advice, and encouraged me to call my attorney or CPA, depending on my need. I respect that. In my humble opinion, Legal Zoom clearly opens up more opportunities for attorneys. Many attorneys benefit from ongoing needs that naturally arise either during or after individuals incorporate, trademark, copyright, etc.
So why would we “love” them?
Here’s one good reason. It’s inexpensive for those in the know. I’ve had three corporations and I am working on a forth. I’ve made money on two of those ventures and have lost money on one. The fact that I can easily move in and out of these ventures without much expense makes the Legal Zoom process a very desirable one. It’s entrepreneurship as its best.
I pay my attorney good money for good advice when the need arises. Incorporating, trade marking and copyrighting isn’t one of those instances were I need her. In all fairness, attorneys are good at what they do and I “love” them. But Legal Zoom is good at what they do and I equally “love” them. I don’t see the need to make comparison of the two. My expectations of Legal Zoom and of my attorney are measurably different but equally valid. If you need the paperwork done and can dot your own I-s and cross your own T-s, then a legal document service like Legal Zoom works. If you can’t, then either consult an attorney during the process or stick with an attorney all the way through.
Anonymous's comments are well thought out and well written. But I always wondor why people chose not to identfy themselves: he/she certainly didn't write anything to be embarassed about.
Here are my thoughts: If you can easily prepare the documents yourself, why use Legal Zoom to incorporate? or to file a Copyright? or a trademark?
The forms for each of the foregoing are provided online. In case of trademarks, the form filled out online and help is provided for each step. Why pay LegalZoom anything at all?
If Anonomous and his attorney think that filing a trademark is a mere matter of crossing a few T's and dotting a few I's, I can almost assure you that there are fatal defects in the trademark. How can I make such a statement: I see it on a regular basis.
My real problem with LegalZoom is that they advertise themselves as an cheaper substitute to attorneys but they provide none of the value attorneys provide.
And check with a few attorneys, you will find while LegalZoom is cheaper, it is not that much cheaper than using an attorney. Our office charges about $1250 to perform a trademark search and file the mark; whereas the same service WITHOUT any legal advice costs about $800. Is saving $450 worth it when the risk that your mark will never issue or if it does issue that it will be invalid is very high. You decide.
I'm not anonymous and you took down my post. what i was trying to say is that it doesn't surprise me that lawyers are downplaying lz. it's like cpa's dissin' turbotax, or your local travel agent dissin' orbitz. there's lots of law that one can do on his or her own. i'll come to you if i wreck my car.
Heather: your comment was never "taken down". It was not put up until after I had a chance to approve it. Blogs tend to get a lot of SPAM posts redirecting people to porn and the like. Look above, your post is there just as you wrote it.
If "there's lots of law that one can do on his or her own", I will ask again, WHY USE LEGAL ZOOM? You can go directly to your State's Secretary of State website to incorporate or form an LLC. You can go to the Library of Congress Website to file a Copyright. And you can go to the USPTO website to file a Trademark.
If you know what you are doing, why pay LegalZoom for forms you can get yourself? Help me understand.
Anyhow, if you come to me when you wreck your car, I won't be able to help you: I am an IP lawyer not a PI lawyer.
You seemed to indicate that you had filed several Trademarks in the past through LegalZoom. How about you tell me what they are and I will look them over and tell you where there are potentially invalidating errors. If there are no errors, I will admit that too. Are you willing to partake in this little experiment for the benefit of CP&L readers? could be fun.
Here is a curiosity, if you put your last name into Google, absolutely no references to that last name exists anywhere in Google's well cataloged internet universe.
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