Practical AI, Law & Practice: The Times They Are A-Changin'

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is rapidly fadin'.

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'.

Bob Dylan

What do you get when you cross LegalZoom with Walmart? Meet Axess Law, a low-cost, high-volume Toronto, Canada law firm with three of its four offices located in Walmart stores and open for business seven days a week until 8 PM.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has recently approved LegalZoom's business practices, after a challenge for unauthorized practice of law. With a legal system that prices services out of the reach of middle and low income individuals and tens of thousands of unemployed lawyers, the result is an attractive business opportunity. Welcome Big Box Law.

California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu summed up the problem in a speech last month:

"If you were to fill AT&T Park up with indigent people who qualify for legal aid, there would be just five people in the park who are legal aid lawyers to serve the entire ballpark," he stated. "Even for people at the median income, most people cannot afford a lawyer."

There is just one legal aid lawyer for every 8,000 indigent people in California.

Another avenue being explored is the Modest Means Incubator Project.
The first incubator, according to the Cal Bar Journal, was established at City University of New York in 2007. There are now an estimated two dozen incubators nationwide, including three in California.

"The Modest Means/Incubator Project is part of a national movement intended to explore the practical training of new lawyers and couple it with partial solutions for the struggles of the underserved middle class in discrete legal matters such as labor code violations, family law conflicts, consumer debt complaints and more. The Commission’s promotion of this project includes regional meetings and subsequent grants to applicants that best propose projects which incorporate the best practices of existing and proposed incubator collaboratives."