Formed in 2012 Be Your Own Lawyer is a group of retired, or semi-retired lawyers, who, while done with the frantic pace of practicing law every day, were not quite ready for the rocker either.
Upon stepping back from the day to day frenzy of hearings, depositions, and billable hours, they agreed that things could be better.
They also realized that the legal system had developed into a huge, hyper-expensive behemoth that had effectively barred the individual, or small business from participating. For many people faced with the prospect of venturing into the legal system, the out of reach costs often left them with no alternative but to represent themselves.
Finally, our intrepid little group realized that for the litigant having to represent themselves there was virtually no place to go for help.
The solution and end result was clear. By harnessing rapidly developing technologies that made online legal research, teleconferencing and electronic court filing relatively straightforward, Be Your Own Lawyer developed the capability to help people representing themselves in a meaningful way. Better yet, with no physical offices and infrastructure to pay for, the services could be delivered at a very reasonable cost.
Armed with the necessary technological tools, and a willingness to help pro se litigants, be Your Own Lawyer launched in 2012.
We like to think that our structure makes us more efficient. We’ve abandoned the central physical office concept in favor of a more streamlined approach making the best use of available technology. Obviously this allows us to keep costs and in turn what we have to charge for our services, as low as possible.
We want you to know not only who we are, but why there even is such a thing as Be Your Own Lawyer.
Why people represent themselves is no mystery. Sure, there are always those people that want to do everything themselves, even though they could easily hire a lawyer. Those folks are the exception. Most people represent themselves because they just can’t afford to hire a lawyer. And that includes more people than you would think. A recent survey showed that attorneys fees for the average civil case, litigated from start to finish are around $49,000. That’s a lot more money than most people have sitting around in the change jar….
But when people try to represent themselves they run into one obstacle after another. The legal profession jealously protects its monopoly. They threaten with prosecution for the unauthorized practice of law. So when you go to the clerk of court to get some help, the response is always “we’re not allowed to give legal advice”.
There are plenty of research materials out there, in fact too many. Researching a single legal issue can seem like an insurmountable task. Yes, there are companies providing legal research services, those services are offered only to lawyers. The list goes on and on but the bottom line is that there has not been much help available to people that represent themselves.
Be Your Own Lawyer was formed specifically to fill that void. Not only do we have law degrees, some of us have been doing this for over forty years. We know how to research. We know how to prepare court papers. We know how to do discovery and how to deal with motions. And most important, we are willing to share all of that knowledge and experience with you!