Rocket Lawyer

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Rocket Lawyer, Inc.
Company typePrivate Company
IndustryLegal technology, Internet
FoundedAugust 2008; 15 years ago (2008-08)
Headquarters101 Second Street, San Francisco, California[1]
Key people
Charley Moore, Founder, Executive Chairman and CEO;[2][3]

Mark Edwards, CPO

Sumit Malhotra, CTO;[4][5]
ProductsAttorney Services, Legal Forms, Legal Planning and Local Attorney Listings
Number of employees
375
Websitewww.rocketlawyer.com, www.rocketlawyer.co.uk

Rocket Lawyer is an online legal technology company founded by Charley Moore in 2008,[6] based in San Francisco, California.[7] It provides individuals and small to medium-sized businesses with online legal services—including incorporation, estate plans, and legal document review.[8] The company also provides a network of attorneys that consumers and small businesses can consult with on legal issues through its On Call service.[9] In 2012, Rocket Lawyer UK was launched.

History[edit]

Beginnings[edit]

In 1996, Moore graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law[6] and began his career as an attorney at Venture Law Group where he participated in the early-stage representation of Yahoo! and Web TV.[10] In 1998, he founded OnStation Corporation to provide software to the automotive industry.[11] Then, in 2008, he founded Rocket Lawyer to provide an affordable way for companies to access legal advice.[6] Moore's idea for Rocket Lawyer was to create an easy to use platform where legal documents could be created and shared by everyone.[12] In 2009, he sold his company, OnStation Corp, and used the money from the sale to grow Rocket Lawyer.[7]

From the beginning, the company has targeted entrepreneurs; its initial sales model offered a basic plan and a pro plan,[6] both of which charged entrepreneurs for individual legal documents at a lower cost than standard attorney rates.[13][14] Under the basic plan, the company provided interactive legal templates and step-by-step instructions to help businesses.[6] The pro plan gave customers access to consultations, document review, and legal representation from local attorneys.[6][15]

After the late-2000s recession, Rocket Lawyer switched to a monthly subscription-based model to increase sales.[13] After making this change, Rocket Lawyer increased its annual revenue from $1 million in 2008 to $5 million in 2009, and increased its monthly visitors from 150,000 to 900,000 over the same period.[13]

Growth[edit]

In January 2009, Rocket Lawyer raised $2 million from LexisNexis[16] and appointed LexisNexis executive Ralph Calistri to its board.[17] In December 2009, Dan Nye, the former CEO of LinkedIn, joined Rocket Lawyer's board of directors.[7][10] After a few months as a board member, Nye was named president and CEO.[18][19] This allowed Moore to transition to Executive Chairman.[19] Nye focused on improving Rocket Lawyer's customer service and utilizing an analytical approach to new products, including allowing customers to create free legal documents.[19] This helped Rocket Lawyer boost new accounts from tens of thousands a month to over 100,000 a month.[19]

In 2010, Rocket Lawyer received $7 million in equity financing from Investor Growth Capital in order to expand operations.[12][20] In July 2011, the company raised $18.5 million in a Series D round of financing from August Capital, Google Ventures and Investor Growth Capital.[21][12][22] Five months later, in December 2011, Rocket Lawyer raised an additional $10.79 million from Industry Ventures, bringing its total funding to $43 million.[21][22] By 2011, Rocket Lawyer reached $20 million in annual revenue.[21][23]

In 2012 Rocket Lawyer launched in the UK, and then in 2016 they launched in continental Europe in partnership with the French legal publisher Éditions Lefebvre Sarrut, a direct competitor of Rocket Lawyer's lead seed investor LexisNexis.[24]

In January 2013, the company acquired LawPivot, a legal question-and-answer service.[15] From October 2015 to January 2016, Rocket Lawyer partnered with the American Bar Association (ABA) on a pilot project designed to help consumers find lawyers and attorneys find business.[25][11] Information from the project was used to help the ABA with potential future Law Connect programs.[11]

In September 2018, Rocket Lawyer started integrating blockchain technology into its legal transactions in order to provide “smart contracts” for its clients. The service was beta-tested in 2018, and offered commercially starting in 2019. Under the new service, called Rocket Wallet, contracts are secured and executed automatically with blockchain encryption technology.[26] Rocket Lawyer works with the blockchain company ConsenSys and OpenLaw to provide Rocket Wallet.[26][27]

In 2018, Rocket Lawyer UK received a waiver from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to allow practicing solicitors to advise Rocket Lawyer's clients.[28] In 2017, the SRA had approved a rule change to allow solicitors to practice from unregulated firms. The rule was not introduced until 2019, so, in the meantime, SRA offered waivers to qualifying companies.[28]

Rocket Lawyer created the COViD-19 Legal Center in April 2020, with free advice, information, and legal documents for business owners during the pandemic. It provided a worksheet to help owners determine what benefits and loans they were eligible for.[29] In September, they became the first national company to be approved by the Utah Supreme Court to participate in the state's "regulatory sandbox", a seven-year pilot program for non-lawyer ownership of legal services.[30]

Services[edit]

Online services[edit]

Rocket Lawyer provides online legal services for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses ranging from prenuptial agreements to incorporating businesses.[31] The online legal services are available to Rocket Lawyer account holders, and give access to online legal forms, help articles, and also extend to discounts with local attorneys.[32] Rocket Lawyer's online database of legal forms was the original premise of the company, and has since expanded to include various other services.[7]

Attorney services[edit]

In addition to the do it yourself legal services, Rocket Lawyer offers consumers and businesses access to a network of lawyers who can review customers' legal documents, answer questions, and provide other legal services.[7][12][22] For example, if a user needs assistance in creating or editing a legal document, he or she can be connected directly to a local attorney who can provide guidance.[33][34]

Legal Health Score[edit]

In 2008, Rocket Lawyer introduced Legal Health Score, which helps individuals and businesses understand their level of legal wellness.[35] The score, which is a number between 1 and 100, is based on considerations like whether a business has incorporated or whether legal contracts are in writing.[18] Rocket Lawyer then provides both a step-by-step walk through of all the basics needed to improve a user's legal heath and a detailed action plan that companies can follow to remedy any legal vulnerabilities.[36][37][32] Rocket Lawyer offers the Legal Health Score service to all types of accounts.[36]

Competitors[edit]

As of 2017, LegalZoom is Rocket Lawyer's primary Internet-based competitor in the U.S. market for legal form documents.[38] A personal finance article in USA Today stated the common perception that both LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer allow consumers to save money on legal fees but also require some self-education and legal legwork; in other words, both allow consumers to "save a few bucks by doing some of the work yourself."[39][promotion?]

Rocket Lawyer's competitors also include Nolo (formerly Nolo Press),[40] the pioneering publisher of do-it-yourself legal guides[41] and the creator of Quicken WillMaker software.[42]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Company Overview / Snapshot of Rocket Lawyer Incorporated". Bloomberg Stock Research. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  2. ^ "Company Overview / People for Rocket Lawyer Incorporated". Bloomberg Stock Research. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  3. ^ "Rocket Lawyer Executive Team". rocketlawyer.com. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  4. ^ "Rocket Lawyer Hires CTO From PwC, As Mobile Phone Strategy Grows".
  5. ^ "Rocket Lawyer Executive Team". rocketlawyer.com.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Legal Counsel Even a Small Business Can Afford". Inc.com. 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  7. ^ a b c d e Hoge, Patrick. A lawyer in your laptop. San Francisco Business Times. June 20, 2010.
  8. ^ Bernard, Tara Siegel. Writing a Will, With a Lawyer Looking Over Your Shoulder. The New York Times. September 15, 2010.
  9. ^ Andriotis, Annamaria. Consumers: Avoid Robosigning and Save. SmartMoney. October 26, 2010.
  10. ^ a b Rocket Lawyer. About: Board of Directors. Rocket Lawyer. 2012.
  11. ^ a b c "Rocket Lawyer's Charley Moore sees lawyer collaboration as the future". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  12. ^ a b c d Takahashi, Dean. Rocket Lawyer raises $18.5M for web-based do-it-yourself legal assistance. VentureBeat. August 11, 2011.
  13. ^ a b c Klein, Karen. To Beat the Recession, Reinvent Your Business. Bloomberg. October 23, 2009.
  14. ^ Spors, Kelly. Automatic IRAs For Small Employers?. The Wall Street Journal. August 27, 2007.
  15. ^ a b "Rocket Lawyer Acquired LawPivot, Adds Quick Legal Advice Service". The Next Web. 2013-01-14.
  16. ^ Loizos, Connie (January 7, 2009). "RocketLawyer Raises Cash from LexisNexis". PE HUB. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  17. ^ "Rocket Lawyer". www.rocketlawyer.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08.
  18. ^ a b Carr, David. Making Your Business Legal. Forbes. October 27, 2010.
  19. ^ a b c d Lewis, Katherine Reynolds. Making the Decision to Replace Yourself. The New York Times. December 22, 2010.
  20. ^ Resources for Entrepreneurs Staff. Small Businesses Avoid Getting Legal Help Because Of High Cost. Gaebler. October 19, 2010.
  21. ^ a b c Fisher, Daniel. Google Jumps Into Online-Law Business With Rocket Lawyer. Forbes. August 11, 2011.
  22. ^ a b c Van Grove, Jennifer. Do-it-yourself legal site Rocket Lawyer raises $10.8M. VentureBeat. January 4, 2012.
  23. ^ Rubin, Courtney. Big Money for Cheap Legal Services. Inc. Magazine. January 5, 2012.
  24. ^ http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/rocket-lawyer-and-els-bringing-affordable-legal-service-to-europe-2156065.htm [dead link]
  25. ^ "LSC's James Sandman: We Need Technology & Paraprofessionals". Bloomberg Law.
  26. ^ a b "Online lawyers to offer 'smart contracts' next year". Global Legal Post. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  27. ^ "Rocket Lawyer Joins The Blockchain Revolution To Improve Access To Legal Services". Above the Law. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  28. ^ a b "Exclusive: Rocket Lawyer receives waiver to employ solicitors". Legal Futures. 2018-05-13. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  29. ^ "Small business owners worry they won't survive coronavirus without federal loans, but experts say they have options". CNBC. 2020-04-21. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  30. ^ "Rocket Lawyer Seeks Non-Lawyer Firm Ownership Test in Arizona". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  31. ^ Rocket Lawyer. Your Legal 'I Do' List: Rocket Lawyer Provides Legal Tips for Getting Married. Marketwire. November 23, 2010.
  32. ^ a b Bradley, Tony. Professional Legal Assistance for a Small Business Budget. PCWorld. October 19, 2010.
  33. ^ Bentley, Lora. Rocket Lawyer Uses Cloud to Offer SMBs Affordable Legal Help. IT Business Edge. October 28, 2010.
  34. ^ Wilson, Jeffrey L. Rocket Lawyer On Call Delivers Affordable Attorney Access. PC Mag. July 12, 2011.
  35. ^ Titlow, John Paul. Get Affordable Legal Guidance For Your Business with Rocket Lawyer. ReadWrite Biz. October 20, 2010.
  36. ^ a b Widman, Jake. Cloud Legal Service Adds Diagnostic Tool. InformationWeek SMB. October 20, 2010.
  37. ^ Greenstein, Howard. Start-up End-of-Year Legal To-Dos. Inc.. December 17, 2010.
  38. ^ Lewis, Todd (April 6, 2017). "Wonder.Legal To Take On Rocket Lawyer And Legal Zoom". Nibletz. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  39. ^ Reeves, Jeff (April 26, 2016). "Plan ahead: 64% of Americans don't have a will". USA Today. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  40. ^ Morrissey, Janet (April 21, 2017). "Wills Can Avert Family Warfare, but Have Their Own Hidden Traps". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  41. ^ Goldberg, Stephanie; Poole, Gary (January 30, 2000). "Success At Nolo Press: A Berkeley upstart of the '70s becomes the guru of legal self-help". BusinessWeek. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  42. ^ Carrns, Ann (February 8, 2017). "Why You Should Get Around to Drawing Up a Will". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2017.

External links[edit]

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