[kristenlee]

As a Harvard Law School graduate I want to say that the OP is really underestimating the skill set of lawyers, the law is a very difficult field and the suggestion that it is a cartel is a little overblown. Every legal issue is different, no two divorces are the same, no two lawsuits are the same, no two patent disputes are the same. This is why you don't really see a Dreamweaver/Weebly type app for web application development, no two web applications are the same and each one has different needs and challenges that require the skills of a computer engineer to work out. Same way for the law. The underlying attitude in Silicon Valley that "every problem can be solved with a web app" just does not hold true in the real world, especially for hard problems such as America's legal system.

[DividesByZero]

I'm not suggesting something like an app to solve legal problem just by plugging in all the data. I just wonder if there isn't a better way to make the law more 'user friendly'.

Maybe the problem is the firm system - what about a way for people to engage 'freelance' lawyers, while simultaneously making 'freelance' law more attractive? What about arming people with more information about what they should look for in lawyers to make firms more competitive?

It's quixotic to look for a way to replace lawyers, but obvious market failures such as cases where one party was in the right but simply could not afford to fight must have some kind of solution.

[kristenlee]

One thing I always tell friends and family is that litigation is the worst way to resolve conflicts. I have filed numerous legal complaints while working for a Legal Aid organization and even the simplest cases with as little as $2k at stake require hours of drafting legal documents, arguing motions, conducting discovery, etc. The more complex cases such as those you referred to in your original post are even more complex.

My suggestion is that you approach this issue from an arbitration angle, which takes legal disputes outside of the legal system. In other words figure out how to get parties to agree to forced arbitration like in MLB when contracting with each other, the only problem with the arbitration approach is that it would only work in situations where the parties contracted with each other, but not in situations where you suing someone who has no contract relationship with you.

I believe that most "freelance" lawyers are grossly underpaid and overworked. Contrary to popular belief solo attorneys only bank between 30k-75k a year on average which is barely enough to survive. Only the top 10% of attorneys work in prestigious law firms with six figure salaries and big name clients. The majority of attorneys in America are either barely scraping by or unemployed.

[DividesByZero]

That's really interesting, especially about the lawyer underemployment problem - do you have a link to some data backing that up?

Is it possible to create some sort of legal instrument where a case is simplified by first creating a contract between the disputing parties? It sounds daft but if savings on both sides are significant due to the simplification it would be in their interests to agree - especially if terms were standard issue of some sort.

Thanks for the food for thought.

[kristenlee]

Empirical Study On Legal Salaries

http://www.elsblog.org/the_empirical_legal_studi/2008/07/how...

[true_religion]

C'mon... 75k is barely enough to survive? There's people who make well under your low-bar figure of 30k, and still have to live in the same cities that lawyers frequent.

Let's have some perspective, please.

[blakdawg]

"obvious market failures such as cases where one party was in the right"

.. chances are the other party doesn't share that perspective.