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Re: legalmatch.com--is it worth it?
Posted by Jeff Minde on 10/20/07
On 5/11/07, Rob wrote:
>>> LegalMatch is the worst investment I have ever made. <<<
I too have had a very disappointing experience with LegalMatch. Their marketing
and support service seems to be competent, and I've followed all their suggestions
for writing good introductory templates. I've also been creative with the
templates. Nothing seems to work in attracting more clients.
In 11 months, only one client has retained me, paying me only a modest retainer.
At $1000 a month for services, LegalMatch has been a huge loss to my small firm, a
real waste of resources.
The problem is not the LegalMatch concept itself, but rather the types of clients
and cases it attracts. There are plenty of cases listed---at times five or six a
day---but for the most part, I find that all the clients have very unrealistic
expectations regarding the cost or the function of legal services. Often they do
not grasp why something cannot be resolved with just a single phone call or
a "lawyer's letter," and they refuse to invest time, money and effort in their own
case, even where it might concern child custody, for example.
I've reduced my hourly for LegalMatch clients and offered extensive free
consultations, but this has not attracted clients.
Many has been the time a request for a nominal $1000 Retainer for a matter
requiring Court appearances has been dismissed with a snort; supposed would-be
Clients solicit advice so that they can represent themselves; "I have no money"
and "I need pro bono" are frequent remarks I hear or read; and 80-90% of the
Client-written case descriptions are barely comprehensible.
"Cherry picking" cases on LegalMatch is not a strategy, it is a necessity. Very,
very few of the listings represent truly viable cases. In almost a year I've
contacted about 100 people, and spoken to about 60 (the rest never responded).
LegalMatch seems to be a gathering place for a woefully uneducated and very low-
income clientele. Most are seeking free legal services or legal aid. Very few seem
to understand the nature of their legal problems. I pride myself in being able to
explain complex issues in basic terms, but LegalMatch clients are among the most
difficult I've worked with.
Since these clients have failed to do anything about their cases over long periods
of time, their legal position is always VERY weak. And as is always the case, the
weakest cases are always the most expensive to manage. These cases simply AREN'T
WORTH IT to the lawyer in terms of time versus compensation.
LegalMatch's service is a good idea in theory, but the company really needs to do
several things:
(1) Explain to the public WHAT LAWYERS DO.
(2) Give the public an idea of WHAT LAWYERS WILL CHARGE and what COSTS are.
(3) Make VERY clear to the public that it is not a pro bono or legal aid portal.
(4) Give the subscribing lawyers a REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY to recoup their
investment by setting some GUIDELINES regarding the types of cases LegalMatch will
list.
Right now, it's a garbage dump, and an expensive one, at that.
On 5/12/07, Rob wrote:
> They threatened to sue "me" - i.e. legalmatch because they googled pro bono
> lawyer and Legal Match was the first listing. There is apparently an option on
> Legal Match for a free lawyer so when I told the client I was not legal aide,
> thry were very upset. I was only able to calm her down when I gae her the
> number to the actual legal aide office.
>
> A lot of people I talk to think LM is a legal aide service.
>
> On 5/11/07, Kung Fu wrote:
>> When the client threatened you, what did you tell them? What ultimately
>> happened with that?
>>
>> You seem to have some exposure to the bottom of the barrel. Can you share
>> some of your experiences with that class and that kind of work?
>>
>> On 5/11/07, Rob wrote:
>>> LegalMatch is the worst investment I have ever made. Google pro bono
>>> lawyer or free lawyer and see who comes up near the top of the list (if not
>>> the first paid ad).
>>>
>>> In almost 18 months, only 4 clients retained me. The rest I spoke to
>>> thought I was legal aid. One threatened me with a lawsuit for "false
>>> advertisement."
>>>
>>> A waste of valuable resources.
>>>
>>> On 5/04/07, Get Serios wrote:
>>>> A practicing attorney needs efficient time management. Every attorney out
>>>> there gets calls and visits routinely that waste their time. A smart
>>>> attorney networks on many different fronts. LegalMatch is just another
>>> front
>>>> to find business. The key to LegalMatch service is the ability to pick and
>>>> choose what cases makes sense for you. The value surfaces in -not how much
>>>> money you make- (the obvious) but in how much time is saved. Who wants to
>>>> chase Google ads? That a job in itself. not to mention the high cost.
>>>> Lawyers are too caught up in being busy or in many cases trying to micro
>>>> manage everything. Forget it. Have a life as well as a practice. Support a
>>>> process that delivers the potential clients to your desktop inbox so you or
>>>> your para legal can easily sort through them. In the long run this will
>>>> reduce a great deal of busy work and enable one to become a better more
>>>> organized practitioner. If you don't see the value proposition in that
>>>> efficiency then you should keep doing what you've always done to see if you
>>>> get the change in results you expect. What's that the definition of?
>>>> Clearly attorneys need help in new case management. If we didn't need help
>>>> the YP wouldn't have the thickest section of advertisement listed for
>>>> attorneys. We wouldn't need to scramble around trying to figure out the
>>>> Internet services. While I'm at it...since this is about clients...at least
>>>> LegalMatch protects the interest of the client and the attorney by
>>>> permitting both to choose each other with discretion. I don't have to rely
>>>> on my gate keeper to make decisions on who I talk with. That's sane,
>>>> sensible, ethical and over time very profitable. Plus, I get to have a
>>> life.
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