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LAW-2082 NEW MARKET: Legal Services
Ms. Jeanne Charn Bellow,
2 credits day; 2 credits evening.
In this course we will explore what is now a vast array of service innovations developed by the
solo and small firm bar. Many involve technology, which has proved a powerful and disruptive
force impossible to ignore and provoking commentators and bar leaders to posit “the end of
lawyers.” However, many bold service innovations emerged decades before the desk-top
computer and social media. Course materials will draw on analyses and case studies of a wide
variety of these service innovations. We will study: group and pre-paid legal services, court
based self-help centers that enable unbundled and similar lawyer “lite” service approaches,
advice hot lines, collaborative law practices, the increased acceptance of paralegals and “licensed
legal technicians” and the long-standing role of non-JD practice before administrative agencies.
We will also look at technology heavy, direct to consumer companies such as Legal Zoom and
Rocket Lawyer. We will then turn to a large body of survey research on consumer perspectives
on law, legal problems, and lawyers. This research documents that there is a large, but latent,
market for legal advice and assistance, a market that could be reached by solo and small firm
lawyers who are responsive to consumer preferences, embrace innovation in service delivery,
and relentlessly pursue the most efficient provision of high quality legal services.
Elective Course
Meets Legal Technology and Innovation Concentration Requirements
Final Project Required