Giving People the Keys to the Courthouse

Customers who don’t require the help of an attorney can get help on a walk-in basis with close to 80 different legal documents.
Boxes of candy and bouquets of flowers appear at We The People’s door each week. "You got me through this divorce for $399, and my lawyers wanted $3,000. Here, we bought a little gift for you," reads a typical note.
"In several years of business, I’ve never witnessed anything like that," notes Derek Distenfield, assistant vice president and New York regional manager of We The People, the first paralegal franchise in the country, specializing in low cost preparation of legal documents.
As early as 1972, paralegals branched out from working under an attorney to dealing directly with the consumer. But We The People took the industry a step farther. Instead of operating in a low-key manner out of a home or executive suite, it created accessible, highly visible retail locations. Soon to open 20 locations in New York City, We The People presently has two stores operating in Queens at 42-38 Bell Blvd. in Bayside, and 116-28 Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills.
Customers who don’t require the advice of an attorney can get help on a walk-in basis with close to 80 different legal documents. These include simple uncontested legal actions, such as divorce, bankruptcy, wills, living trusts, name changes and incorporations.
A customer fills out a simple workbook. We The People downloads this information to a regional processing center in each state, then returns the completed forms to customers. This streamlining allows a 48-hour turn-around on most documents and prices as low as $199 for a bankruptcy and $399 for a divorce.
"With average attorney fees at around $225 per hour, approximately 80 percent of the population cannot afford the services of an attorney," notes Matt Danzig, We The People’s east coast regional manager. "Our economies of scale allow us to set prices often 90 percent less than lawyer’s fees."
The H & R Block of the Legal Industry
"We The People is to the legal profession what H & R Block was to tax preparation 30 years ago," according to California Association of Legal Documents Assistants former president, Virginia Simons.
Indeed, since opening its first office in Santa Barbara, California in 1993, We The People has grown to over 130 offices in 26 states. Success Magazine named We The People one of the 10 hottest franchises in the United States.
In 2002, We The People prepared 27,200 divorces, 15,400 bankruptcies and 10,800 living trusts, an average 35% increase over 2001. In the central coast of California, We The People stores handle nearly 40% of the state’s bankruptcy cases and one out of every three divorces.
A 1991 American Bar Association Journal article reported that "consumers could save more than $1.3 billion annually by using paralegals for just four routine tasks uncomplicated divorces, wills, bankruptcies and incorporations."
Legal experts noted other trends supporting the growth of the independent paralegal industry. For whatever reason, right or wrong, the legal profession has come under attack. A lot of people have lost confidence in attorneys. Not only that, consumers have become more savvy and demanding. They want to take more responsibility in their legal decisions.
We The People also observed a burgeoning self-help legal movement offering alternatives to both lawyers and independent paralegals. Consumers can now buy do-it-yourself legal software and books, visit state-run Internet websites for answers to their legal questions, or drive through a courthouse kiosk to pick up legal forms.
In spite of the array of legal options, Distenfield feels the overwhelming need for independent paralegals. "Legal forms, in my opinion, are designed to confuse," notes Distenfield. "They are designed for lawyers not the average consumer. Even if people pick up their own forms, they still need someone to type them pursuant to the rules of the court."
In the early years of the company’s formation, lawyers cried foul. But, We The People is careful not to cross the line of practicing law. When customers ask questions that require legal advice, they are sent to the company’s supervising attorney.
Unlike other independent paralegal companies, Distenfield says, We The People has at least one supervising attorney who handles daily customer questions at no additional cost to the We The People customer. "We find that our supervising attorney’s active involvement in the operation and our commitment to customer service separate us from many other people that do what we do," Distenfield explains.
We The People believes they represent an American tradition for giving people a choice. "Take Ray Kroc," Vice President Danzig states. "Back in 1953, he gave Americans a dining-out alternative the chance to feed a family of four for under $10. We’re providing an alternative, too. It doesn’t mean that everyone that has a legal problem should come to us. Just like it doesn’t mean that everyone that’s hungry should go to McDonald’s."
"It’s an incredibly good feeling to know we’re giving people a choice," says Distenfield. "We’ve had many customers who didn’t get a bankruptcy or even get divorced because they couldn’t figure out how to do it for a low cost. They suffered a lot of material and emotional hardship before they came here."
He goes on to state, "What really makes us feel good is that we have become a lifeline. I don’t think there’s any question that the reason customers keep bringing us gifts is we have become an answer that previously didn’t exist."
We The People, 42-38 Bell Blvd., Bayside, Telephone: (718) 224-8704
We The People, 116-28 Queens Blvd., Forest Hills, Telephone: (718) 793-4400
 
Laurie Collister is a freelance writer