LawWurk’s humble beginnings began in 2020 as a bootstrapped project.

Founder Stacey was inspired to start LawWurk when she was following closely the California Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services (ATILS). This gave her information into the Justice Gap, which allowed her to further research. After an in-depth look into the statistics, the facts and the drive of the ATILS, she could see nonlawyers were being underutilized and there wasn’t an easy way to find a nonlawyer to assist. As a California Legal Document Assistant (CA LDA) herself, she understood the needs of both the nonlawyers, and the general public who need lower cost legal services.

We have set out to build a disruptive company, enabled by world-class technology and executed by a group of professionals eager to change the behavior of an entire industry and bridge the Access to Justice Gap. LawWurk’s highest priority is to provide a streamlined service providing quality professionals to our viewers. In this pursuit we have launched online tools that makes it easier and convenient to engage the experienced Legal Team they need on demand. To achieve this, Law Wurk has an online web portal which allows potential clients to filter through vetted legal paraprofessionals and select their ideal member based on what skills, cost, and law they need assistance with.

Question 2

How does LawWurk help the general public?

Accepted Answer

The LawWurk marketplace allows those who need justice but cannot afford an attorney easy access to locating a licensed or registered professional in their state, and engaging them through the platform for a trusted experience and transaction.

In 2005 and 2009, LSC published studies measuring the justice gap. Both were consistent in finding that about 50% of people who approached LSC-funded legal aid organizations for help did not receive help because of insufficient resources. Our platform allows potential clients to search licensed or registered nonlawyers available to assist them in their state, discuss the project, negotiate reasonable fees, set milestones and pay through the platform. Paraprofessional freelance providers do not get payment until the client has selected they received the completed project. The platform has a dispute resolution system built in to handle any disputes. We are a trusted provider to handle these transactions for all parties involved.

Anyone can seek access to nonlawyer assistance in their state, as provided by law. Currently only California, Utah, Arizona, Washington, and Nevada have laws pertaining to nonlawyers providing legal services to the general public. Other states are innovating and reviewing regulations to increase access to justice, which includes creating nonlawyer licensing/registration to assist the general public.

The Law Wurk marketplace allows those who need justice but cannot afford an attorney easy access to locating a licensed or registered professional in their state, and engaging them through the platform for a trusted experience and transaction. As the states approve and continues to add nonlawyer roles for assistance to the public, LawWurk will be able to continually expand to provide service in those states.

Question 3

What is the Access to Justice Gap?

Accepted Answer

The American Bar Association (ABA) stated in a recent study that approximately 80 percent of low-income individuals cannot afford legal assistance. The middle class struggles, too: a study shows that "forty to sixty percent of their legal needs go unmet." This is called the “Access to Justice Gap.” The Access to Justice consists of the "ability of individuals to seek and obtain a remedy through formal or informal institutions of justice for grievances."

The ABA further stated that “Access to affordable legal representation will continue to remain difficult for low-income and even middle-class individuals. States and courts must continue to create more innovate programs to mitigate the negative impacts of individuals' inability to pay for legal representation.”

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) reported in 2017:

In the past year, 86% of the civil legal problems reported by low-income Americans received inadequate or no legal help.
71% of low-income households experienced at least one civil legal problem in the last year, including problems with health care, housing conditions, disability access, veterans’ benefits, and domestic violence.
In 2017, low-income Americans will approach LSC-funded legal aid organizations for support with an estimated 1.7 million problems. They will receive only limited or no legal help for more than half of these problems due to a lack of resources.

Many states have begun looking into alternative nonlawyer options to assist with bridging the justice gap. Washington created the Limited Licensed Legal Technician, Utah has created the Licensed Paralegal Practitioner role, and California/Arizona have the Legal Document Assistant registration. More states are looking into roles like the foregoing to assist with the access to justice gap.

The Law Wurk marketplace allows those who need justice but cannot afford an attorney easy access to locating a licensed or registered professional in their state, and engaging them through the platform for a trusted experience and transaction. As the states approve and add nonlawyer roles for assistance to the public, Law Wurk will be able to continually expand to provide service in those states.

To further add to our mission to bridge the access to justice gap we allow licensed attorneys in all US states to work with qualified and vetted paraprofessionals. This allows attorneys to have a competitive advantage in the market to offer reduced pricing to their clients