In a move to remain competitive with online companies that
use the web to offer consumers low-cost legal services, California’s largest
voluntary bar association has launched its own flat fee service for certain
types of divorces and business filings.
The gig economy has been a boon to consumers, spawning new
ride-sharing services and driverless cars. But it’s also generated a set of
thorny legal issues for attorneys to solve. It’s a world where personal injury,
labor and product liability laws collide.
California’s Equal Access Fund was launched in 1999 with $10 million in
funds to help low-income people get legal services. Last month, it got its
first substantial funding increase in 17 years.
A State Bar panel has proposed 68 new and revised Rules of
Professional Conduct. The Board of Trustees is seeking your input.
Audit letters are
going out to about 6,500 attorneys this month as part of the bar’s efforts to
ensure they meet Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirements. Those
who haven’t complied may face a new $200 fee.
A pair of San Francisco Bay Area attorneys who ran a huge loan modification
business that targeted vulnerable homeowners has been stripped of their law
licenses for misconduct that demonstrated a “habitual disregard for their
clients’ interests.”