A Look Into LegalShield, LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer
History, Mission, General Offerings of LegalShield, LegalZoom, and Rocket Law
LegalShield
When Robert Shapiro, a California attorney who gained national fame as part of O.J. Simpson’s defense team, had the idea in 1970 to provide legal services through a subscription model, he reached out to lawyer James W. Cox. When starting this subscription with only two local Oklahoma-based lawyers back in 1972, LegalShield (then, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.) grew to 400 lawyers in the United States with one in Canada. Currently, the company is a publicly traded business with 1.7 million subscription members in the U.S. and Canada. The company provides a nationwide network of over 6,700 attorneys covering all 50 states and all Canadian provinces. Members have unlimited access to make calls with lawyers in these networks for advice or help with any legal issues. Members can also send out an annual Will Questionnaire to have a lawyer do a will without them having to leave home.
LegalZoom
In 2001, attorneys Brian Liu, John Suh, and Larry Wong founded LegalZoom to make quality legal services more affordable. With its Headquarters in California , the company connects licensed attorneys with people in need of basic legal documents that have fixed fees — you get to know how much you pay before you get started. The company has the long-term mission "to make the law easy" and has sold over four million products since its inception. Just two years after the company was founded, it became the largest seller of simple wills in the United States. Today, the service helps corporations and more than 30% of the Fortune 500 companies form business entities. The company currently employs 1,200 people as of March 2013.
Rocket Lawyer
Founded by Atheer Ammar, Charley Moore, and Thomas goniff in 2008, Rocket Lawyer offers many legal documents for free with the option of getting touch with an attorney at a low cost. The company’s slogan — "Get legal help, without breaking the bank". All online documents go through a legal review process to ensure that they are legally enforceable. More than 15 million people and 700,000 small businesses have benefited from the company’s network of 7,500+ lawyers. It’s currently a two-time winner of Inc 500 Fastest Growing Company.
Pricing Comparison Analysis
LegalShield offers a variety of packages for individuals and businesses. The more comprehensive of the two is the Individual Legal Plan. It allows you access to attorneys in its Network to assist you with a variety of legal matters. The membership is billed at $24.95 per month, and you must have had the legal matter arise after becoming a member in order to make use of your plan. For those who need a service like will preparation or document review, LegalShield members can take advantage of special pricing on those services (for contract preparation, the fee is $15 while a non-member pays between $20 and $150). Prices for individual plans are about $5 to $30 per month, whereas family plans cost between $10 and $50. Business Legal Plans vary from $39.90 to $129.50 monthly.
LegalZoom’s pricing relies heavily on service types. For legal advice and documents, the costs can range from $39 at the lowest end to around $4,000 at the highest end. For instance, a living trust costs $249 while a divorce can be as low as $499 (established fee) or up to $4,000. For business services, they have business formation packages between $149 and $289, and Other LLC packages between $269 (for just LLC filing) to $599 (includes Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN), operating agreement, unlimited amendments, taxes and annual report). Other services charged for on a fixed-fee basis include intellectual property services (trademarks start at $199, copyrights at $249, and patents at $599) and estate plans (trusts and wills are each $179).
Rocket Lawyer offers a free, 7-day trial, during which time users can access one free legal document or one free 30-minute phone call with an attorney in its Network. Afterward, for those who do not sign up for either a monthly membership or to buy individual documents or consultations, it will continue to provide certain documents for free via web access to its library of 150+ legal documents. For monthly plans, the cost is $39.95. Rocket Lawyer also has a free tool that consumers can use to determine whether or not they need an attorney.
Comparison of Available Services
LegalShield also emphasizes service. The company offers a wide range of services including 24/7 emergency access to a network lawyer, one-on-one legal consultations, review of legal documents, help with court appearances, assistance with arrest (including bail bonds, if needed), standard will preparation, trial defense, assistance with IRS audit, financial wellness, and more. LegalShield lawyers have different backgrounds and areas of expertise. They are required to have 20 years of experience in law and have served as senior partner, general counsel, CEO, or in some other form of leadership. LegalShield’s services are available in all 50 states and through hundreds of independent law firms. Subscribers are exempt from initial consultation fees when they select a lawyer in their state and retain the firm.
Rocket Lawyer has individual plans for basic legal service needs, small businesses, and even larger businesses. Like LegalZoom and LegalShield, Rocket Lawyer provides basic legal services through a monthly subscription, but the Rocket Lawyer subscription is an addition to its document library. It offers many features including free incorporation paperwork filed in California, a 25% discount on all other incorporation packages, and discounts on business formation needs such as LLC paperwork and C-corporation.
LegalZoom provides many legal services at a flat, pre-determined price. This allows individuals and entrepreneurs to get vital legal services without worrying about unexpected fees or hourly rates. LegalZoom provides individuals with several options for wills. For example, individuals may select the "Last Will & Testament" document preparation which helps individuals write a will with basic guardianship provisions for their children or for their estate. Alternatively, individuals may choose a self-proving will service. LegalZoom provides separate pricing for each option.
Examination of User Experience
The user experience on LegalShield, LegalZoom, and Rocket Lawyer differs greatly. LegalShield is primarily for clients who retain lawyers within the firm’s network. As a client retaining your law firm, you’d be given access to a secure portal into which you can upload documents, interact with your lawyer, and check the status of your matters. In this instance, your experience isn’t very different from that using ClientPortal. For clients who interact directly with LegalShield network lawyers your experience using their system may be defined by the network lawyer’s level of involvement. Some network lawyers have their clients using ClientPortal, while others use the secure portal accessed through the LegalShield website.
LegalZoom offers some self-help legal guidance, but their interface primarily revolves around creating documents. LegalZoom’s online process is interactive with questions guiding site visitors through obtaining a variety of documents and services. Recently, they’ve added an online document storage function giving customers 100 MB of storage.
Both clients and self-represented legal consumers can access Rocket Lawyer using their desktops or mobile devices. The user interface for both web and mobile apps is intelligent and easy to use. Accessing legal documents is super easy. Creating and signing documents is less so. The document creation and signing process are not integrated creating some difficulties at times.
Customer Experience Reviews
When it comes to customer reviews and reputation, LegalShield is generally well-regarded. In Capterra’s review of their services, the company boasts a four-star ratings on average across 28 LegalShield reviews. Based on the reviews, their customer service center is a notable strength. LegalZoom also enjoys generally favorable reviews. Although they have a 3.2 star rating from 797 reviewers on TrustPilot, they are rated 4.1 stars on Capterra. In the reviews, customers rave about LegalZoom’s ease of use and breadth of services, but some complain about the over-sell that occurs . Rocket Lawyer has an overall rating of 4.4 stars. Reviewers commend the site for its high level of utility. As one Capterra user notes: "There is a document to fit every situation, from a simple sales agreement to a rental property lease to will creation and signing," and do not complain of any aggressive upselling. Competitively, Rocket Lawyer and LegalShield have very similar ratings on Capterra and TrustPilot, with both generally faring better than LegalZoom.
Examining Strengths and Weaknesses
Each of these services has its strengths and weaknesses. While their respective websites offer a glimpse into the unique features of each through a series of list items and snapshots, we will provide a more comprehensive discussion of both the advantages and disadvantages of each service.
LegalShield
Although we have touted LegalShield as the industry leader for pre-paid legal subscription services, this platform is not perfect. Its weaknesses mainly revolve around the complexity and price of family plans. There are also a few compatibility concerns with certain browsers or devices. More importantly, there are a few barriers to entry in the form of long wait times. While these issues may seem petty, it’s important to be informed of them. LegalShield is the most comprehensive option when it comes to the vast array of legal documents offered. If you can think of it, LegalShield likely offers it. The scope of the documents offered is one of the features that makes LegalShield superior to its competitors. As mentioned earlier, LegalShield is the most popular and "most recommended" online legal service. In fact, the company boasts several news affiliates such as Forbes, MSN, and Many more. They have also been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 1998. Because LegalShield has been around for so long and is the best in the industry, it is great for those that really want to know they will be getting the best service possible. LegalShield prides itself on being the best pre-paid legal subscription service available. Lastly, LegalShield can be incredibly cheap—each plan starts at just $24.99 a month. Then again, there is no complete family plan, which pushes the price up significantly for those wanting to cover any spouse or kids.
LegalZoom
Of all the companies we reviewed, LegalZoom has the highest starting price at $39.00 per service. This is easily one of the biggest drawbacks. The price goes up as more features are added. In addition, a small range of format styles may turn off business owners looking for creativity and organization. LegalZoom is a reliable source of "legal documents made by lawyers." You’ll notice this slogan on just about every webpage. It’s one of the reasons the company is so popular with thousands of customers selecting this service daily. The company has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 2000 and has received an A+ rating. Even better, it was only recently that the Better Business Bureau received no complaints regarding the company. For LegalZoom, the price of its Single Business Registration Package is about half the price of competing services for similar LLC packages. It is the lowest starting price for creating an LLC, which makes this platform the most affordable option. LegalZoom is also popular for estate planning. Many real reviews for LegalZoom praise the affordable living will package. But that is about as far as it goes with positive reviews. Many reviews are critical of their customer service and call center experiences.
Rocket Lawyer
It seems that Rocket Lawyer is a bit of a "jack-of-all-trades, master of none." It has a decent selection of documents, but nowhere near that of LegalShield. It has many legal services options, but not nearly as many as its competitors. Where it excels is its premium membership. The second lowest price starts at a point above its competitors for a lot less value. Chances are if you’re looking for a lawyer online for documents on Rocket Lawyer, you’re going to have to pay a lawyer-in-your-pocket price for premium legal help. It’s definitely not the value that other competitors like LegalShield offer. Just as its name implies, Rocket Lawyer has been a rocket science to review. Reviews are few, far in between, and some are even unflattering. The reviews are mixed with some positive reviews coming from satisfied customers and others panning it for its lack of pricing transparency and hidden fees.
Comparison of When to Use Each
When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, the right fit often depends on the need at hand. All three services are pretty flexible in the services rendered, but we’ve found some scenarios may work better for getting legal help with a specific need.
LegalShield
This service is ideal for the small business owner or start-up.
Some of the small business legal services offered:
LegalZoom
LegalZoom’s standout offering is its business formation.
Rocket Lawyer
Use Rocket Lawyer if you’re starting a business or need to incorporate. This service is great for entrepreneurs, freelancers and members of the gig economy.
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
Having thoroughly examined LegalShield, LegalZoom, and Rocket Lawyer, it’s safe to say that each service has its own unique advantages. But which one is the best? That truly depends on your individual goals and personal situation.
If I were to do a hard recommendation, I would advise you to first identify what you need and then go with the service that suits those needs. If it is general legal advice, you could use any three services. If you need personal legal services, you might stick with either LegalShield or Rocket Lawyer (though the latter has limited personal coverage). Those two also cover legal concerns for family members. If you are more inclined to business concerns, you would see that LegalZoom has a wider coverage of those matters.
But despite my personal opinions, a scientific rating system does not support those. So, here are my ratings for each service, based on ease of use, quality of service, and comprehensiveness:
LegalShield LegalZoom Rocket Lawyer
Ease of Use 4 . 8 out of 5 4.6 out of 5 4.6 out of 5
Quality of Service 5 out of 5 5 out of 5 5 out of 5
Comprehensiveness 4 out of 5 4.9 out of 5 4.9 out of 5
Now I’ll return to my above statement of which service you should go with. If I am forced to make an educated guess on which one is marginally the better of the three, I would pick LegalShield considering its quality of customer service, availability in case all attorneys are busy, and coverage of personal matters. However, for people who do not have specific legal needs, the answer is simple: both LegalZoom and RocketLawyer have adequate software and are widely available to provide legal services for general uses.