The New Jersey Supreme Court’s ethics committee dealt a blow to Avvo, LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer in a June 21 opinion that said lawyers may not participate in initiatives those companies started to match lawyers with clients (New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Comm. on Professional Ethics,
The opinion is the latest example of the regulatory hurdles facing online companies that want to disrupt the legal services market by connecting lawyers with potential clients—in return for a portion of the legal fees the attorneys receive.
This phenomenon, which one legal technologist has described as the “Uberization ...