LegalZoom Hires Honest Co. General Counsel, Elevates Legal Chief

LegalZoom.com Inc., the private equity-backed online legal technology company, announced Monday its hire of Nicole Miller to serve as its new general counsel.

Miller joins LegalZoom after a half-dozen years in-house at The Honest Co., a Playa Vista, Calif.-based beauty and health products enterprise founded by actress Jessica Alba. Miller, who spent almost the past two years as Honest’s general counsel, wasn’t immediately available to discuss her new role.

In a statement, Miller said she’s “thrilled to be joining such a disruptive technology company as an advocate for democratizing law.” She noted that LegalZoom’s mission to “make legal help accessible to all is consistent” with her desire to bring transparency to the legal process.

LegalZoom’s longtime general counsel Charles “Chas” Rampenthal will move into a product-facing role as segment leader for the Glendale, Calif.-based company’s attorney assist segment, after nearly 17 years as legal chief, Rampenthal told Bloomberg Law in an email.

“I have watched a startup of fewer than 50 employees become a national brand serving millions of consumers and small businesses,” Rampenthal said. “I’ve had the pleasure of working on our legal team alongside some of the most amazing attorneys on the planet.”

Rampenthal said LegalZoom’s in-house law department now has 11 members, nine of whom are lawyers, including the general counsel. The decision to give up leadership was made easier by LegalZoom’s recruitment of Miller, who began her legal career as an associate at Cooley and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles.

Miller and Rampenthal have known one another for seven years, he said, calling LegalZoom’s new legal chief “an amazing leader with the right attitude and outlook to keep us on the path to success.”

Cooley has handled nearly 30% of LegalZoom’s U.S. litigation work since 2007, according to Bloomberg data. The law firm has also handled corporate work for the company, advising LegalZoom on its 2014 sale of a controlling stake to London-based investment firm Permira Holdings Ltd. Cooley also counseled LegalZoom on a $500 million private equity investment in mid-2018.

Bar Association Battles

LegalZoom’s sale to Permira six years ago preempted an initial public offering by the company, which was founded in 2001 by a group of investors that included prominent Los Angeles litigator Robert Shapiro, a partner at Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro.

In 2015, LegalZoom and North Carolina’s bar association settled years of litigation that allowed the company to continue offering automated legal document preparation to customers. LegalZoom has claimed that unauthorized practice of law cases it faces are efforts designed to restrict access to justice.

Rampenthal said that in recent years he’s been able to spend more of his time developing legal products as such legal fights have “slowed, allowing us to refine our vision for broad legal access.”

In April, LegalZoom sponsored a pro bono project backed by the American Bar Association and others to provide free legal services to those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We realized that to truly democratize law and help consumers and small businesses, we must include attorneys in the process,” Rampenthal said. “Connecting attorneys with those that need legal advice is the next frontier for LegalZoom. I am proud and excited to help lead a cross-functional team of amazing ‘Zoomers’ as we build innovative products and services incorporating advice from legal professionals.”

A LegalZoom spokeswoman told Bloomberg Law that Rampenthal’s new role as leader of the company’s attorney assist segment will see him connect lawyers to individuals and small businesses in need of legal advice, as well as incorporate advice from legal professionals to create new legal products.

Miller, LegalZoom’s new top in-house lawyer, has been replaced at Honest by Brendan Sheehey, who most recently served as general counsel for Anaheim, Calif.-based Targus International LLC, a privately held maker of mobile computing accessories.

Melodie Grace, until recently a vice president of legal services at Irvine, Calif.-based management consulting firm Resources Global Professionals, confirmed in an email to Bloomberg Law that upon Sheehey’s departure June 8 she replaced him as Targus’ acting general counsel and corporate secretary.