What Is LegalMatch?
LegalMatch is an online database that aims to make the process of finding a lawyer as quick and efficient as possible.
It actually turns the process of looking for a lawyer completely around. Instead of asking around or scouring the area for attorneys that fit what you need, LegalMatch makes it possible for lawyers to come to you, allowing you to sift through potential offers and make the best choice possible when it comes to hiring a lawyer.
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LegalMatch presents a rather simplified version of searching for a lawyer by allowing you to let them know the situation you’re in and what kind of legal assistance you need. You are then presented with information and offers from lawyers who are capable and willing to help you, giving you everything you need to know to find the best lawyer possible.
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First Impressions
On first glance, the LegalMatch website couldn’t appear to be more professional and legitimate. In addition to a pithy explanation of its primary service of helping you find a lawyer being front and center on the homepage, the site offers a virtual smorgasbord of information that is capable of helping nearly anyone who makes his/her way onto the site.
First, there is an online law library – which may not match what law students have access to while in school – but it’s perfect for a novice in search of a little information. At the LegalMatch library, you can find basic information on roughly a dozen different types of law, which may help you to narrow down your search for the right lawyer or, at least, open your eyes to some important information. The law library also includes a legal dictionary, which should help familiarize you with the lingo your attorney may use once you hire one.
LegalMatch also has its own blog that contains in-depth articles on relevant legal topics. It may not say much about LegalMatch reviews or the LegalMatch cost, but it has interesting articles that are bound to pique your interest, regardless of your level of interest in legal matters.
Finally, there is the legal center, which not only has links to the aforementioned law library, blog, and legal dictionary but also offers links to forums, legal tips, and a variety of other resources that can help you find your way to whatever legal information you’re seeking. All of this makes LegalMatch a wonderful option as the first place to visit for any legal information – even if you’re not sure you need its services to find a lawyer.
How It Works
When you decide that you need to find a lawyer, LegalMatch has a three-step process it says will only take you 15 minutes to complete. It also says it will start to produce responses from attorneys by the end of the day.
Step 1:
The first step is to “Present Your Case” by first selecting a category that best fits your situation. Among your options are:
- Family law
- Personal injury
- Employment
- Real estate
- Criminal defense
- Bankruptcy lawyers
- Immigration
- Government
- Liability lawyers
- Business law
- Estate lawyers
- Intellectual property
Once you’ve selected what area of law you need help in, you answer a series of questions that are akin to what a lawyer would ask you during a consultation. In essence, this replaces a long and potentially costly meeting with a lawyer that you may otherwise have to repeat with several potential attorneys.
Step 2:
Once you “Present Your Case,” LegalMatch lawyers in your area, whose practice fits the type of law you selected in Step 1, will be notified of your case. They are not told your identity but are given all the necessary information regarding your case to let them determine if they can help you and would like to represent you.
Step 3:
Any interested lawyer contacted by LegalMatch will send you a message telling you about his/her experience, availability, and pricing. You are then free to look at each lawyer’s LegalMatch profile, comparing their qualities and rates to the other attorneys that have responded to your case. This gives you all the information necessary to choose the lawyer that fits your situation best out of the qualified candidates who have contacted you.
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Not a Referral Service
Despite what it may seem like, LegalMatch insists that it is not a referral service. It insists that it merely simplifies the process of hiring a lawyer, which can be too complicated and time-consuming for most people to handle properly.
Instead, LegalMatch touts itself as a matching service that helps to connect people who need an attorney with competent lawyers. It will not attempt to pick your lawyer for you or compromise your confidentiality. LegalMatch simply notifies its network of lawyers to potential clients, giving those who need legal representation as many options as possible from which to choose.
Perhaps the best part is that the LegalMatch cost is absolutely free. There are no additional fees for using LegalMatch as a way to find a lawyer, and when attorneys respond to your case, they include their pay structure, so there are no surprises or additions to the LegalMatch cost for the user.
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In fact, the only LegalMatch fees are for the lawyers who are part of their network of attorneys. This ensures that the only lawyers in the LegalMatch network are those who are serious about finding clients; otherwise, they wouldn’t pay the fee to be on LegalMatch. Having multiple lawyers compete for a potential client also forces each lawyer to submit competitive rates, keeping costs down for the client as much as possible.
Legally Holding Up
Naturally, there have been questions about the legality of LegalMatch, but it has stood up to skepticism every step of the way. Bar associations in several states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas, endorsed the use of LegalMatch as well as the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel. The state of Utah even went so far as to replace its referral program with LegalMatch, doing so in 2003 and never looking back.
With more than a handful of formal endorsements from states all across the country, there should be no reason for anyone to hesitate in using LegalMatch. It’s a perfectly legitimate means of finding legal representation in all 50 states.
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Customer Satisfaction
The LegalMatch.com reviews are largely positive, at least those on the website itself. LegalMatch claims to be conducting an ongoing survey in which 98.63% of users would use it again and 98.38% would recommend it to someone else with a legal issue. However, it should be noted that these LegalMatch reviews are based on people who merely went through the process of stating their case and are still waiting to hear back from an attorney. If nothing else, the simple and easy process in which you “Present Your Case” on LegalMatch has rave reviews.
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On the company’s website, there are also several LegalMatch reviews of people who completed the process, hired a lawyer, and received positive results. There are over a dozen such testimonials on the LegalMatch website written by satisfied customers from all over the country. Of course, while these appear to be genuine, there would obviously be no LegalMatch reviews on the company’s own website that did not paint LegalMatch in a positive light.
However, many of the LegalMatch.com reviews on third-party sites reinforce the majority of positive LegalMatch reviews on the company’s website. For instance, the LegalMatch reviews on Yelp.com are largely positive, with most of them giving the service four or five stars. Many of the reviews on Yelp praise the promptness in which LegalMatch helps to connect people to attorneys in situations in which time is of the essence. Many of the reviews also state their satisfaction with the lawyers they ultimately hired through the service.
One thing that stands out about several of the Yelp reviews is the number of people who needed legal help in a part of the country different from where they live or those who had recently moved to a new, unfamiliar area and could not ask for recommendations. Such situations call attention to one of the unique advantages of LegalMatch, which is that users can search for attorneys in any part of the country, making it easy to find a lawyer to handle your matters, even if you don’t live in the same place as your legal matters.
From the Lawyer’s Perspective
The one area in which LegalMatch reviews are largely unpleasant is from the perspective of lawyers who have used the service to generate leads. The LegalMatch.com reviews offered on the company’s website are obviously positive, with testimonials from several lawyers who say that LegalMatch has helped them to increase their revenue or save time. This may very well be true for many attorneys, but it appears to be far from the consensus.
A variety of forums, websites, and even YouTube videos contain LegalMatch complaints from many lawyers dissatisfied with the service. Some attorneys admitted that the service was beneficial for a period of time, but many of the LegalMatch complaints focused on the poor quality of the leads, the LegalMatch cost of using the service, and the fact that potential clients didn’t always respond. Of course, none of those issues are a problem from the perspective of LegalMatch users seeking legal representation.
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Is LegalMatch Right For You?
If you’re seeking legal representation, LegalMatch.com is certainly a viable option. The positive LegalMatch reviews, combined with few complaints about the service and the fact that it is free to use, make it a legitimate means of finding a lawyer in certain situations.
If time is not a factor and you have the means to do your due diligence in finding the best lawyer possible, you don’t necessarily have to jump straight into LegalMatch.com in order to find an attorney, instead relying on it as a fallback option.
That may actually be the best way to describe LegalMatch: as a fallback option for when you have no other resources to find a lawyer and need one relatively quickly; this is when LegalMatch becomes a great service to use. The website also features a wealth of information regarding legal matters that can be a great starting point whether you end up using the service or not.
LegalMatch can connect you with an attorney who specializes in nearly any type of law practically anywhere in the country and does so in a timely manner. If this fits your situation and you have nowhere else to turn to, searching for a lawyer on LegalMatch is likely your best option.
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