Legal Zoom reviews reveal that online legal services fall short. While they offer help with run-of-the-mill tasks, they create problems for serious business owners. If your business needs a solid legal foundation, read on to understand the risks and how to avoid them.
Legal Zoom reviews show the hazards these services can create for small business owners. Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash
What Is Legal Zoom?
Legal Zoom provides simple legal services. The service primarily offers help filling out forms, but the company itself offers no legal advice. It can’t offer legal advice because the law does not allow it to do so. Instead, it leaves the heavy lifting to the customer, who may or may not have the knowledge to figure out complex legal issues.
Legal Zoom itself makes this clear in fine print at the bottom of the site, where it states:
We are not a law firm or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. We cannot provide any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms or strategies.
However, business owners frequently make the mistake of choosing Legal Zoom as a substitute for legal counsel. We know this because these same business owners hire us to clean up the mess.
Legal Zoom Reviews: Some Insight
As of this writing, Legal Zoom has a dismal 2.2 star rating on Google. The reviews on ConsumerAffairs.com tell a similar story.
The complaints seem to revolve around a few issues. First, it looks like Legal Zoom offers little support other than helping to fill out a form (many of which can actually be filled out for free). Second, many of the customers complain about getting hit by hidden charges down the line.
Since Legal Zoom is not a lawyer and does not offer legal advice, many people have a problem where they will fill in forms incorrectly or fill out forms that are not right for them. Legal Zoom lets customers make that mistake.
Also, a lot of complaints seem to center on hidden charges or useless upsells. Particularly bad appears to be the registered agent service that they charge $400/year. From what the Legal Zoom reviews say, many customers found themselves surprised when they were charged for this service.
Legal Zoom has faced its own legal troubles, too. LegalZoom has been sued for engaging in the Unauthorized Practice of Law. LegalZoom users filed class-action lawsuits alleging that LegalZoom did not perform the services that they promised to provide.
Alternatives To Legal Zoom
We understand that Legal Zoom and other online legal services seem like good alternatives to law firms. But soon or later, many business owners realize that while they may be attractive in the short term, they create problems in the long term. As a business owner, think long term.
It’s surprisingly easy to hire a business lawyer. Or if you want to get ongoing legal counsel that will not break the bank, you can look into working with a subscription-based law firm like Counsel for Creators.
In fact, you can schedule a call with an attorney in minutes. You owe it to yourself to at least explore the option.
