Billie Tarascio
Mesa, AZ (USA)
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Access Legal Services
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Startup
Location:
Mesa
Industry:
Legal
Year Founded:
2009
Number Employees:
1-10 people
Description:
Access Legal Services is a legal firm based on a completely new model of legal services. By offering limited scope legal services at low hourly rates, low-to middle income residents of Maricopa County will have access to attorneys who can education, advise and assist them with their legal issues. We are asking for a $50,000 line of credit to implement this business model.
Extensive market research has revealed there are at least 14,000 potential clients in Maricopa County who fall within the 100%-200% federal poverty guidelines, and have a current legal issue unmet by traditional attorneys or legal aid. By targeting our services and marketing to this segment of the population, Access Legal will provide our community a valuable service while simultaneously proving to be a successful business.
Tremendous growth potential exists for Access Legal Services. As cuts are made to government subsidized legal programs and residents are continually hit by our depressed economy, legal needs are not diminished and instead are heightened. Once Access Legal Services has a defined brand image and implemented business model, there will be franchise opportunities as well as the opportunity for other satellite offices.
Core Competencies: Our model and competitive edge in legal service is based on three principles: accessibility, affordability and applicability.
Accessibility; Our first local office will be centrally and conveniently located in the East Valley and will house four attorney offices and two support staff. Our model includes using the latest technology to increase accessibility such as electronic filing systems, access to attorneys via web conferencing, and a complete network for office communications. We will also be open on evening and weekends, providing unparalleled access to legal services. Our attorneys will consist of primarily independent contractors. Access Legal Services has the ability to offer attorneys a more flexible work schedule than almost any other law office. Whether the attorney is transitioning out of a large firm, building her own practice, working part-time while raising a family, or transitioning from another area; attorneys have the opportunity to work when they want to a build valuable skills. Attorneys are paid a flat rate of $40/hour and are responsible for their own malpractice insurance, continuing legal education and tax payments. By operating in this manner, we can have attorneys available to serve clients in a large variety of practice areas and are able to keep our costs low for our clients.
Affordability; Access Legal Services is committed to maintaining affordable costs for clients and will charge a flat $90 per hour (billed in 15 minute increments) for legal consultation. Clients will pay as they go and will not be required to supply a retainer for services. Our billing model is so simple; it eliminates the need for our company to spend time and resources sending invoices or trying to collect money due. Each appointment will be secured in advance with a credit or debit card and each bill will be settled at the end of each appointment. The ease of billing for both the client and attorney sets us apart from other attorney firms.
Applicability; Access Legal Services will offer legal consulting for domestic relations or family law issues, consumer advocacy, creditor debtor, bankruptcy, landlord tenant, basic estate planning, immigration and any other civil areas of law our attorneys are competent to practice. Whatever the legal issue of the client, our attorneys will either know the answer or point our clients in the right direction. While not every case is appropriate for limited scope representation, our attorneys will offer valuable, applicable information at the lowest possible rates.