Janson v. Legalzoom, Inc.

802 F.Supp.2d 1053 (2011)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D maintains a website - www.legalzoom.com - which offers online legal document forms and services. The website offers blank legal forms that customers may download, print, and fill in themselves. The website also offers an internet portal. D advertises that it will help you incorporate your business, file a patent, make a will, and more. 'You can complete our online questions in minutes. Then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you.' 'Just answer a few simple online questions, and LegalZoom takes over. You get a quality legal document filed for you by real helpful people.' D does state that it isn't a law firm. They claim to provide self-help services at your specific direction. From the internet portal, you can get business formation documents, estate planning documents, pet protection agreements, and copyright, trademark, and patent applications. You answer an 'online questionnaire.' In many cases, you can select alternatives from a list of choices or checkboxes provided by D. The branching mechanism skips questions for sections of the questionnaire that are inapplicable based on the customer's prior answers. The online questionnaire process is fully automated. No D employee offers or gives personal guidance on answering the questions, although information relevant to the customer's choice sometimes appears on the screen. Once the questionnaire is complete, D's software creates a completed data file containing the customer's responses. A D employee then reviews that data file for completeness, spelling and grammatical errors, and consistency of names, addresses, and other factual information. If the employee spots a factual error or inconsistency, the customer is contacted and may choose to correct or clarify the answer. D's software automatically enters the information provided by the customer via the online questionnaire into the template that corresponds with the type of document sought by the customer. After the template is filled in, a D employee reviews the final document for quality in formatting - e.g., correcting word processing 'widows,' 'orphans,' page breaks, and the like. The employee then prints and ships the final, unsigned document to the customer. Under D's refund policy, customers can obtain a full refund (less charges paid to third parties for filing fees or other costs) for 60 days after their transaction if they are not satisfied. For some of the intellectual property documents, D files the government document for the customer based on the customer's answers to the questionnaire. D customer-service representatives receive training concerning the company's policy against providing legal advice and are regularly instructed not to recommend forms or documents or give any legal advice. Giving legal advice to a customer will result in dismissal. Ps had no personal interaction with any D employee while using the D website or afterward. P asserts a claim for unlawful practice of law. On December 14, 2010, the Court certified the following class: 'All persons and other entities resident within the State of Missouri who were charged and paid fees to LegalZoom for the preparation of legal documents from December 17, 2004, to the present.' Ps did not argue that any of D's legal documents were in any way flawed.