A small team of entrepreneurs based in Delhi has recently launched EasyLaw a website which has been designed to provide “reliable legal information” and, more importantly, offers drafting and documentation services.

Started by Dhruv Jain and Vidish Talwar, EasyLaw was made open to the public in January this year, offering a number of services from drafting of wills to registration of marriages to incorporation of companies.  The EasyLaw team currently consists of two lawyers, Tariq Kamal and Saurabh Kumar, one company secretary and a few administrative staff.

Speaking to Bar & Bench, Dhruv Jain (pictured on the right) recounted how the idea behind EasyLaw was formed. After helping out his father with some litigation problems, Jain found that a number of his friends who ran small businesses would often seek his advice on legal matters rather than approach lawyers. He was surprised to see how these small, family-run businesses rarely had any proper documentation and that there was a distinct lack of access to and knowledge of legal requirements, Jain recalls. And that is when the idea behind EasyLaw began to take shape. 

The principal idea behind EasyLaw is fairly simple; Jain wants it to be a one-stop solution for legal and secretarial services for individuals and small businesses. In a country where accessing and preparing legal documents is shrouded in a fair bit of mystery, EasyLaw is attempting to offer information in a clean and simple manner, says Jain. Currently limited to Delhi, Jain is considering expanding the platform but he states that the website is currently in a “pilot stage” at the moment.

What makes EasyLaw an interesting study though is the manner in which technology has been introduced in a field which has been notoriously resistant to change.  For example, EasyLaw offers to draft a will at a price which would make most lawyers balk. Jain explains that a large amount of time is wasted on extracting relevant information from the client. With a detailed questionnaire, Jain hopes to eliminate this wastage, thereby bringing down the costs.

The response thus far has been positive notes Jain. But there are problems which we must overcome soon. Jain notes that one of the biggest obstacles for example, is the reluctance of the clients to reveal financial details (credit card details) online. In addition, the services provided by EasyLaw cannot be delivered on a “cash on delivery” basis; there is no scope for a return of goods.  Jain is well aware of this and his team is currently working on ways to resolve this problem.

It would not be untrue to say that EasyLaw is entering a territory where successes (particularly in India) have been far and few between. When we ask Jain whether it would be better to wait for things to change, Jain is quick to admit that there are problems in the country but the first-mover advantage is absolutely “necessary” according to him. Whether this first-mover advantage works for EasyLaw will be interesting to note in the days that follow.