Delhi-based entrepreneurs re-enter online legal services space; EasyLaw revamped into legal services marketplace

Close to two years after it was first launched, Delhi-based EasyLaw has recently undergone a complete transformation, moving away from providing legal services to serving as an online “marketplace” of sorts. The website, co-founded by Dhruv Jain, was initially started to provide “standardized legal services to clients” says Jain..When Bar & Bench first spoke to him, Jain had said that the website would enable simpler (and less expensive) access to legal services for small businesses and individuals. The organisation had, at that time, two lawyers on board as well as a company secretary to handle the actual drafting..However, over the last two years, Jain and his team encountered a series of problems. One of these problems was the sheer inability to cater to demand volumes. “We were able to cater to about 20% of the total queries”, claims Jain. The other major obstacle was the almost mandatory requirement of the physical presence of a client. In most cases, drafting required close interaction with the client, something that EasyLaw was simply unable to provide across different locations. The third problem related to the involvement of government agencies in certain processes such as registration of documents, meaning that it became difficult to, in the words of Jain, “standardize the services and assure clients of timely results.”.These reasons, amongst others, led Jain and his team to do a complete re-think on then existing model. Jain says that then existing model was “almost breaking even” indicating that financial viability of the project was also an important factor towards the decision to change. The project continues to receive funding from friends and family..Under the new model, EasyLaw now acts as an online platform that connects potential clients requiring legal services to legal professionals who can provide these services. Clients can post their requirements, legal professionals can respond and then payment takes place independent of the website. The platform overcomes the geographical issue by connecting readers and the professionals who are located within the same area or city. The professionals, registered with the site as “experts”, are also notified once a requirement matching their skills and location are posted online..While the basic premise of the site appears to be sound, its success rests largely on the quality of these “experts”. And herein lies the classic chicken and egg situation that is, “faced by every platform in their seeding stage” as Jain puts it. Unless high-quality services are provided, potential clients are unlikely to use the website. And if there are an insufficient number of clients, then legal professionals will be less likely to engage with the platform in the first place. Currently the site has over 500 registered experts but it is difficult to say how many of these will be able to provide quality content..One of the ways Jain seeks to promote quality content is by allowing registered experts to build their own profile, share articles and answering questions, through endorsements from other experts etc. Jain hopes that over the years, these processes will allow potential clients to see and use only those experts who have been favourably recommended by other users. These recommendations help towards building the expert’s “EL Score” meaning higher visibility on the site..When it comes to generating revenue, the only existing source is a flat fee of Rs.99 charged to clients for posting “feedback enabled projects”. Says Jain, “Other revenue generation avenues are in discussions internally, but we first aim to further enhance client/expert interaction on our platform..As things stand though, it is still early days for the website. Since Jain does not seek to regulate the quality of content posted on the site, nor does he have the legal manpower to do so, it may discourage initial clients from using the site. However, if and when the site, does gain popularity and experts realize monetary benefits from the site, things may change.