Arizona Supreme Court Approves ABS License for Law on Call
Law on Call today announced it has become the first entirely nonlawyer-owned law firm licensed to practice law in two U.S. states. This comes on the heels of the Arizona Supreme Court’s recent approval of Law on Call’s Alternative Business Structure (“ABS”) license, which means Law on Call—owned by Northwest Registered Agent and previously authorized to operate in Utah—can now provide affordable legal services to individuals and businesses in both Utah and Arizona.
“We’re part of an important trend in the United States geared toward providing better and easier access to legal services,” said Daniel Wilde, an attorney at Law on Call. “Starting with Utah and Arizona, the nation is seeing a quiet, but significant, shift in the legal industry—one that will make justice available to a broader range of consumers.”
To get access to legal help at a traditional law firm, clients pick out a lawyer online, submit an inquiry, schedule a call with a legal assistant, wait for a conflict check, wait another week to schedule a call with the lawyer, sign a long, one-sided engagement letter, and finally pay a retainer fee before actual legal work begins. But gone are the days when you had to follow the traditional law firm model to provide legal services.
Law on Call transforms how law is delivered by providing instant sign-up and real time legal advice over the phone to its clients. And by combining lawyers to review and finish each legal assignment, Law on Call provides clients with the equivalent of free second and third opinions. In an industry hampered by tradition, innovations like these are changing the game.
“The main obstacle to a substantial industry shake-up is reticence,” said Law on Call attorney Daren Harris. “I’d say most attorneys are very methodical and careful people who like things to be done a certain way. Once that ‘way’ is changed, they’re slow to adopt. That said, if the majority of Americans can’t get the legal help they need, then there’s clear need for change in the legal industry, and that change needs to happen sooner rather than later.”
As a recent American Bar Association article says, “The current legal system only benefits the super wealthy: super-wealthy citizens, super-wealthy corporations, super-wealthy law firms, and super-wealthy lawyers.” And it’s not just within the U.S. that the legal industry looks bad. A 2021 survey by the World Justice Report ranks the U.S. 41st out of 139 countries in access to civil justice.
With states like Arizona and Utah working to find integrated solutions to their legal industries’ problems, the hope is that the system starts working for everyone, not just those with money to burn.
About Law on Call
Law on Call is reinventing the traditional approach to the legal industry in the United States. As the first entirely nonlawyer-owned law firm in the country, Law on Call has removed the stress of billable hours so that its lawyers can focus on client satisfaction and quality of work. With Law on Call’s expansion into Arizona and continued presence in Utah, the company is actively hiring and buying law firms’ books of business.
About Northwest Registered Agent
Founded in 1998, Northwest Registered Agent is a Corporate Guide Service with 750 employees nationwide. Specializing in providing registered agent and business formation services, Northwest has over 3 million active subscriptions and takes pride in its commitment to Privacy by Default®, which ensures that client data is never sold—ever.
