Finding a lawyer isn’t usually something you plan for.
One minute everything is fine, and the next you’re searching Google for lawyers, opening dozens of websites, making phone calls and trying to work out which attorney actually deals with your particular situation.
That’s the problem Legal Locate is trying to solve.
The new iPhone app takes a slightly different approach to finding legal help. Instead of making you search through endless lists of law firms, you post the details of your legal matter and allow attorneys to come to you.
It’s a simple idea, but after looking at how the app works, I can see why it could be useful for people who aren’t sure where to start.
What is Legal Locate?
Legal Locate is essentially a marketplace connecting people who need legal assistance with attorneys.
The process is designed to be straightforward.
You post your legal matter through the app, provide some information about your situation and then wait for attorneys to review it. Attorneys can then send you estimated offers, allowing you to compare your options before deciding who you want to contact.
The app says that participating attorneys are BAR-verified, which is an important part of the service.
At the moment, Legal Locate is focused on New York. The company says it plans to expand into other states, so its usefulness should increase if that expansion happens.
How does Legal Locate work?
The basic process can be broken down into three steps.
1. Post your case
First, you describe your legal matter through the app.
This could be anything from a divorce or family-law issue to a criminal matter, personal injury claim, bankruptcy or real-estate problem.
The idea is that you only need to explain your situation once rather than repeatedly telling different law firms the same story.
2. Attorneys review your case
Once your case has been submitted, relevant attorneys can review the details and decide whether they are interested in helping.
They can then submit an estimated offer.
Legal Locate currently covers a surprisingly broad range of legal areas, including divorce and family law, criminal defence, DUI/DWI, bankruptcy, immigration, personal injury, employment, real estate, business law, intellectual property and estate planning. (App Store)
3. You choose the attorney
This is probably the part of Legal Locate that makes the most sense to me.
You’re not simply handed a massive directory of lawyers and told to start making phone calls.
Instead, you can look at the attorneys who have responded to your case and decide which one you want to contact.
That puts the decision back in the hands of the person actually looking for legal help.
What’s good about Legal Locate?
The biggest advantage is convenience.
Finding a lawyer can be a frustrating experience, particularly if you don’t know anything about the legal system. Searching online doesn’t necessarily tell you whether a particular attorney is suitable for your situation, and contacting multiple law firms can quickly become time-consuming.
Legal Locate attempts to turn that process around.
Rather than you searching for the right attorney, you explain what you need and let relevant attorneys respond.
I also like the fact that there isn’t a charge simply for posting a case. The App Store listing describes the service as free for clients and attorneys.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the legal work itself is free. If you decide to hire an attorney, you’ll still need to agree on their fees and terms.
The app covers a lot of different legal problems
Another thing that stood out to me is the range of cases Legal Locate says it supports.
You’re not limited to one particular type of legal problem.
The app lists areas including:
● Divorce and family law
● Criminal defence
● DUI/DWI defence
● Bankruptcy
● Immigration
● Personal injury
● Employment law
● Real estate
● Business law
● Business formation
● Intellectual property
● Product liability
● Estate planning and probate
● Civil litigation
That gives the app quite a broad audience.
Whether you’re dealing with something relatively straightforward or a more serious legal problem, the idea is that Legal Locate can help you find an attorney who works in the relevant area.
Is Legal Locate available outside New York?
This is probably the biggest limitation right now.
Legal Locate is currently aimed at the New York market. The App Store listing specifically describes it as a New York attorney and client network and says expansion into other states is planned.
So if you’re outside New York, this isn’t necessarily an app you can use for finding a lawyer today.
That could change, though.
If Legal Locate manages to build a large network of attorneys and successfully expands into additional states, the concept becomes considerably more interesting.
What about privacy?
This is something I’d pay attention to before posting a legal matter.
You’re potentially entering personal and sensitive information about your situation, so it’s worth understanding how that information is handled before using any legal marketplace.
Apple’s current App Store privacy information says Legal Locate’s developer indicates that information such as contact details, user content, identifiers, location and sensitive information may be collected and linked to the user. Apple also notes that the developer’s privacy information has not been verified by Apple. (App Store)
That’s not necessarily a reason not to use the app, but it’s a good reminder to read the privacy policy and think carefully about exactly what information you’re submitting.
It’s still a very new app
One thing worth remembering is that Legal Locate is still in its early days.
The current App Store listing shows only a small number of ratings, so there isn’t yet a huge amount of long-term user feedback to judge the service by. (App Store)
That’s probably the biggest unknown for me.
The concept makes sense, but the real test will be how many attorneys are actually available when someone posts a case, how quickly they respond and how useful the offers are.
Those things are difficult to judge until the platform has a much larger user base.
I like the idea behind Legal Locate.
Finding a lawyer can be unnecessarily complicated, especially when you’re already dealing with a stressful situation. The traditional process of searching online, calling law firms and explaining your circumstances repeatedly isn’t exactly user-friendly.
Legal Locate takes a different approach:
Post your case → receive offers → compare your options → choose your attorney.
It’s easy to understand, and that’s probably the app’s biggest strength.
The fact that clients can post a case for free and decide which attorney they want to contact makes the service particularly interesting.
The main downside at the moment is availability. It’s focused on New York, and because the service is still new, there isn’t enough user feedback yet to know how well it performs at scale.
But if you’re in New York and need legal help, I think Legal Locate is worth checking out before spending hours searching through law firm websites.
Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pros
● Simple way to request legal help
● Free for clients to use
● Attorneys are described as BAR-verified
● Covers a wide range of legal areas
● You decide which attorney to contact
● Could save time compared with contacting multiple law firms
Cons
● Currently focused on New York
● Still a relatively new service
● Limited number of App Store reviews so far
● Privacy information is worth reading carefully before submitting sensitive information
Verdict
Legal Locate isn’t trying to reinvent the legal profession. Instead, it’s trying to make one particularly frustrating part of the process — finding the right lawyer — a little easier.
And honestly, I think that’s a good idea.
It’s still early days, so I’d like to see how the platform develops, particularly as it attracts more attorneys and expands beyond New York.
For now, though, if you’re in New York and suddenly find yourself thinking, “I need a lawyer, but I have absolutely no idea where to start,” Legal Locate could be a useful place to begin.
Legal Locate is available to download for free on the App Store
