The other day I had the pleasure of meeting the good people at Open Legal Services, a nonprofit Utah law firm that provides income-based legal services. It was fun to meet them because we have the same goal in mind, increasing access to the law. They are also at the forefront of a movement in the legal market that has garnered them national attention.
Open Legal Services does family law and criminal law, usually on the trial level. At Thompson Appeals, I focus my practice on civil and criminal appeals. So it was exciting to meet fellow travelers working to provide affordable legal services in Utah.
Open Legal Services describes their income-based pricing model as a revolution, and I think they might be right. The legal field, in general, seems ripe for a market disruption. High levels of overhead are tolerated, and, in some cases, expected. The income-based model, or the low-bono model, has the potential to disrupt some of these expectations and hopefully provide better access to justice in the process.
Low overhead. High professionalism. That’s idea behind Thompson Appeals. It was great to meet with Open Legal Services and get to know some of the pioneers in this new legal market.