For more than twenty-five years, I’ve held to a simple conviction: most people who need a lawyer should be able to afford one. The distance between the legal help people need and the help they can actually pay for is the defining problem in our profession’s relationship with the public — and it is a problem lawyers themselves are uniquely positioned to solve, if we are willing to deliver our services in new ways.
That conviction has shaped my whole career. I founded the People’s Law Library of Maryland, one of the first statewide legal-information websites, now operated by the Maryland courts. I built MDFamilyLawyer.com, among the first law firms in the country to deliver legal services online. I co-chaired the American Bar Association’s eLawyering Task Force for twelve years, served on the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, and founded DirectLaw, a platform that helped solo and small firms bring their practices online. JusticeXpress is the next chapter — and this blog is where I intend to think out loud about the work.
From time to time, I, Richard Granat, as the author of this blog, will comment here on the developments I’m watching and the ideas I believe matter most. Four themes in particular:
What the state bars are doing
The rules that govern limited-scope and unbundled representation are changing, state by state, through new court rules, ethics opinions, and procedures. Florida, for instance, has just extended limited appearances beyond family law into general civil cases. I’ll track these developments as they happen and explain, in plain terms, what they mean for how you’re permitted to practice.
The technology that makes it possible
Delivering limited-scope services profitably depends on the right tools — branded client portals, document automation, online intake, and payments that let a firm sell a defined service under its own name. I’ll look at the online platforms and technologies that support this model, and at how firms are actually putting them to use.
Best practices
Unbundling is a method, and like any method it can be done well or badly. I’ll write about the practical craft of it — scoping an engagement, securing informed consent, the notations the rules require, pricing a flat fee that works, and the workflows that make the whole thing sustainable.
Spotlights on firms that are innovating
Some of the most interesting work in our profession is happening at solo and small firms most people never hear about. From time to time I’ll spotlight individual firms that are delivering limited-scope services in creative, effective ways — so the rest of us can learn from what’s working.
None of this is theory for me. It’s the work I’ve spent a career doing, and the reason JusticeXpress exists: to connect everyday people with lawyers who offer exactly the help they need at a price they can see up front — Law That You Can Afford.
If you’re a Florida solo or small firm offering fixed-fee, limited-scope services, I’d encourage you to list your firm in our directory — Verified is free for all of 2027 for firms that apply by December 31, 2027, and a basic listing is always free. And whether you list or not, I hope you’ll follow along here.
More soon.
List your firm — free for founding members
Florida solos and small firms: join the directory of fixed-fee, limited-scope services before January 31, 2027.