SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A legal startup called AttorneyFee launched this week at TechCrunch Disrupt, the most closely watched startup event in Silicon Valley. AttorneyFee is a comparison engine that enables consumers to instantly compare fees from hundreds of local attorneys at once. The site also syncs up with attorneys’ calendars, giving consumers the ability to gauge lawyers’ availability and request appointments without making a single phone call. The service is completely free for both attorneys and consumers.
The site went live yesterday in 20 cities across America with prices from nearly 20,000 attorneys. AttorneyFee is the brainchild of Beibei Que, a mid-career attorney with several years of experience working in small law firm settings.
When asked how she got the inspiration for the site, she said, “I noticed that 75% of the people who called my law office wanted to know the same two things: how much do I charge, and when am I available. My receptionist used to spend a good chunk of each day just answering the same two questions over and over again. These calls prevented her from doing other work and created an unnecessary drain on office resources. I realized that if my firm could find a more streamlined way to communicate with potential clients about affordability and availability, then we could cut down on frivolous inquiries, save significant administrative resources, and actually get more clients in the process.”
AttorneyFee is launching just as the legal tech industry is beginning to heat up. In June, Los Angeles based LegalZoom raised a $66 million Series B round in anticipation of a public offering next year. Last month, Google Ventures put an $18 million bet on LegalZoom’s largest competitor, RocketLawyer.
“A few weeks ago,” said Que, “the president of the ABA published an editorial in the New York Times emphasizing the need to expand access to the legal system for low and middle income Americans. We did some research of our own and found that more than 300,000 Americans go to Google each month and search for the phrase ‘attorney fees’. There is clearly a huge amount of demand for this information, but almost no resources were available. All we’ve done is to satisfy that existing demand.”