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Lawyers 'n' Lattes. Jeff Hughes is a lawyer who thinks "the middle class has been neglected" where legal services are concerned, and his solution is to franchise coffee shops that also dispense legal advice," reports Regan Morris in The New York Times. "The poor have legal aid and the wealthy have more lawyers than they need," says Jeff, who, for the past eight years has run a cafe called Legal Grind, www.legalgrind.com, in Santa Monica, California, where you can walk in, grab a cup, and for $25 get 15 minutes worth of legal advice on anything from landlord-tenant disputes to bankruptcy to drunken driving offenses. Charges for various types of paperwork preparations on the menu along with those for various "coffee drinks, which have names like Law'ttes and Cop'uccinos."
The enterprise has been fairly successful for Jeff Hughes, who last year opened a second location in Inglewood, and is now thinking about turning Legal Grind into the Starbucks of legal advice. Naturally, there are legal problems with his idea! The very concept of a franchise involves selling a "format to franchisees in exchange for a share of their future revenues." The legalities of that vary from state-to-state. For example, "in most states (though not in California)" there is "a ban ... on profiting from referrals, which are a big source of Legal Grind's revenues." In addition, it is generally considered unethical for lawyers and non-lawyers to share fees, "because the practice could drive up costs for consumers."
The net of it is, franchising Legal Grind is not an open-and-shut case (sorry), and Jeff Hughes is busy exploring alternatives, such as seeking non-for-profit status. This could allow operators and lawyers to make some money, although it "could change Legal Grind's mission to attract the middle class and could make it more like legal aid services that are already available to the poor." At the same time, Matthew Shay of the International Franchise Association, says he thinks Legal Grind has all the markings of a successful franchise, because it "is a unique distribution method for marketing and presenting products and services." He comments: "If this franchise provides a need that helps deliver a service that is otherwise sometimes challenging, then this may be a wonderful concept. Jeff Hughes certainly thinks so: "I'm determined to expand," he says, and adds that the only way to address the obstacles "is to get out in the marketplace and give it a try."
Tim Manners, editor
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