New York Attorney General (AG) Eric Schneiderman on Wednesday announced that a judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO), “effectively suspending operations” at the Watertown and Syracuse locations of Legal Docs by Me.
Legal Docs by Me, which says it offers legal-document preparation services, is headquartered in Watertown and operates an office in Syracuse and two in California.
New York State Supreme Court Justice James McClusky reviewed “extensive evidence” that Schneiderman’s office produced before signing an order to show cause and issuing the TRO, the AG’s office said in a news release.
Schneiderman said his court filing “laid out proof” that Legal Docs By Me was misrepresenting the services it was providing to consumers, misrepresented pricing of its services, regularly provided misinformation to consumers about legal transactions, and “regularly engaged” in the unauthorized practice of law.
Specific examples that Schneiderman laid out in his court papers included Legal Docs By Me allegedly advising a divorce client to empty joint bank accounts and take her husband’s car, and not to report actual income on divorce filings where it was under the table; failing to properly serve legal papers; offering to “draw up” buy-sell agreements and deeds; and relying on legal guidance obtained through Google searches, according to Schneiderman’s office.
This is not a “simple case” of a business filling in the blanks on official forms, Schneiderman said in the news release.
“The consequences of receiving erroneous or inadequate legal assistance can spell financial and personal disaster for consumers. I will keep working to shut down unscrupulous businesses owners who take advantage of trusting New Yorkers,” the AG said.
A hearing is scheduled for July 15, Schneiderman’s office said.
Legal Docs by Me reaction
Schneiderman has “yielded [to] pressure” from groups, “such as the Jefferson County Bar [Association], who are threatened by our innovative, tested, and most importantly, lawful business model,” says Derek Distenfield, Legal Docs By Me CEO, who spoke with the Business Journal News Network on Wednesday afternoon.
“We’ve been … very clear from the beginning that Legal Docs by Me is on the right side of consumers. The attorney general’s actions are solely aimed at protecting a status quo that will result in fewer cost-saver options for consumers,” Distenfield says.
The firm is “confident” that it will win in this dispute because “the facts, in fairness, are on our side,” he says.
The firm is going to continue to operate “in close supervision with our general counsel and in accordance with” the temporary restraining order that the judge has issued.
Lee Kindlon, an attorney with Albany–based Kindlon Shanks & Associates, is serving as the firm’s legal counsel in the matter, says Distenfield.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com