New crowdfunding site helps individuals raise money for legal fees
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While reading the book Things a Little Bird Told Me last spring, Chicago attorney Michael Helfand was struck by one of author Christopher Isaac “Biz” Stone’s points.
Stone, who co-founded Twitter, wrote that an entrepreneur solves problems—and Helfand considers himself an entrepreneur. Yet, as part of his Find Great Lawyers online legal referral service, Helfand spent a lot of time explaining to nice people with otherwise promising cases that they needed to come up with money they didn’t have to hire the right attorney.
Not long after that, Helfand was reading an article about crowdfunding and “it just kind of clicked in my head,” he told an ABA Journal reporter during a Monday phone interview. The result was a new crowdfunding site, Funded Justice, which has just launched.
Still a fledgling effort, his litigation crowdfunding site hasn’t yet brought in much for the few individuals who have tried it, and Helfand says the efforts so far have demonstrated the importance of having an established social media network and good storytelling skills. At the time of our publication, only three campaigns are listed on the site.
However, Helfand is hopeful that the site will take off as it becomes better known and says it could capture public attention if funds are requested for “issue cases” such as the defense of litigation filed against civil-rights protesters.
In addition to his worker’s compensation practice, Helfand regularly talks with individuals by phone who contact the Find Great Lawyers referral service he established 14 years ago. Much of that work is pro bono, but the occasional personal injury case brings in a referral fee.
Meanwhile, certain scenarios come up repeatedly, such as the wife seeking a divorce from an abusive husband. She can’t hire a lawyer to help her get a court order requiring her husband to pay her legal fees because he has control of the couple’s funds.
“If you’re short on money … you have very limited realistic good options,” Helfand says. For many, all that is needed is $500 to $2,000, yet they can’t readily raise that amount on their own.
While no one in their network may be willing to make a $2,000 loan, “they might know 100 people that can loan them $20,” Helfand says, adding: “If you’re willing to put yourself out there, people care and want to help.”
From the donor’s standpoint, providing “a chance at a level playing field in the court system, that’s a phenomenal thing.”
There is no charge for individuals to post on Funded Justice, but an industry-standard five percent is charged if the fundraising campaign is successful, Helfand said. Those who request money can do so by either asking for donations or a loan.
Hat tip: Chicago’s Real Law Blog.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “New website uses crowdfunding to finance lawsuits”
