Legal services are now being advertised/offered on Fiverr.com. Fiverr is a site on which people advertise for “gigs” or things they are willing to do for $5.00. There’s quite a bit of odd things that people are willing to do for $5; some of the gigs are plain silly others seem to offer advice, information or services on many topics.
Clicking on Tips & Advice, I was surprised to find an offering for legal services from what looks to be an individual but also showed as firm logo (don’t know if it’s a bona fide firm though). There are also offerings from paralegal businesses, and of course, people offering advice that have nothing to do with law.
It got me to thinking whether offering legal advice on fiverr.com is was a marketing ploy or just another way to get work. The first ad I saw talks about keeping the offeror being a lawyer and “law clerks” busy so it gives the impression that this is an offer from someone who may not necessarily a solo practitioner.
I can’t help but think that this is a business model that cannot be sustained for long.
This also brings up other issues when it comes to legal services, some ethical, some not; such as:
(UPL) – a search for “legal advice” turned up similar offerings from others who clearly state that they are not lawyers. There were also other ads from lawyers who clearly stated where they are licensed to practice and ads that didn’t specify.
So, to me, this is not a viable way to get work.
What about as a way to do some legal marketing?
I don’t find this helpful either for law marketing. For one thing, it is not targeted enough because as far as I can tell there is no way to make an offer for specific jurisdictions-some of the offerings are so bizarre that any serious offering would get lost in the distraction of looking at what people are willing to do for $5.
What do you think? Is this just another race to the bottom for online legal services? Can it be used in any effective way in the long run?