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$49 Online Consultation with a New Zealand Lawyer @ Spilt Milk Law

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$49 Online Consultation with a New Zealand Lawyer @ Spilt Milk Law
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AssociatedSpiltMilk on 27/08/2023 - 01:03 spiltmilk.nz (652 clicks)
Last edited 27/08/2023 - 01:22 by 1 other user
CHEAPIES

I started a small law firm that runs very lean, and which is offering online consultations with a New Zealand lawyer from $99. It's all quite fresh, and I want to get a sense of how clients find the service, so I'm offering $50 off consultations for customers who sign up before the end of this month.

Our $99 consultation ($49 with the promo code) includes around an hour of lawyer time. It includes:

  • Around 45 minutes for an initial review of your request, basic legal research, drafting initial advice;
  • Email to you with initial advice/documents;
  • 15 minutes to clarify the initial advice/documents based on your email feedback (your email feedback must be received within 48 hours of the initial advice being provided).

Our $180 consultation ($130 with the promo code) includes around 1.5 hours of lawyer time. It includes:

  • Around 45 minutes for an initial review of your request, basic legal research, drafting initial advice;
  • Email to you with initial advice/documents;
  • 20 minute video call with you to discuss your legal problem;
  • 30 minutes to clarify the initial advice/documents based on our discussion and on any written feedback (written feedback must be provided within 48 hours of the initial advice).

I figure there's a gap in the market where there are plenty of questions that could do with some lawyerly input, but where the price and friction involved in instructing a lawyer mean that people don't bother. I'm hoping this service changes that, and maybe encourages a few other law firms to come up with similar offers. There are lots of legal problems this service won't be suitable for (criminal matters, litigation, buying/selling property, aircraft leasing) - but for lots of ordinary legal problems I think it's a cost effective way to get a steer in the right direction.

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closed Comments

  • etcode on 27/08/2023 - 04:25
    +4

    Could you provide some examples of cases where this service would be suitable?

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 27/08/2023 - 13:30
      +6

      Sure! Here are some imagined examples.

      Individuals:

      • You’ve received a notice from your neighbour under the Fencing Act and you think their proposal is unreasonable.
      • A big box store sold you a very expensive product that is seldom discounted at big loss to them. They claim it’s a price mistake and say they’re canceling, but you want to try force them to go through with it.
      • A feud in your neighbourhood Facebook page has spiralled out of control. You’d like advice on trespass, getting an order under the Harassment Act, etc.
      • Your brother’s had a power of attorney drawn up for your ailing mother to sign. You feel a bit uncomfortable about it, and you’d like a lawyer to have a quick look over it to explain what it does.
      • Your holiday was a disaster, and now your travel insurer has come back with a much lower figure than you expected and is refusing to cover some of your expenses. You think your claim is supported by the policy and want to check.

      For businesses:

      • You’ve picked up some work with an American compny, but the contract they sent is so full of American legalese that it’s difficult to know what contract actually says.
      • You want to share some confidential information with a potential collaborator, and so you need an NDA.
      • Your business recently hired its first employee and things haven’t been going so well. The employment agreement has a 90 day trial period, but you’d just like a lawyer to look over the notice of dismissal you put together.
  • wildchild on 27/08/2023 - 08:52

    There is a spelling mistake in your terms of engagement..

    "These terms of engagement are made between you and Split Milk Law Limited"

    • memske on 27/08/2023 - 10:21
      +1

      or is it intentional? thinking face

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 22:51

      Fixed, thanks, but I'm enrolling for touch typing lessons straight away lest the mistake be repeated…

  • geardropper on 27/08/2023 - 08:55
    +1

    Sooo is it like a community law that you pay for?

    • FiveOneFive on 27/08/2023 - 13:32
      +7

      $49 for 1 hour of advice, from the comfort of your own home, with a lawyer who has approx 6 years PQE is very good value for money. Conversely community law sessions can be a mixed bag, and require you to travel, wait in line, and its a gamble on the level of advice you are given.
      NZ needs more accessible legal services.

      • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 22:56
        +1

        There's definitely a bit of overlap with Community Law, but there are things that we'll do that they won't (and vice versa). Community Law doesn't advise businesses or landlords but we do, and Community Law usually won't look at wills or give advice about relationship property (we can give advice about simple matters in these areas within the scope of our $99 or $180 packages).

  • Dan Baker on 27/08/2023 - 09:35
    +5

    Good on you, this would be a good gap filler for smaller non-complex cases.

    Totally different to community law which is a little hit and miss (even thou free).

    I hope this goes well for you.

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:03

      Thanks Dan :)

      I've mostly heard really positive things about Community Law, and I suspect that the negative feedback gets amplified a bit more than the praise they should be getting for doing huge amounts of good work with woefully insufficient funding.

      Any matter that you might take to Community Law you could also take to a $500/hour large law firm. People generally look for options that suit their budget, and my aim here is just to offer a low cost, fully online option.

  • Jaqqour on 27/08/2023 - 09:52
    +2

    Actually a pretty good sounding service, self employed consultant here and having access to fixed price lawyer answers to stuff like questionable contract clauses etc that sometimes pop up might be useful in future.

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:06

      If you're a self employed consultant, I guess it's also a time thing too, right? Researching which lawyer to go to, writing an email with all the usual politenesses, logging in to internet banking to pay the fees… all just makes it a little more appealing to just have a quick Google yourself (or ask ChatGPT) and call it a day. I'm hoping to lubricate the process a bit.

  • Slogan on 27/08/2023 - 10:07
    +11

    This reminds me of that scene in 'Better Call Saul' where a pair of tweakers go on a crime spree, chanting "Fifty percent off!" after each crime because of the discount they'll get on their legal services.

  • geardropper on 27/08/2023 - 10:08

    Oh ok I think I kinda understand 😊

  • tribernate on 27/08/2023 - 10:26

    Would this work for something like getting a simple will reviewed?

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 27/08/2023 - 13:39

      Yes - if you’ve drafted your own will and want to check that it’s a valid will and doesn’t contain anything unusual that might cause problems after you die.

      It might even be suitable for drafting a very simple will, although it really would depend on how simple your instructions are and whether you provided good information upfront.

      • Alan6984 on 27/08/2023 - 14:51
        +1

        I am wondering if this service might complement one of the basic online Wills that you can pick up, and which the user might want to then make a few changes (more than just filling in the 'blanks' like names), so you could get those amendments checked.

        I know a few people who have done that, and I always recommend that they get the amended version checked by a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure they rarely do.

  • elbrownos on 27/08/2023 - 10:51

    Can you do Relationship Property agreements?

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:13

      Relationship property agreements are a little tricky under this model, because:

      • they can be quite high stakes, so you don't want to rush and miss important details;
      • there are lots of questions you'd ideally ask the client (unless they knew all the relevant details to put down on your sign up form);
      • you probably need to iterate on the agreement based on feedback from the other party and their lawyer;
      • once finalised, you need to give the client a detailed explanation of the effect/implications of signing the agreement and witness their signature.

      Also, if it's a separation agreement, you might need a lawyer who can do conveyancing (at least on one side of the transaction) and we don't do any conveyancing work.

      We can definitely give initial advice with these packages and, if we get good information from you, can probably prepare an initial draft to kick off the conversation with your partner/ex-partner (as the case may be). If you didn't need any conveyancing work done, then we could also help with the rest of the process - but we would need to charge additional fees (which would be pretty reasonable compared to the going rate).

  • F armer on 27/08/2023 - 11:23
    +1

    Just saw an ad for this on reddit lol

    • Alan6984 on 27/08/2023 - 11:36

      Literally this (spiltmilk.nz) ??

      • Wakrak on 27/08/2023 - 12:41

        Yep. I saw it this morning too.

      • F armer on 27/08/2023 - 14:36

        Yup

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 27/08/2023 - 14:04
      +6

      Can’t pass up that sweet, sweet $100 of free Reddit ad credit

      • Alan6984 on 27/08/2023 - 14:48

        Cool :-)

        You might be able to get $600 (not sure of currency) of free ads from Google too - I'm pretty sure I've seen that somewhere, but I don't think it was on CC, and I can't recall (sorry!)

        • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:14

          Yeah, spend $600 get $600 credit with Google. Not quite as hot as your first $100 free, but might be worth a deal post anyway!

    • L3tstaxth1s on 29/08/2023 - 21:23

      I think I saw this as well via Reddit

  • Didntknowya on 27/08/2023 - 11:32

    any examples of what scenarios this can do?

    from my experience you can already call any experienced law firms and community lawyers and they can answer basic questions and guide you to next step for free. it’s when you actually need to file simple forms or stuff that they start charging.

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:19

      I provided some examples in another comment, but the sky is kind of the limit. I've been quite suprised at some of the interesting problems I've had come through in the last 48 hours!

      You can definitely get some free 'wise counsel' by calling up a few law firms and asking. Lots of lawyers are happy to offer a 15 min or 30 min chat, but I'd be surprised if many would do more than a few minutes of legal research or drafting without charging. The free call is a lead generation tool. With us, we aim to try give actionable written advice within the 60 minutes for simple matters (this won't always be possible for more complex matters, but the intent is there!).

  • Senior Mouse on 27/08/2023 - 12:25
    +2

    Wills for $49?

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:23
      +1

      If it's a very simple will and you provide clear instructions upfront, then we should be able to. I've had lots of questions about wills, so I'm going to think more about a questionnaire/package that's specifically about wills - will get back to you soon.

  • FiveOneFive on 27/08/2023 - 13:22

    Great innovative idea, I hope it works out for you.

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:26
      +1

      Thanks. Nice to hear that somebody thinks it's innovative; I recently applied to rent an office (not a shared desk - don't worry!) in a coworking space for a month in Germany (where I'm currently nomading), and was declined because my business idea wouldn't fit in in a space that was for "digital, innovative & scalable business models."

  • kiwipork on 27/08/2023 - 20:37

    Congratulations on the latest venture @homegardener!

    Do you do property conveyancing by any chance? Happy to pay for the service obviously!

    • kiwipork on 27/08/2023 - 23:07

      Ahh just saw this in your ToE:

      We can give property law advice, but we can't help you buy or sell a property. The Property Law Section of the NZ Law Society publishes a directory that might help.

      • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:46
        +1

        I'd love to do property conveyancing, but it wouldn't suit the way I'm working right now. I'm nomading outside of NZ; my bank account has been temporarily locked out twice since I left and I just wouldn't want to take the risk of my bank shutting off my access to a client's trust account at an inopportune time. I work mostly in the evening/nighttime NZ time, so would need to get up very early whenever a transaction was settling.

        Plus there's heaps of competition for conveyancing - lots of lawyers who have been doing it a looooong time competing hard on price. Probably best to just refer folks to a couple of good value conveyancing lawyers and focus on other work.

  • mrmoustacheman on 27/08/2023 - 22:22

    Would be interested in how much you charge for property conveyancing and wills. PM me thanks

    • riznz2020 on 28/08/2023 - 08:30

      I want to know whether it covers writing a will as well

      • Jexla on 28/08/2023 - 08:45
        +1

        OP spoke about this above.

        "Yes - if you’ve drafted your own will and want to check that it’s a valid will and doesn’t contain anything unusual that might cause problems after you die.

        It might even be suitable for drafting a very simple will, although it really would depend on how simple your instructions are and whether you provided good information upfront."

  • Japo32 on 28/08/2023 - 10:22

    Nice suit on the photo @homegardener. Looking sharp. :)

  • Rabid on 28/08/2023 - 16:01

    Great idea mate I hope this takes off and I'll remember it if I ever need a lawyer… Touch wood.

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:48
      +1

      Thanks! Hopefully you don't need the service, but we're here if you do. Have, per your instructions, touched wood in the hopes that you don't need us.

  • Jexla on 29/08/2023 - 10:05

    I took up the OP on their offer and got a great response the next day. 10/10 recommend.

    • AssociatedSpiltMilk @ Split Milk Law on 29/08/2023 - 23:49

      Thanks Jexla!

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