Leagles is the first application of its kind in the industry, not only in terms of reach, but also in terms of functionality, the application is geared towards connecting legal practitioners and potential clients. The value-add is the elimination of the first consultation (for potential clients) and offering attorneys access to a wide number of clients, clients they would not have met, had it not been for the application. The application also allows potential clients to vet the markets for legal opinions, before approaching an attorney and spending money on the first consultation, where it is needed. This takes on special significance when you consider that, in some instances, an attorney may not be necessary, and, even if they are, may not be suited for that particular legal issue.
which the client can engage with the service provider and not the other way around. To this end, the application discriminates between two types of scenarios:
1. The need is urgent and requires immediate attention.
2. The need is not urgent and does not require action right away.
In the first instance, the application deals with the scenarios by introducing a “Panic” feature to facilitate a speedy response. The Panic options send a message out to nearby attorneys, who are specialist in the area that is currently of concern to the user, and the panic feature also sends out a message to the user’s next of kin, notifying them that the user is in need of some assistance. The Panic feature has three categories:
A. Domestic Violence (in this instance a recording is initiated and an alert is sent only to the lawyers).
B. Being Arrested by the police (An alert is sent out to attorneys and next of kin).
C. Being Evicted (Attorneys).
In most instances, these are the legal scenarios that require urgent assistance and it is important that those that care about the user and legal practitioners are able to assist, as quickly as possible.
The second aspect is legal questions which are not so urgent. This would be all the other scenarios set out above. The application deals with these questions by allowing the user to post a question to the forum of legal practitioners to get a response regarding her legal questions. The response can be one of three things, it could be advice regarding the issue – negating the need to approach an attorney, or it can be advice and telling the client they need an attorney, or, it could be so severe, that the client is advised to get an attorney, immediately.
The application also offers a third pillar, offering registered clients the ability to look through FAQs and articles which have been posted by clients and attorneys, respectively. These can help when a question has already been asked, answered, or awaiting a response. Legal representatives on the platform can either respond to questions or write articles about a particular area of law that they are interested or specialise in.