Our Nolo review covers this legal company website that provides assistance with business filings and legal services.
Nolo Legal
Nolo’s legal site connects consumers with the right legal forms, software, and information. Much of the articles are sourced from legal professionals. Nolo also specializes in helping new companies seek out incorporation.
Founded in 1971, Nolo has been operating in the legal space for decades. Started modestly by two attorneys, Nolo now services more than one million monthly site visitors. Its mission is to ensure the right legal information is available to everyone and that the content is in laymen’s terms and not legalese.
Nolo Legal Services:
- Provides legal software, articles, and other pertinent information
- Helps clients create customized legal documents
- Connect with local attorneys
- Help businesses with the incorporation
- Network with other legal sites and services like LawFirms.com
Pricing Structure
Affordable pricing is part of the fabric of Nolo’s legal site and self-help resources. All informational articles are free of charge, and most people access Nolo’s site for that information and to connect with local attorneys. Both books and eBooks are available for purchase if you need more in-depth information on a particular legal topic. For example, some business owners want to study up the legal benefits of incorporation prior to making a final decision.
Legal contracts and other types of forms can also be customized. These types of customized documents are either priced individually or are included with your enrollment in an annual subscription with Nolo. A yearly Nolo subscription is available for what a cup of coffee would cost you once a month. This makes the legal subscription an exceptional value if you need custom forms like promissory notes and NDAs throughout the year.
Nolo uses its own product for helping companies structure an LLC. Nonprofits are other corporations, however, are outsourced to various websites. Nolo does not feature a product in-house for helping to launch nonprofit organizations and certain corporations.
The Pros
Articles Authored By Attorneys
The volume of attorney-authored articles available on Nolo is second to none. Thousands of articles exist covering a wide array of legal topics. The information is presented in laymen’s terms, with instructions provided to help clients achieve specific legal goals.
Nolo’s Legal Encyclopedia is quite comprehensive with specific sections designed to help business professionals with company formation and all aspects of business law.
Repetitive Use Of Legal Forms
If your organization requires access to the same legal forms multiple times throughout the year, Nolo helps make that happen to the tune of quite a cost savings. Forms may also be redownloaded and re-edited numerous times. Let’s say your company processes new hires using the same nondisclosure agreement. Nolo provides value to a company that needs this legal form dozens of times.
Offline Legal Support
With everything stored in the cloud, offline legal support is sometimes difficult to find these days, save for law libraries. What’s great about Nolo is its vast wealth of information is still widely available in print. Book content is consistently updated to match the current year, and each in-depth book contains all the necessary forms pertaining to each legal situation. Nolo provides great value to business owners that prefer legal help offline.
The Cons
Save for LLCs, businesses looking to incorporate themselves are outsourced to other websites. The same goes for nonprofit organizations. Nolo’s competitors certainly have an edge when it comes to helping these types of companies. While Nolo doesn’t internally handle organizations looking to incorporate themselves, they do offer an LLC formation tool.
Incorporate.com is the entity that Nolo chooses for outsourcing clients looking to incorporate. Nonprofit organizations are directed to Legal Zoom. While both of the legal entities mentioned are great companies, Nolo clients would of course prefer to have those resources available in-house.
Customer Service
Both phone and email support are provided by Nolo, and contact information is provided on the company’s “contact us” page. Support hours are M-F from 8 to 5 P/T.
Customer Reviews
Nolo is well known for garnering positive reviews from clients. A one-stop legal shop, Nolo helps businesses connect with the right legal forms and information in order to achieve their growth goals. Nolo helps connect business owners with the right local attorneys, too. Much of the information provided to clients has been authored by various legal professionals, many of them lawyers themselves.
Negative reviews for Nolo are often centered on lackluster customer service. Clients complain that Nolo fails to resolve certain billing disputes and issues surrounding the printing of materials. While many of the reviews are from clients who own small businesses, some of the reviews are focused on attorneys using the Nolo platform to help generate leads.
The Competition
The services provided by Nolo provide solutions for companies seeking all types of legal help in regard to business law. Nolo is met with fierce competition, however, and some competitors are a better fit for certain types of legal situations, like when businesses are looking to incorporate themselves. There are some competitors who also beat Nolo on costs for certain legal services.
Nolo Alternatives
Nolo’s database helps connect clients with the right attorneys. The network asks you for the contact information for your business as well as a description of your legal problem. After being provided with that information, Nolo provides you with the contact information for three attorneys that are best matched for helping you with your legal issue.
Avvo, however, may be a better alternative for helping clients connect with local lawyers. The database for Avvo is much larger, with over 5,000 registered attorneys, while Nolo only features a little over 60. Avvo’s database may seem overwhelming at first glimpse, but there are plenty of filters to use for more tailored search results. For example, with Avvo, you can filter results based on years of experience, zip code, and more. This type of search experience can make all the difference when trying to connect with an attorney who best matches the needs of your company.
Legal Zoom
Businesses that require occasional legal assistance or legal forms from time to time might best be served by Nolo. Businesses that require more frequent or more extensive legal help, however, might prefer the assistance provided by Legal Zoom.
All types of legal support are provided by Legal Zoom based on clients paying a monthly service fee. Clients are even provided with unlimited phone sessions with local business lawyers. A subscription with Legal Zoom is of great value if your company consistently requires the help of local attorneys. Nolo vs LegalZoom
IncFile
Clients launching new businesses are not best serviced by Nolo. Even the LLC formation offered by Nolo comes with a cost that is more than what other sites charge. Businesses looking to incorporate themselves are best served looking elsewhere.
IncFile represents the most inexpensive option for businesses seeking out incorporation. The company charges a flat rate plus the filing fees for the state in which you reside. Registered agent service is provided to clients at no additional cost. The registered agents are responsible for accepting mail on behalf of clients.
Final Thoughts
As a self-help legal portal for owners of small businesses, Nolo accomplishes its mission. The company has been successful in producing and providing a large number of legal resources to clients in need. They help provide solutions to many small business owners searching out legal expertise in relation to business law and personal questions they may have. Not only does Nolo do all of this for its customers, but it provides these services at affordable prices.
Certain types of businesses may find cost savings choosing a Nolo competitor. Companies looking to incorporate are encouraged to seek out a competitor. While Nolo faces stiff competition in Legal Zoom, IncFile, and more, the company has accomplished its objectives thus far. Its database of resources serves to shed light on dozens of complicated legal matters that business owners face day today.
If you want better access to local attorneys and a wealth of information written regarding business law but written in laymen’s terms, Nolo is your go-to resource. A monthly subscription to Nolo could provide you access to unlimited resources that help you grow your business into the future.