Terms and limits

What we are, and what we are not.

This page is a plain-English summary written to be understood, not a completed set of terms of service. Binding terms, a privacy policy and the limited-scope engagement letter are being finalised with counsel before this service accepts its first client. If you are reading this before that happens, nothing here is an offer to provide any service.

Dozen Lawyers is not a law firm

We do not practise law. We do not give legal advice. We cannot tell you what to do in your case, whether your argument is good, or whether you should settle. Nobody who works here is your lawyer.

What we provide is software: a workspace, drafting and research assistance, a deadline calendar, a document vault, and a way to hire a licensed attorney by the task.

The attorney is your lawyer. We are not their firm.

Attorneys on this platform are independently licensed and independently responsible for their own work. When you engage one, an attorney-client relationship forms between you and them, governed by a written limited-scope engagement letter that names exactly which tasks are covered.

Inside that scope they owe you everything a lawyer owes a client: competence, confidentiality, loyalty, and their own independent professional judgment. They are required to exercise that judgment, including by refusing to sign something they think is wrong.

Outside that scope, you are representing yourself. They are not managing your case, not tracking your deadlines, and not appearing at any hearing you have not separately engaged them for.

We take no share of any legal fee

Attorney fees are set by the attorney and paid to the attorney in full. We never take a percentage, a placement fee, or a referral fee, and attorneys pay us nothing to be on the platform. Our revenue is the client subscription and the one-off matter activation fee, both of which are payments for software and document services.

This is not generosity. Fee-sharing between lawyers and non-lawyers is prohibited under ABA Model Rule 5.4 and its state equivalents, and it is the arrangement that ended Avvo Legal Services. Structuring around it is what makes this lawful.

Not everyone here is an attorney

Some people on the platform hold a law degree but are not yet admitted to any bar. They are shown as law clerks, they may only do research and drafting as supervised work product, and they may never advise you, sign anything, or be presented to you as your lawyer. The platform enforces this rather than relying on anyone to remember it.

The AI is a tool, not a lawyer

The drafting and research assistance in this product is generated by software. It makes mistakes, including confident ones. It can invent case citations that do not exist. Never file a citation you have not read yourself (see the playbook). Nothing it produces is legal advice, and nothing it produces has been reviewed by a lawyer until an attorney reviews it.

Deadlines are yours

We build a calendar and we send reminders, and we work hard at it because missed deadlines are how most self-represented people actually lose. But the responsibility for knowing and meeting your deadlines is yours. Court schedules change, rules vary by judge, and a reminder can fail to arrive. Verify your dates with the court.

Where this service is available

Limited-scope representation is permitted in most but not all United States jurisdictions, and the rules on disclosing attorney assistance differ from state to state. We only accept matters in states where we have verified attorneys and where the arrangement is permitted. If your state is not supported, we will say so rather than take your money.

What we do with your information

  • Your documents and case information are yours. You can export everything at any time.
  • We do not sell personal information, and we do not use your matter to train AI models.
  • Attorneys see only what is necessary: an unclaimed review shows the matter type, state and document length. Full contents become visible once an attorney claims it and is bound to you by confidentiality.
  • Communications with your attorney through this platform are intended to be privileged, but privilege is determined by courts, not by us. Do not treat any system as a guarantee.
  • We keep records of what was sent and signed, because a limited-scope representation depends on being able to show what the scope was.

Cancelling

One click, from your own settings, at any time, with no phone call and no retention offer. Cancelling stops future charges. Fees already paid to an attorney for work already done are between you and them.

When you should not use this

  • Criminal matters. Your liberty is at stake and there is a public defender system. Use it.
  • Emergencies. If something is due tomorrow, call a local attorney now.
  • Personal injury. Those lawyers work on contingency and cost you nothing up front.
  • Matters you cannot face doing the work on. That is a real and reasonable answer, and full representation is what you need.

Complaints

About the software or a charge: . About an attorney's conduct: tell us, and also tell their state bar, which is the body that actually regulates them. We will give you their bar number and jurisdiction, which you already have from the moment you engaged them.