This article was written by our friends at Lawya.com. Lawya is an example of legal tech, which takes new technology and new approaches to the practice of law to common problems. Lawya are looking for students to work with them - see the link below for more information.
The problem:
From landlord disputes to employer issues, there are countless times in our lives where we encounter confusing, stressful and daunting legal issues. Many of us feel that we have no choice but to reluctantly accept the consequences of the decisions made by others - whether an employer chooses to make us redundant, or a landlord refuses to return our deposit. Even if these decisions feel unfair, most of us are simply not equipped with the legal intel we need to ensure our rights are safeguarded.
Except in the most serious of situations, ordinary people have tended to avoid enlisting the help of a lawyer at all costs. The legal industry is often seen as inaccessible and intimidating, with fees that leave legal advice out of reach to so many. This is epitomised by the fact that 98% of all potential legal cases are abandoned - largely due to the time, cost and stress involved in disputing issues (and hiring a lawyer to do so).
The tech solution:
While so many aspects of our lives are enhanced by affordable tech solutions, why should access to legal advice remain exclusively for the privileged few? Legal tech company Lawya are on a mission to change all this and seek to shake up the legal industry once and for all.
Lawya realised that accessing legal advice can be just as easy as ordering a taxi, selling your clothes or getting a takeaway. So, they have developed a free mobile app providing straightforward legal help at the click of a button.
Through tailored questions, the Lawya interface provides clear, broken down guidance to assist everyone in understanding their rights in a whole host of situations from rent arrears to redundancy payments.
Right now Lawya is live to the world - responding to the swell of legal questions arising from the confusion created by the coronavirus pandemic. But this is really just the first version. As the team expands, they will keep improving what they offer, catering for as many different legal issues as possible as they try to be the law firm that’s not a law firm.
Think you’ve got what it takes to break down the barriers to legal advice?
Lawya is looking for motivated Legal Contributors to help further our mission to make law accessible to everyone! We hope to offer contributors a unique opportunity to acquire commercial and legal experience in a growing tech startup (and hopefully have some fun along the way!)
Contributors can get involved in a whole host of activities - from legal research to writing blog posts, recording podcasts or even acting as ambassadors for their institution. What’s more, we are also very flexible. So whether you want to help out a day or two a week, only in the evenings around studying, or just for a couple of weeks, however you’d like to be involved, we’d love to hear from you.
Interested? Click here to fill out the application form.