RELAUNCH - site, courses, and start-up package.

We, at The Florida Association of LegalDocument Preparers (FALDP) are proud to announce exciting changes throughout our organization. We have refined and redesigned our courses in anticipation of our site-wide RELAUNCH. Many legal document preparers spend years in paralegal studies programs only to discover, upon graduation, that there are no paralegal jobs available. Or, even worse, many discover that the paralegal jobs that are available don't pay enough to justify their years of academic training. So, many would-be paralegals discover that its time to use their entrepreneurial skills and open up shop as legal document preparers. As small business owners they soon discover that they are their own favorite boss of all time. Once their legal document preparation business takes off -- they never look back.

We've added value to our popular Turn Key Business Bundle. Our start up package now includes even more tools to help you build a successful business. We have worked long and hard to develop a business start-up package for a legal document preparation business.

Turn Key Business Bundle

$878.00 Value for Only $499.00

• A Limited Liability Company, documents prepared and ready to file with the state - $89.00 Value

• One year Premium Membership into FALDP - $65.00 Value

• Online Course - Introduction to Florida Legal Document Preparation - $99.00 ValueOnline Course - your choice - Preparing Florida Divorce Documents; OR Bankruptcy Chapter 7; OR Living Trust & Estate Planning Documents – up to $220.00 Value

• A custom website and top-level domain - a $330.00 Value
• One month of unlimited mentoring – a $50.00 Value

• A press release written for you to announce your new company - priceless.

• Marketing - our Gorilla Baby package, two weeks internet advertising on eight of the most popular online portals - $25.00 Value.
  

                                  Online Courses - Descriptions

Our courses can be part of the Turnkey Business Bundle or taken one at a time. They are targeted primarily towards legal document preparers who want to increase their business income by adding services. People who are new to the industry and want to learn how to prepare Florida legal documents must begin with the INTRO course. Likewise, people who are coming in from other states, even those with experience, must enroll in the INTRO course before joining our association. Consumers are also invited to take our courses.

INTRO to Florida Legal Document Preparation - $99.00 (INTRO-310)
Preparing Florida Divorce Documents - $220.00 (DOM - 202)

Living Trusts & Estate Planning - $99.00 (LT - 312)
Bankruptcy Basics – Chapter 7 Personal Bankruptcy - $149.00 (BK – 127)

Free Basic Membership with paid tuition for INTRO -310 – a $40.00 Value. This special membership fee, for new members only, is available until December 31, 2012. So hurry. All memberships renew on June 1.

Introduction to Florida Legal Document Preparation (INTRO) discusses the legal document preparation industry - including business structure, name choice considerations; and various business models and structures . No prior paralegal training is required. INTRO also stresses compliance and avoiding the unauthorized practice of law (UPL).There are required assignments, but no exam. INTRO is mandatory for inexperienced document preparers, and for document preparers relocating to Florida from other states, who seek FALDP membership. Tuition - $99.00

Preparing Florida Divorce Documents (DOM -202) is a nuts and bolts course based on Florida Supreme Court approved forms for pro se litigants. Each of the different types of divorce situations is discussed. Upon successful completion, students receive a Course Completion Certificate. Entirely self-paced, students work around their own work and family schedules. Tuition - $220.00

Living Trusts and Estate Planning (LT-312) is appropriate for both document preparers and consumers. For a limited time, consumers who purchase a Living Trust document package through our site, after successfully completing LT-312, will be rebated 100% of their tuition. We know that informed consumers are the best customers; we strive to help consumers make informed decisions. We offer a revenue sharing plan for FALDP members who successfully complete LT-312. - $99.00

Bankruptcy Basics - Chapter 7 Personal Bankruptcy (BK-127) shows consumers and document preparers how to start over with a clean financial slate. This foundation course introduces learners to bankruptcy terminology; types of bankruptcy; eligibility; Florida exemptions; means test; and do's and don'ts for Bankruptcy Petition Preparers. BK-127 is completely self-paced, and is appropriate for consumers and legal document preparers. Tuition - $149.00

Due to the dismal economy many consumers cannot comfortably afford attorneys fees for routine legal matters. The services of legal document preparers are becoming increasingly more acceptable as our industry gains credibility. The services of legal document preparers are now considered a “perfectly acceptable legal solution” rather than just a good enough, or, better than nothing, legal solution.


Whether you are new to the legal document preparation industry or want to expand your services, the Florida Association of Legal Document Preparers is here to help. Registration for our online courses is open. Please visit:  http://www.faldp.org/

Call today - Toll Free

800-515-0496

                                                          
We, the members of the Florida Association of Legal Document Preparers, deeply believe that it is the right of all American consumers to have access to the legal system, regardless of income or education. It is our mission to deliver well researched legal information to consumers.

The FALDP mission embodies our quest and our goals. We offer legal information; and document preparation assistance. We hope that by educating consumers about their legal rights -- we will have done our part to give others hope.

The FALDP mission is a journey. We have only begun, there is much to do. We hope that the confidence gained through education and knowledge will empower consumers, so they may have a fighting chance to enforce or pursue their rights in a court of law.

The Perfectly Acceptable Legal Solution – Better Than Good Enough

When faced with a legal question, the immediate problem is the difficulty in knowing which specific course of action is the right course. Many consumers tackle this by educating themselves. For example, a divorcing couple is almost always faced with multiple decisions that may affect the rest of their lives, and the lives of their children.

Hiring an attorney could be a possibility. But, for many consumers, the costs are so high, that hiring an attorney cannot even be considered. Pro bono legal help is nearly non-existent. Legal aid resources are spread so thin that many who qualify are turned away. Like it or not, many consumers have no other choice, but to go pro se.

Information about divorce and family law is readily available online through the wonders of the internet. But – there is so much information now, the next problem is that consumers must sort through the zillions of web pages that come up. Information overload in the information age.

The Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Bar graciously create and publish cookie cutter forms for family law matters. Sadly, (or not so sadly for legal document preparers), the cookie cutter forms and their accompanying instructions are confusing for many pro se litigants. They are written so that a reading level above high school level is needed to comprehend them. The difficulty of understanding the forms and instructions; the unfamiliar subject matter; the stress of divorce; and the importance of the matters at hand create multiple hurdles for the average pro se. The more mentally agile and motivated consumers become adept at leaping through the flaming legal hoops to reach their personal family legal goals – divorce, child custody, family adoption, property settlement, child support, and so on.

Enter the Florida legal document preparer. The Florida Bar would prefer we call ourselves – non lawyers. I rather like the term – Unlawyer – but it hasn't quite caught on yet. Legal self help, pure legal DIY, and the use of legal document preparers is often referred to “in the literature” as “good enough” legal services. I would like to change that term. I think the “good enough” term is damning with faint praise, a backhanded compliment. I prefer the term – perfectly acceptable legal services. As in – documents prepared by legal document preparers are perfectly acceptable. Or this standard form is perfectly acceptable. Now doesn't that sound better than “good enough”? Wouldn't a consumer be happier to purchase perfectly acceptable legal services than good enough legal services?

According to a recent article by Michael DeBord on Southern California Public Radio, www.scpr.org - “LegalZoom IPO: Be afraid, lawyers! Be very afraid!”

“The legal professional is being totally re-arranged by the economic downturn. Law firms have imploded. Law school grads — who used to be able to bank on fat salaries in exchange for 100-hour work weeks at big firms, if they attended top programs ... — are struggling to find jobs. Law is no longer the often-boring but generally reliably lucrative escape hatch it once was for decades of career-confused liberal arts majors.”

LegalZoom announced that it will be going public soon. According to reports, in 2011 490,000 orders were placed through their website; over two million customers have been served over the past decade; and their revenue in 2011 was $156 million. In addition to their legal document services LegalZoom now offers attorney legal services by subscription.

The benefit for consumers and for legal document preparers everywhere is that LegalZoom's high media profile brings credibility and legitimacy to the legal document preparation industry. They are successfully paving the way for other online document preparation providers to market their services more aggressively. And there is plenty of room for plenty of players, niche businesses, and support companies.

With legal fees averaging $200. per hour, consumers increasingly welcome legal document preparers services as – perfectly acceptable. Much better than good enough.