The Wal-Mart of Law Firms Might Be Wal-Mart

As an economist, this sounds pretty awesome to me:

Introduced in 2009, My Community Legal Network scoured through millions of legal and financial professionals looking for the most knowledgeable and sophisticated providers. Then we took the collective bargaining power that comes from millions of Americans and negotiated wholesale prices from these top professionals. We take these discounted rates and offer them directly to our members. There is no markup; only the best professionals at the best prices. My Community Legal Network currently only offers services in the United States but has plans to expand these services to Canada, Mexico, and South America by the end of 2010.

Elie Mystal at Above the Law isn't too happy about this, but it could be a tremendous boon to people seeking low-cost, routine legal services -- if it takes off. Of course, you can't really blame Elie for being upset -- I don't think she or most of my friends had Wal-Mart in mind when they decided to go to law school...

Look for some heavy lobbying for regulations to stop these kinds of low-cost services in the near future.