Anyone who has legal problems, for example with their landlord or employer, often needs quick advice. It makes sense to search the Internet. Online legal advice and lawyer portals are becoming increasingly important. But how useful is it to consult a lawyer online? Are the offers serious?
Finanztest examined five online legal advice platforms and two online law firms – with mixed results. On the one hand, it was about the quality of responses to test cases and, on the other hand, for example, ease of use, data protection regulations and costs. The overview helps you find out which provider is right for you.
Why comparing online legal advice is worth it for you
Test results
Website experts evaluated the ease of use of the portals. Furthermore, legal experts examined the general terms and conditions and data protection declarations.
The best provider for you
In addition to criteria such as ease of use, the quality of advice is important. No vendor was convincing in all five test cases, and some did not provide any useful answers.
Model cases
For five specific case examples from key areas such as employment, contract and lease law, we present sample solutions and evaluate supplier responses. Sober: The quality ranged from exemplary to spectacularly wrong.
Magazine article in PDF
After activation, you will receive the Finanztest 7/24 magazine article for download.
All test results for online legal advice
unlock
Portals Provide Lawyers
The five online legal advice platforms mediate between those seeking advice and lawyers. Both online law firms themselves have lawyers working for them. The test clarifies how good the technical quality of the answers is. As Test table You can quickly compare the form and process of legal advice, the costs and the number of lawyers available. You can also see what additional services are offered and how we evaluate the general terms and conditions and data protection declarations.
Users can influence costs
Providers have different pricing models. In some cases, users can indicate how much online legal advice is worth to them. For example, you can use a slider to set how quickly and detailed the legal information you want. These portals also establish a minimum price for clarifying legal issues online. Only on one portal is there a free, non-legally secure, written initial assessment. Other platforms only send a price offer for legal information after the order is placed.
The quality of online legal advice was mixed
For all online legal advice portals in the test, Finanztest lawyers asked legal questions about five typical and specific cases and checked the lawyers’ answers. The cases came from the areas of labor law, contract law, tenant law, traffic law and banking law.
The quality of advice varied. With online portals, it largely depends on the individual lawyer how good or bad the legal advice is – just like with the law firm around the corner. No supplier was convincing in all five cases and some did not provide any useful answers.
Find a suitable lawyer
Whether an online lawyer is a real, perhaps cheaper, alternative to the law firm around the corner cannot be stated in general terms. It is crucial that users find legal advice tailored to their individual case. Is finding a good lawyer a gamble? The test report also contains tips for finding a lawyer and shows in the PDF booklet the amount of legal fees for the test cases.
Legal technicians and legal protection insurance
In later studies, the Stiftung Warentest also carried out several so-called Tested “Legal Technologies”. They promise cost-effective, automated advice and help, for example when drafting a will or in a dispute with the travel supplier. If you would like legal protection insurance, you can find it here Legal protection insurance comparison also information about how lawyers evaluate the settlement behavior of insurance companies.