Over-the-Counter Advice

These are our people," says Stephen Meyers, 38, co-founder of Jacoby & Meyers Law Offices. He is talking about the middle-class folks who had never before ventured into a lawyer's office but who now flock at the rate of 100 a month to each of the 27 J & M branches situated in Montgomery Ward stores throughout California. One reason for the heavy traffic is the firm's industry-leading television advertising budget: $1.7 million in 1980. Typically, the spots stress J & M's $20 consultation fee and the written estimate of future charges. The firm's most popular service, divorce, usually costs $200 (vs. $500 at a conventional firm).

The other inducement is the handy and informal office, which may be located anywhere Ward has room--near the credit department, say, or cheek by dowel with carpentry tools. Clients commonly bring in problems involving family law, traffic tickets, personal injury or wills. Since so many of these troubles tend to fit patterns, J & M can rely heavily on standard legal forms. As a result, the lawyers, who generally have at least four years of experience, can handle cases more quickly--the key to any clinic's low fees. To make payment even less painful, J & M accepts credit cards.

The success of the year-old experiment has not gone unnoticed. Zayre department stores, a 250-unit Eastern chain, have teamed up with lawyers in Ohio and Florida to open offices at three of its outlets and plans to develop others. Starting in January, 70 of H & R Block's 9,000 tax-preparing offices will offer lawyers, provided by the Cleveland-based Hyatt Legal Services. Meantime, a variation on department-store law offices is getting a trial in the Philadelphia area.

A six-storefront chain, Legal Service Center of Arkans & Levin, found a way to cover a wide territory with one movable office: Partners Peter Levin and Steven Arkans put the essentials inside a 22-ft. converted mobile home, painted their phone number (LEGAL 44) on the sides and launched it on a circuit of some 20 shopping centers.

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