All 50 states, entirely remote
A legal document desk that lives entirely on the internet
Online legal services deliver legal work through the internet instead of an office: you describe the matter or upload the document, a licensed professional produces the deliverable, and it comes back to you electronically. The category spans self-service templates, subscription plans, incorporation platforms, and attorney document desks, and the entire question of choosing well is knowing which of those four you are actually buying.
Legal Tank is the fourth kind: licensed attorneys drafting and reviewing documents at fixed quotes, with free templates and tools for what does not need custom work. No representation, no court appearances, and no filing services, on purpose.
How an online legal services platform actually works
Four steps, no office, no phone tag. The platform's job is to move a confidential document between you and an attorney without either of you commuting.
- 1
Describe the matter
The intake asks what the document must accomplish, who the parties are, and which state governs. Upload anything relevant; everything lands in an encrypted portal, not an inbox.
- 2
One fixed quote back
A quote states the deliverable, the price, the revision allowance, and the delivery date, usually within one business day. Nothing is billed until you approve it.
- 3
Attorney does the work
A licensed attorney with the matching specialty drafts from your facts or reviews what you uploaded, against the law of the governing state.
- 4
Delivered, editable, yours
The finished document comes back through the same portal in editable form, with included revisions if something needs adjusting. You sign it, send it, or hand it to counsel.
The security question matters more online than off. Documents here move through an encrypted portal with access limited to the attorney on your matter, never through an open email thread, and files are deleted on request once delivery is confirmed.
Online legal services companies: the four kinds, and which job each one fits
The companies in this market look interchangeable from the ads and are not. They divide cleanly by what you walk away holding: a state filing receipt, a membership, a form, or a finished attorney-made document.
Incorporation and filing platforms
LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer, and their peers industrialized business formation: pick an entity, they assemble the paperwork and submit the state filing. Strong at the standardized transaction, thin the moment your terms leave the template. Legal Tank does not compete here; we do not file anything.
Subscription legal plans
LegalShield-style memberships sell ongoing access: a monthly fee buys consultations, letters, and limited document review through a provider network. Sensible for recurring small questions; an odd fit for a single document. Covered in depth on the prepaid legal services page.
Template libraries and form builders
Self-service documents assembled by questionnaire. Cheap, instant, and exactly as good as the match between your situation and the template's assumptions. Fine for standard matters; risky where terms are custom.
Attorney document desks
The category this site belongs to: licensed attorneys drafting and reviewing specific documents at fixed quotes, delivered through a portal. Built for the document that has to be right, without selling representation, subscriptions, or filings alongside it.
Two of those categories have full pages here: the subscription model is unpacked on the prepaid legal plans explainer, and if price is the deciding factor, the guide to affordable legal help shows the cheapest safe route for each kind of matter.
What legal work moves online cleanly, and what never will
Legal paper is location-independent; advocacy is not. Drafting a contract, reviewing an agreement before signature, preparing a will, writing a demand letter, all of it depends on facts and governing law, neither of which lives in an office, so the online version of the work is simply the work. What stays offline is the courtroom: appearances, contested hearings, and anything requiring an advocate admitted in the jurisdiction. Some execution formalities, certain notarizations and witness requirements, also still happen in person under state rules, after the drafting is done.
Handled entirely online here
Custom drafting across 150+ document types through the attorney drafting service, redline-and-memo checks through online document review, and business paper through the contract desk.
Not sold here, online or otherwise
Court representation, appearances, negotiation on your behalf, and filing with courts or state agencies. When a matter needs those, we say so plainly and you retain counsel; the documents we prepare are delivered ready for you or your attorney to use.
The free layer: online legal tools and attorney-verified templates
A fair amount of legal work needs no attorney at all, and an honest platform gives that layer away. The attorney-verified template library covers 150+ standard documents as free downloads, and the interactive legal calculators and generators handle jobs like estimating a settlement range or assembling a simple notice, no account required. Start free; escalate to attorney work only when your facts stop being standard.
The template-or-attorney test in one line: if you can answer every blank in the form without hesitating, the template is probably enough; the moment a blank makes you think "it depends," that is custom work.
Legal Tank is not a law firm and does not provide legal representation, court appearances, or filing services, online or otherwise. Documents are drafted or reviewed by licensed attorneys and delivered for your own use; no attorney-client relationship is formed. When a matter needs an advocate, retain licensed counsel in your jurisdiction.
Put your document in front of an attorney, from wherever you are
Describe the matter once. A fixed quote with turnaround and included revisions comes back within a business day, and the whole engagement runs through the secure portal.
Get your quote onlineOnline legal services FAQ
Are online legal services legitimate?
The good ones are, and the test is the same one you would apply offline: is a licensed attorney doing the legal work? State bar licensure follows the lawyer, not the office, so an attorney drafting your agreement through a portal is exactly as real as one drafting it across a desk. What changes online is everything around the work, no office visit, faster intake, fixed quotes instead of hourly billing. What to verify before paying: that a named licensed attorney drafts or reviews the document, that the provider states plainly whether it is a law firm, and that your files move through a secure portal rather than open email.
What is the best online legal service?
Best for what job? For forming an LLC with state filing handled for you, the incorporation platforms like LegalZoom built that assembly line. For quick self-service forms, template libraries are cheap or free. For unlimited quick questions, subscription plans like LegalShield sell access by the month. For a specific document that has to be right, a contract, a demand letter, an agreement, a will, a specialist drafting desk where licensed attorneys prepare the instrument at a fixed quote is the tool built for the job. Mismatching the provider to the job is how people end up disappointed.
How much do online legal services cost?
The market runs in tiers. Self-service templates run free to under a hundred dollars. Subscription legal plans typically charge a monthly fee in streaming-bundle territory. Custom attorney document work is usually quoted per document in the hundreds, depending on complexity, which still sits far below traditional hourly firm rates of $200 to $500 and up, because you are buying a defined deliverable instead of open-ended time.
Can a lawyer review my documents online?
Yes, and review is arguably the service best suited to the online model: you upload the document, a licensed attorney reads it against your side of the matter and the governing state named in it, and you get back a marked-up version with plain-English notes. Nothing about that workflow benefits from a physical meeting. The one thing to insist on is a secure upload portal, since the document you want reviewed is usually confidential.
What legal things cannot be done online?
Anything that requires a person to stand in a particular room. Court appearances, contested hearings, and depositions need an advocate admitted in that jurisdiction, physically or by the court's own remote procedures. Some documents also still demand in-person execution, notarization or witnesses under certain state rules, though the drafting of those documents happens online just fine. The reliable division: producing and reviewing legal paper is location-independent; advocacy and formal execution are not.