Accessing affordable legal advice and information in South Africa is a challenge for most people. But two women entrepreneurs are about to change that with the launch of their new online platform pop.law which will be a portal to a range of affordable legal products and services. Personal experiences and inside observations left co-founders Claire Keet Pollock and Sinal Govender disappointed with South Africa's legal system - enough to drive them both to do something about it independently. When they met, Claire was designing a web app to help people navigate the legal aspects of death; Sinal was running a consultancy focused on cost-effective legal advice. They realized that they were trying to solve the same problem - access to the law - and so they launched pop.law.
pop.law is an online platform democratizing law for everyday people, across Africa, by leveraging partnerships and technology to educate and offer affordable, personal digital legal services.At pop.law the team offers affordable, accessible digital legal products and services. Legal consultations are all done digitally or over the phone. pop.law leverages digital technology to provide 'face-to-face' and personalized legal counsel without the high overheads of a brick and mortar law firm. They meet everyday people where they are, providing legal education and resources on what law firms would consider more 'unconventional' touch points - like Zoom, Instagram TV, social media and WhatsApp!
So what makes pop.law different in the marketplace? When everyday South Africans have legal questions and problems, they want - and deserve - affordable, empowering and personal legal help. However, access to individual legal help is gate kept by affordability and accessibility. These factors drive people to self-navigate free online resources or use automated, ‘hands-off’ services without any proper guidance from a qualified lawyer. Walking into a law firm feels intimidating and expensive and is therefore avoided. pop.law is different (and better!) because it combines 'New Law' technology with the individual counsel of 'Big Law'. Leveraging technology allows the team at pop.law to drive costs down, which in turn allows the team to offer one-on-one legal help otherwise inaccessible to everyday South Africans. Because pop.law is neither 'New Law' nor 'Big Law', but yet combines the best parts of both, the team have freely redefined what it looks like to 'speak to a lawyer', keeping everyday people, their budgets and their needs central to that experience.
“I moved away from “Big Law” and all things related to it, especially the billable hour, to focus on meaningful engagement with clients. In between being a lawyer, writer, and speaker, I spend my time eating avo toast and standing up for others: millennials, entrepreneurs, any underdog and especially the furry kind.”
Claire and Sinal launched pop.law on the first day of South Africa's national lockdown. In fact, pop.law has never lived a life outside lockdown! For that reason, the business has not yet had an official 'launch event' and the team aren't sure when they will be able to.
In terms of aspirations for the new product or service at pop.law, Claire and Sinal want their products and services to positively change the way that everyday people perceive lawyers and the experience of getting legal help. They want their affordable, accessible products and services to break down the barriers that usually prohibit access to legal help. Their goal is to democratize the law. All of pop.law’s legal products and services are offered through digital platforms and can be found through the website: www.poplaw.co.za.
“I’ve designed and run a few businesses across a weird and wonderful range of industries. The common thread weaving my career together is the use of design as a powerful tool to solve problems for people. In between startups, I’m usually thinking of my next one or learning from other people about theirs.”
Find out more
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL claire@poplaw.co.za
