April 2008

Neither Eva nor Terry Martin have a law license. Both might be considered populists. The Martins have a store in Cincinnati that caters to consumers who might have legal problems or issues. Several years ago, the couple purchased a franchise from We The People USA, Inc. (WTPUSA). The WTPUSA website, http://www.wethepeopleusa.com/, proclaims:

SAVE ON THE HIGH COST OF LEGAL FEES! We The People is the only national system of Legal Document Preparation stores and has been in existence for over 20 years; we have helped over 600,000 customers with their legal needs. We help consumers represent themselves (pro se litigation) in uncontested legal matters by preparing/typing the necessary legal documents to court standards. We offer high quality, accurate and affordable legal document preparation. By doing it themselves, consumers usually save 50-70% of the typical fees and costs. We The People serves customers who cannot afford the high cost of attorney fees, as well as those who can - and simply choose not to. The company offers more than 50 common legal documents, including divorce, living trusts and incorporation. Do It Yourself…Not By Yourself! 

WTPUSA franchises retail stores throughout the United States. According to the WTPUSA website, a franchise requires a total investment of between $123,200 and $169,500. Promotional information targeted to potential franchisees boasts that “When you join the We The People network, you join forces with a group of entrepreneurial individuals who want to work within the $100 billion legal industry. No legal background is necessary, just your desire to help people help themselves. Each We The People franchisee operates within an exclusive, geographical area. Your We The People franchise will entitle you to the use of information exclusively authored and copyrighted for the purpose of delivering basic legal document services from your Store.” The corporate business model offers completed legal forms for use in basic, uncontested legal matters. During the course of their store operations, the Martins use workbooks, prepared by WTPUSA, that are essentially questionnaires pertaining to specific legal problems such as bankruptcy, divorce, dissolution, and probate. The customer is supposed to select the appropriate workbook for his or her particular problem or transaction and fill out the workbook. The store then forwards the completed workbook to a WTPUSA “processing center”, which incorporates the information into completed legal forms. The completed forms are then returned to the store for delivery to the customer. The store collects a fee from the customer and pays 25 percent of the fee to WTPUSA for its work. The Martins are not employees of WTPUSA, and they have no business relationship with WTPUSA other than through their franchise agreement. WTPUSA itself owns no stores in Ohio, and its only Ohio franchise is the Martins' store, We The People of Cincinnati. The Martins have taken out advertisements in local newspapers for their We The People of Cincinnati store. They claim to have been following WTPUSA's suggestions when they placed advertisements that stated, “"No Lawyers! Save Money”. The advertisements offered "Living Trusts [for] $399" and listed the advantages of living trusts. They also offered various forms, including forms for wills and powers of attorney. They also offered divorce for $349, bankruptcy for $199, and incorporation for $399. Additionally, the Martins have in the past advertised services and prices on their website, including divorce, $349; dissolution with children, $349; dissolution without children, $249; qualified domestic relations order with joinder, $449; Chapter 7 bankruptcy, $199; and bankruptcy amendment, $99.

The Martins ran into problems with the Ohio State Bar Association in regard to five different customers of their retail establishment: Larita Walters, Barbara Krull, Bonita Bullock, and Rosemary and Jeremy Helton. The Walters and Krull matters are probably the most representative in terms of the type of problems that consumers can face when dealing with a franchise operation like We the People. Walters was having financial problems and sought help from the Cincinnati We The People operation managed by the Martins. Terry Martin advised her which We The People workbook she should complete for purposes of filing a personal bankruptcy petition with the United States Bankruptcy Court. Martin answered the questions of Walters and her husband regarding disclosure of financial assets, and he told her that she must give a complete disclosure of her assets and debts. Martin further advised Walters that she need not list her husband's income on her bankruptcy filings. Walters, following Martin's counsel, did not include information about her husband's income but listed only income she received and expenses she paid. After filing her bankruptcy petition, however, Walters returned to the Martins and reported that the bankruptcy trustee had requested changes to certain schedules of the petition. In an e-mail to the Martins, a WTPUSA processing-center employee wrongly claimed that Walters had failed to list exemptions in the original workbook that was sent to the processing center. The processing center requested that she complete another workbook so that revised schedules could be produced, and Martin instructed Walters and her husband to fill out additional workbooks. During this process, he continued to advise Walters in order to help her provide information requested by the bankruptcy trustee. Martin also reiterated to Walters his advice that a listing of her husband's income was not necessary. The bankruptcy trustee, however, questioned Walters about her failure to list her husband's income. The trustee also requested that Walters amend one of the schedules on her bankruptcy petition. Walters raised these questions to the Martins, who in turn raised the issues with the WTPUSA processing center. James McCasland, a WTPUSA employee working at the processing center, sent an e-mail to the Martins and advised the franchisees to instruct Walters to revise certain schedules so that McCasland could do an amendment. McCasland later sent another e-mail to the Martins, stating: "There is no exemption amount for the house. One can only exempt equity, the liens are greater than the value; [y]ou have no equity to exempt." The WTPUSA processing center then prepared amended documents containing the requested information and sent them to the Martins. The Martins charged Walters $199 for the initial services and an additional $99 for the amendments to the bankruptcy petition. Walters demanded a refund for the time and money spent correcting the errors in the initial bankruptcy filing. Martin declined to refund Walters' money and referred her to a WTPUSA representative. In response to a complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau in Cincinnati, Martin conceded that the WTPUSA processing center had made an error on Schedule C of Walters's bankruptcy petition. As to the Krull situation, Barbara Krull and one of her daughters went to the We The People of Cincinnati store after Krull's husband died. Terry Martin advised Krull as to the probate paperwork to be filled out and filed with the court. The Martins instructed Krull to follow the workbook concerning the appropriate people to list as heirs on the forms and who was to receive notice of the filings. When Krull questioned the listing of certain names, Martin told her that she had to list them so that they could not contest the will. After the WTPUSA processing center returned the completed forms for Krull's probate application, the Martins reviewed and revised the documents before they were filed with the court. The Krulls paid the Martins a fee of $399 for the services. However, the workbook and other materials provided to Krull did not clearly communicate that Ohio estates below certain values are eligible for relief from administration. The materials also failed to explain the valuation of joint property interests. Hence, the Krulls did not realize that they should have filed a request for relief from administration, rather than a probate application. The erroneous filings caused the Krulls unnecessary expenses.

After the Ohio State Bar Association began investigating the store’s practices, the Martins admitted that they gave advice to people about their legal rights, including aid in preparing and completing documents, and charging fees for these services. The Martins also admitted giving similar advice and services for fees to various other, unnamed retail customers. WTPUSA admitted engaging in the unauthorized practice of law in connection with the Walters and Krull matters. Specifically, WTPUSA acknowledged that McCasland engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when he sent e-mails advising Walters about her bankruptcy petition. In regard to the Krull matter, WTPUSA admitted advising the Martins, who in turn advised the Krulls, concerning the preparation and appropriateness of certain probate forms. Noting these admissions, the Supreme Court of Ohio concluded that the Martins, We The People of Cincinnati, WTPUSA, and others engaged in the unauthorized practice of law by giving legal advice and assisting individuals in preparing legal pleadings and other documents. The Court enjoined the defendants from committing similar conduct and "all other acts constituting the practice of law" in the future. Fines and civil penalties were imposed totaling $22,000.

The featured case is Ohio State Bar Ass'n. v. Terry and Eva Martin , 118 Ohio St.3d 119 (April 23, 2008).