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Updated: Quicklegal | Comstock's magazine
`
`https://www.comstocksmag.com/web-only/updated-quicklegal
`
`From left: Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, Derek Bluford and Velocity Capital General Partner
`Jack Crawford. Bluford’s business, Quicklegal, won the Sacramento Kings Capitalize
`competition in April. (Photography courtesy of John Jacobs)
`
`Updated: Quicklegal
`
`Need legal advice? Comprehensive app gives support with attorneys-on-demand
`
`BACK
`
`WEB ONLY
`
`JUN 6, 2016
`
`By Russell Nichols
`
`Update (4/2021): Quicklegal CEO Derek Bluford was sentenced to seven
`years in prison for wire fraud, money laundering and other charges,
`according to the Sacramento Business Journal.
`
`Update (2/2018): Quicklegal was named our Startup of the Month in
`June of 2016. Shortly after, we became aware of legal proceedings
`against Quicklegal. You can read more about the settlement
`
`1 of 6
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`

`

`Updated: Quicklegal | Comstock's magazine
`
`https://www.comstocksmag.com/web-only/updated-quicklegal
`
`judgement and the original complaint. In a statement to Comstock’s,
`CEO Derek Bluford said, “I had an employee who impersonated me. He
`defrauded me, our company and one of our clients.” In January of 2018,
`Derek Bluford was convicted of fraud.
`
`Derek Bluford was in eighth grade when his single mom got into legal
`trouble. She had gotten injured at her prison job and couldn’t work full-
`time. Disability assistance wasn’t enough to cover utilities, food and rent,
`and they were about to get evicted from their duplex rental in Elk Grove.
`
`But through a friend of a friend, they connected with a lawyer.
`
`“He pulled up in a nice car, a genuinely nice guy, and he helped us be able
`to stay at our house,” Bluford recalls. “He was Superman for me.”
`
`Bluford grew up wanting to help rescue others from such legal problems.
`But instead of flying solo, he chose to use the power of modern technology
`to harness the abilities of attorneys nationwide. In 2014, Bluford created
`Quicklegal, a cloud-based legal practice management system, where
`lawyers can offer on-demand advice to customers with legal questions.
`
`Print Recipe
`
`View Recipe Now!
`
`Customers can submit one question for free. Each additional question
`costs $25. Or they can video chat with an attorney for $40 per 15 minutes.
`So far, Bluford says, more than 30,000 customers have used the app, most
`
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`

`Updated: Quicklegal | Comstock's magazine
`
`https://www.comstocksmag.com/web-only/updated-quicklegal
`
`of them fledgling entrepreneurs with basic questions: How do I start my
`business? Should I be an LLC or a sole proprietorship? Should I have
`investors?
`
`The app allows customers to select a legal specialty. It also connects them
`with an attorney near them, which is crucial because certain laws vary
`from state to state. “Some state laws prohibit the way an attorney can
`interact,” he says. “We’ve decided to adjust our technology to meet each
`state’s requirements.”
`
`In January, he relaunched the app after six months of beta testing with
`added features for attorneys. Originally, Bluford says, the startup served
`only as a lead generator for attorneys. With the new version, attorneys can
`use Quicklegal to manage all of their cases and documents, take their state
`required CLE (continued legal education) courses and receive full
`malpractice insurance coverage.
`
`Attorneys pay $499 to be a part of the platform, which has an Uber-like
`review system for customers to leave feedback. After three negative
`reviews, an attorney can be barred from the network. As of May 2016,
`1,800 attorneys have registered. One of them is Kirill Tarasenko.
`
`Based in Sacramento, Tarasenko Law Office works with more than 100
`clients and handles civil litigation, primarily personal injury cases.
`Tarasenko was looking for a cloud-based management solution when he
`came across Quicklegal. He has answered questions from customers
`online, but has not done any live interactions yet.
`
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`

`Updated: Quicklegal | Comstock's magazine
`
`https://www.comstocksmag.com/web-only/updated-quicklegal
`
`Tarasenko says he tried cheaper software options before, but none
`matched Quicklegal’s bundle package that includes practice management,
`legal research and malpractice insurance.
`
`“As a knee-jerk reaction, most would
`say $499 is too much,” he says. “But if
`you break down the multitude of
`services, it’s considerably less than if
`you were to piecemeal each of those
`services separately.”
`
`Elk Grove native Derek Bluford
`founded Quicklegal, an app where
`lawyers offer on-demand advice.
`(Photography courtesy of Derek
`Bluford)
`
`Quicklegal generates about $150,000
`a month, Bluford says, adding that
`he’s just $300,000 short of his goal to
`raise $3 million from investors. In the
`beginning, he funded the startup
`himself. He invested the $500,000 he made from selling his first business,
`which focused on small claims services and evictions. Since then, Bluford’s
`had a solid winning streak.
`
`At Techweek Los Angeles in 2014, Quicklegal beat out 2,000 companies in
`a pitch contest to win best new app, which he says earned $180,000 from
`sponsors. Bluford went through the Founders Space incubator program in
`San Francisco and then the 500 Startups Program, which he says invested
`
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`

`

`Updated: Quicklegal | Comstock's magazine
`
`https://www.comstocksmag.com/web-only/updated-quicklegal
`
`$125,000. In April, Quicklegal took the top prize of $10,000 at Capitalize,
`the new local tech startup tournament put on by the Sacramento Kings and
`Velocity Venture Capital.
`
`Of the $3 million goal, Bluford says 80 percent will go to marketing and
`advertising while the rest pays for offices, payroll and insurance. With so
`much momentum, he says two of the largest legal service companies have
`already approached him with acquisition offers. But Bluford wants to focus
`on scaling up his Sacramento-based startup right now.
`
`“The objective is really to spread this company and bridge the gap between
`consumers and attorneys,” he says. “I believe in the law and we need to get
`some of it back on track.”
`
`Editor’s note: Comstock’s recently became aware of legal proceedings
`against Quicklegal. You can read more about the settlement
`judgement and the original complaint. In a statement to Comstock’s,
`CEO Derek Bluford said, “I had an employee who impersonated me. He
`defrauded me, our company and one of our clients.”
`
`5 of 6
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`

`

`Updated: Quicklegal | Comstock's magazine
`
`https://www.comstocksmag.com/web-only/updated-quicklegal
`
`6 of 6
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`

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