Forbes Magazine, May 3, 1999
TRANSPARENTEYEBALL
"to see a world in a grain of sand"
Legal Grinds may look like Starbucks at first but they are all state-bar-certified. You want a tort with that latte?
THESE DAYS a lawyer will bill you for a message left on his voice mail and then bill you when you call to contest the over billing. No wonder most folks might avoid having coffee with their counsel.
Jeffrey Hughes is out to change that. Legal Grind, Hughes' California-based chain of coffee bars, may look like a dressed-down Starbucks on the outside, but the stores actually are legal referral centers, state-bar-certified and staffed in part by lawyers. This fact doesn't deter customers. "People actually come here for the coffee," Hughes asserts. But most come for legal counseling or a referral.
Since 1996, Hughes says, Legal Grind has hosted more than 10,000 lawyer consultations. He started the business just three years out of law school, deciding he would rather serve espresso than subpoenas. Unprepared to turn his back on the law, he borrowed $35,000 and set up a coffee shop with a layman's legal library and a cappuccino machine. Customers seemed to like the mix of coffee, legal advice and bad puns: Hughes serves up "Café Lawtes." His idea caught on, and he opened a second shop last December. Both stores offer a full line of coffee and pastries as well as lawyers who will give a consultation at rate that is easier to swallow than a trip to your average firm: $20 per session. Coffee included.
Hughes currently is raising funds to open more java joints nationwide. And he is launching a nationwide legal referral service on his Web site, www.legalgrind.com. Hughes won't say how much he's making yet, but he points to more lucrative upside than coffee. He gets up to 10% of any damage award for customer he refers to a member attorney. So far, there are a handful of cases seeking $500,000 or more. "We do not do pro bono work," he says.
-B.P.
