Nolo, formerly known as Nolo Press, is a publisher in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

, that produces do-it-yourself legal books and software that allows people to handle simple legal matters such as making wills or writing business partnership contracts. Its areas of focus include

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage ...

employment law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

, tenant and landlord issues,

wills Wills may refer to: * Will (law) A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the pr ...

trusts A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "settl ...

and

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

. Even though Nolo encourages consumers and small business owners to handle their own legal matters when it is reasonably feasible to do so, the company recommends getting professional legal help for disputable or difficult matters. The company was founded in an attic in 1971 by Ralph Warner (a graduate of

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

's Boalt School of Law) and family law attorney Ed Sherman. The company's logo shows the scales of justice tilted in favor of the reader, and includes the motto "LAW for ALL."

History

In 1971 Ed Sherman wrote ''How to Do Your Own Divorce in California''. He and Ralph Warner discovered that established publishers wouldn't publish the book because they feared being prosecuted for practicing law without a licence. In response Sherman and Warner created Nolo Press and published it themselves. They then started publishing additional do-it-yourself legal guides under the Nolo Press name. The Latin word "nolo" in the original company name ("Nolo Press") could be taken to mean "I would prefer not to." Warner and Sherman thought this name was appropriate since they had only started a publishing business themselves after their first do-it-yourself guide was turned down by established publishers. In 2006, Nolo began publishing a directory of attorneys, which is asserted to operate on the principle that both participating lawyers and consumers are better served by a relatively short list of qualified attorneys under each category (business law, real estate, etc.), with much information for side-by-side comparisons. In 2006 Nolo retired its unofficial shark mascot on the company's 35th anniversary. Some older Nolo publications had featured the shark wearing a necktie and carrying a briefcase – showing the company's fondness for poking fun at their fellow members of the legal profession. This mascot was often accompanied by the motto "Don't feed the lawyers. Just say Nolo." In 2011, the company was purchased by

Internet Brands MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands is an American new media company based in El Segundo, California, United States, that operates online media, community, and e-commerce sites in vertical markets. The company also develops and licenses internet ...

, Inc. Ed Sherman founded his own legal publishing business, Nolo Press Occidental, a separate company from Nolo.Nolo Press Occidental
corporate history webpage

Products and services

Since its inception in the early 1970s, Nolo's primary focus has been publishing self-help legal guides designed to assist anyone in finding plain-language answers to common legal questions. The company is also the creator of Quicken WillMaker software, which allows individuals to create do-it-yourself

, powers of attorney and other

estate planning Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person's life, for the management and disposal of that person's estate during the person's life, in the event the person becomes incapacitated and after death. The planning inc ...

documents.

Complaints from lawyers

Although the company's products conspicuously recommend the reader to engage a lawyer for difficult or contended matters, the company has nevertheless drawn the ire of some legal organizations. Publication of Nolo's first book, ''How to Do Your Own Divorce in California'', was condemned by the Sacramento Bar Association, which led to a huge increase in its sales. In 1997, the Texas Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (a committee of the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

) opened investigations on Nolo and similar publishers, inquiring as to whether their publications constituted practicing law without a license. Saying that the investigation was "the first step toward widespread state censorship", Nolo sued, seeking a

declaratory judgment A declaratory judgment, also called a declaration, is the legal determination of a court that resolves legal uncertainty for the litigants. It is a form of legally binding preventive by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal ma ...

that its publications were legal. It was joined in the action by the

American Association of Law Libraries The American Association of Law Libraries "is a nonprofit educational organization with over 5,000 members nationwide. AALL's mission is to promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities, to foster the professio ...

and the

Texas Library Association The Texas Library Association (TLA) is a charitable non-profit group that promotes libraries in Texas. It was founded in 1902. TLA is affiliated with the American Library Association (ALA) and has more than 6,000 members made up of librarians and ...

. In response, the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ar ...

enacted HR 1507, which expressly exempted websites and textbooks from accusations of practicing law without a license, providing they "clearly and conspicuously state that the products are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney". In light of this, the court committee dropped its contest of Nolo's suit.

References

{{Webby Awards, cat=Money, year=1998, type=Nominee Book publishing companies based in Berkeley, California Publishing companies of the United States Publishing companies established in 1971 American legal websites Online companies of the United States Online legal services Legal organizations based in the United States