LegalZoom.com Inc v. Rocket Lawyer Incorporated

Filing 37

OPPOSITION re: MOTION for Summary Judgment 31 filed by Defendant Rocket Lawyer Incorporated. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Evidentiary Objections, # 2 Separate Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, # 3 Declaration of Paul Hollerbach with Exhibits A-C)(Jones, Michael)

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Forrest A. Hainline III (SBN 64166)
[e-mail]
Hong-An Vu (SBN 266268)
[e-mail]
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
Three Embarcadero Center, 24th Floor
San Francisco, California 94111
Tel.: [phone]
Fax.: [phone]
Michael T. Jones (SBN 290660)
[e-mail]
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
135 Commonwealth Drive
Menlo Park, California 94025-1105
Tel.: [phone]
Fax.: [phone]
Attorneys for Defendant
ROCKET LAWYER INCORPORATED

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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WESTERN DIVISION

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LEGALZOOM.COM, INC., a Delaware
corporation,
Plaintiff,

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v.
ROCKET LAWYER
INCORPORATED, a Delaware
corporation,
Defendant.

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LIBA/2432403.3

Case No. 2:12-cv-09942-GAF-AGR
DECLARATION OF PAUL
HOLLERBACH IN SUPPORT OF
ROCKET LAWYER'S OPPOSITION
TO MOTION FOR SUMMARY
JUDGMENT
Date:
Time:
Judge:
Courtroom:

October 21, 2013
9:30 a.m.
Judge Gary A. Feess
740
255 East Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Action Filed: November 20, 2012

DECLARATION OF PAUL HOLLERBACH

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I, Paul Hollerbach, declare as follows:

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1.

I am the chief financial officer (“CFO”) of defendant and

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counterclaimant Rocket Lawyer Incorporated (“Rocket Lawyer”). I submit this

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declaration in support of Rocket Lawyer’s Opposition to Motion for Summary

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Judgment filed by LegalZoom.com, Inc. (“LegalZoom”). I am over the age of 18

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years. Unless otherwise indicated, I have personal knowledge of the matters stated

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herein and, if called upon to do so, I could and would competently testify to them

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under oath.

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2.

I have been CFO of Rocket Lawyer since September 2012. As the CFO

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of Rocket Lawyer, I am primarily responsible for managing the financial aspects of

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Rocket Lawyer’s business. However, I am also familiar with the services Rocket

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Lawyer provides its customers. I interact on a daily basis with all departments in

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Rocket Lawyer. In addition, as part of my role as CFO, I have access to Rocket

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Lawyer’s business records, including communications kept in the ordinary course of

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business. I have personal knowledge of the facts contained herein unless specifically

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stated otherwise.

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3.

In 2007, Rocket Lawyer entered the market in a new way by providing

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comprehensive online legal service, including legal information, electronic

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signatures, access to advice from licensed attorneys, and cloud storage for legal

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documents—many of which are free or included in a subscription plan.

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4.

Rocket Lawyer employs a “freemium” model, which means that free to

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all users are a number of legal forms, letter templates, and informative articles about

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many areas of law.

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5.

Rocket Lawyer’s subscription plans provide access to all of Rocket

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Lawyer’s legal software, enabling users to create, edit, store, e-sign, download,

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print, or share with an attorney for review all legal documents created on

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Rocketlawyer.com.

LIBA/2432403.3

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6.

The Rocket Lawyer service has always been built on a cloud-

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computing platform that helps consumers to satisfy their legal needs without waiting

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for delivery of a physical document by mail.

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7.

Rocket Lawyer has served approximately nine million registered users,

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meaning that nine million email addresses have been provided by users to Rocket

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Lawyer.

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8.

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Over 90% of these registered users have never paid anything to Rocket

Lawyer for use of its services.
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Like the Internet itself, the Rocket Lawyer service is constantly

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progressing in support of its mission to make legal help affordable to everyone.

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Attached hereto as Exhibit A are true and correct copies of various screenshots,

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taken from archive.org and which archive.org posts as representative samples of

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Rocketlawyer.com’s homepage from 2007 to the present.

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10.

At the time the complaint was filed, Rocket Lawyer offered two types

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of subscription plans—a Pro Legal Plan with premium access to all Rocket Lawyer

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functionality, and a Basic Legal Plan, which excludes only the functionality related

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to forming or running a business.

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11.

Similar to free trials offered by many consumer businesses, any

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consumer could try a Basic or Pro Legal Plan and all services available under the

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selected plan, for seven days at no cost, provided that the consumer canceled the

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plan by the end of the seventh day. Attached hereto as Exhibit B are screenshots of

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other free trials offered by consumer facing businesses Microsoft, Amazon, Turbo

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Tax, Netflix and SiriusXM.

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12.

However, even if a consumer cancelled the free trial, he would continue

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to have full access to Rocketlawyer.com for the remainder of the trial period, and

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have post-trial access to any documents created during the trial.

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A typical user would enroll in a free trial by clicking on a search engine

ad such as an ad for a legal document.
-2LIBA/2432403.3

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The link would direct the user to an interactive interview for the

document.
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At the end of the interview, the user had the option to enroll in a free

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trial or a paying plan. Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a screenshot of the options

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available to a user at the end of a document interview on Rocket Lawyer’s website

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around the time that the original complaint was filed in November 2012.

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If the user elected to enroll in a free trial, the user would be taken to a

web page explaining the Pro or Basic Legal Plan.
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These explanatory web pages were also available through Rocket

Lawyer’s homepage and other channels.
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At the time the complaint was filed and presently, Rocket Lawyer

provided incorporation and entity formation filing services.
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Rocket Lawyer charges no fee for its services in assisting in the filing

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and processing of incorporation or entity formation papers submitted by free trial or

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paying Pro Legal Plan members.

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20.

Rocket Lawyer does not retain any portion of the state mandated fees

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associated with incorporation or forming an entity. Instead, Rocket Lawyer, through

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a third party, passes on all fees collected to the state where the user seeks to

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incorporate or form an entity.

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To my knowledge, other businesses that may not charge a fee for

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incorporation or entity formation filing services but still charge state fees include

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Law Depot, Incforfree, and MyCorporation.

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Rocket Lawyer’s subscription plans include access to Rocket Lawyer’s

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On Call attorneys who can provide legal advice or live consultations, answer written

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questions, and/or review legal documents.

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Outside of the On Call program, Rocket Lawyer registered users,

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whether on a free trial or a paid legal plan, can contact an attorney for a free

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consultation at any time.
-3LIBA/2432403.3

EXHIBIT A

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EXHIBIT B

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EXHIBIT C

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