LegalZoom tried to go public in 2012 and gave up. It filed an S-1, waited, and withdrew it in January 2014. Seven years later it tried again. The company sells the legal paperwork most people dread: forming an LLC, writing a will, filing a trademark. It does this online, at a set price, and brings in a lawyer only when needed. When it listed in June 2021, a pandemic boom in new small businesses was filling its pipeline.

Legal Forms, Flat Fees

LegalZoom started as a California company in 1999. Its founders included the lawyers Brian Liu, Brian Lee, and Edward Hartman, and the well-known trial lawyer Robert Shapiro. The bet was that most legal tasks for small businesses follow a pattern. Software and trained staff could handle the routine part, and an independent attorney could step in when the law required one. Customers paid less, and they knew the price up front.

Second Time Lucky

After the first IPO stalled, LegalZoom stayed private for seven more years. Its second offering priced at $28 a share in June 2021, and the stock listed on Nasdaq under LZ. LegalZoom kept its executive offices in Glendale, California, and ran operations from Austin, Texas. It added subscriptions for ongoing legal and tax help. LegalZoom still trades on Nasdaq as LZ.

Cover: Two Lawyers, Honoré-Victorin Daumier. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for two lawyers (law without the lawyer bill).