How to empower people to solve their own legal problems | Rohan Pavuluri

Visit to watch more groundbreaking talks from the TED Fellows.

If you can't afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you, right? Not in US civil court. From high legal fees to confusing paperwork and expensive lawyers, it can be difficult to settle civil matters. Entrepreneur and TED Fellow Rohan Pavuluri is working to streamline cumbersome legal processes with an app that empowers people to solve their own legal problems.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.

Become a TED Member:
Follow TED on Twitter:
Like TED on Facebook:
Subscribe to our channel:

TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy ( ). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at

20 Comments on How to empower people to solve their own legal problems | Rohan Pavuluri

  1. There’s an alternative to going bankrupt.
    An agreed settlement.
    When my first business failed my accountant asked me to sell all the business assets and give him the money. He then rang all creditors and offered 10% in full settlement of the debt. I was now debt free, but not a bankrupt.

  2. Our country has a constitution that demands that the people must be able to understand the laws and defend themselves in court, which puts demands on the lawmakers. If a law is deemed not understandable, it is not valid. I thought it obvious.

  3. “A financial shock [read: medical bill] can ruin your life.” As a European, this always sounds surreal to me and I hope this systemic issue can be solved in the U.S. some day.

  4. Hi, I’m Brasileiro
    I am watch this video to improve my lesening in ingles.
    Forgives to my mistakes.
    I’m not in advanced level still

  5. I remember being able to buy a catastrophic health care plan in 2000 for… ready for this? About $100.00/mo. It covered emergency room visits, cancer treatments, and a yearly physical.

  6. I appreciate the sentiment in principle. The brass tacks however is that even for a skilled attorney, the practice of law is a laborious process, *someone* has to do that work. The cost of just communicating with the other side in manner that is professional and productive is a challenge. Never mind actually preparing and filing motions, agreements, etc. What would have them do? Just dump the mess in front of the judge and let him/her sort it out like you’re doing taxes at H&R Block? A courtroom is a like a hospital emergency room, everyone thinks their issue is the most important and the waiting room is always full. There is literally no end in sight.

    Not everything can be condensed into a fancy spreadsheet app. Kudos to you for pulling that off. Generalizing it to something like say family law or criminal law requires a bit more nuance. Things that could be improved and this is just off the top of my head:

    1. e-file all things and online access to the court’s copy of all filings
    2. A tutorial on court room procedure. Who’s the petitioner and respondent? Who gets to use letters in their exhibit list and who has to resort to numbers?
    3. Enclosure letter samples and procedure for communicating with the other side
    4. offer video/phone as the default hearing medium instead of in person
    5. forgo notarizing documents, it’s so archaic. Signing under the pains and penalties of perjury is enough
    6. Provide example forms for *everything*. NH actually does a great job at this. For family law anyways

    Ultimately people hire attorneys for the same reasons they hire plumbers. Their respective domains require considerable training and tools to be effective in a time frame that matters. You don’t DIY it when your septic is backing up into your basement. You don’t have the time nor the expertise to do the job right. So… Back to my opening statement, who’s going to do the work? Or are we all entitled to free plumbers too?

  7. This is a noble cause and I hope they extend it to other family or civil matters as stated (i.e. divorce.) It could become especially useful if laws change regarding student debt which can affect which jobs you qualify for and which can result in lower income bracket. Which perpetuates the cycle of poverty despite being educated. There are a few ignorant a$$holes in the comments who clearly lack the intelligence to conceive of how a person may not afford or qualify for insurance coverage or other resources which is also state specific and while you might meet the income threshold, if you don’t have children the state is not as concerned about how or if you have access to resources. Over the years the variability in forms of coverage and increased rates for coverage complicate the whole notion of “good coverage.” How many pple ever predict they will need longterm care?

  8. I agreed with everything this guy said in his ad (and make no mistake, this WAS a full-on advertisement disguised as a TED Talk), until he tried to make it a race issue. If he want to make the case that the legal system discriminates against poor people, fine. If he wants to make the case that black and brown people are overrepresented in lower economic statuses, fine. But you can’t skip to claiming the legal system is racist because the middle parts have some truth to them. People lose all credibility when they engage in that sort of sensationalism.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


Shares
Share This