Laymans for Market Research
Laymans holds the only comprehensive, county-level legal services marketplace data in America - and we believe in transparency.
Whether you're setting competitive rates, identifying underserved practice areas, understanding client demand patterns, or deciding where to expand your firm - Laymans provides market intelligence that no traditional legal research platform can offer. Our data comes from real transactions, real searches, and real legal needs across every county in the United States.
Academic & Research Partnerships
Are you a researcher, journalist, or academic institution? We honor requests for aggregate, anonymized marketplace data at cost. Contact us to request custom datasets.
Why Laymans is Different From Traditional Market Research
Traditional legal market research platforms like Statista, IBISWorld, or specialty legal analytics firms provide valuable industry-level data - but they don't focus on pro se litigation or the unbundled legal services marketplace. They analyze BigLaw trends, corporate legal spending, and national statistics. They can't tell you:
- What legal services are most in-demand in your specific county
- How much competitors charge for document review in your practice area
- Which legal issues are trending in your local community
- What percentage of searches result in service purchases
- Which underserved populations need legal help but can't find it
Laymans tracks the granular, hyper-local market reality of everyday legal needs.
Our platform generates unique jurimetric and marketplace data because we sit at the intersection of:
- Pro se litigants searching for affordable legal help
- Legal professionals offering unbundled services
- Movements and class actions organizing around systemic issues
- Real-time transactional data from service purchases, searches, and case creation
Data Philosophy
We believe informational market failure drives legal service costs higher. When clients don't know what services cost, and lawyers don't know what clients can afford, negotiations fail and access to justice suffers. Transparency benefits everyone.
What You Can Research on Laymans
1. Service Demand Patterns
Understand what legal services people actually need - not what they think they need, but what they search for, bookmark, and purchase.
| Research Question | How Laymans Helps | Actionable Insight |
|---|---|---|
| What services are trending in my county? | Search by county filter and observe most-searched topics | Identify practice areas with unmet demand |
| What issues bring people to the platform? | Review Movement applications and Campaign topics | Understand systemic issues affecting your community |
| Which services convert searches to purchases? | Track marketplace activity and service reviews | Focus on high-conversion services |
| What clerical services do clients need most? | Analyze purchases of e-filing, notary, translation services | Bundle complementary offerings |
How to start:
- Localize to your county
- Search for your practice area (e.g., "family law", "eviction defense")
- Sort results by popularity or most recent to see trending topics
- Observe which casefiles, movements, and services appear most frequently
Example: Discovering Housing Crisis Demand
A solo attorney in Brooklyn used county-level search to discover:
- 40% of searches in their area related to eviction defense
- Most clients searched for "emergency eviction help" (not "landlord-tenant law")
- Clients bookmarked step-by-step guides more than attorney profiles
- Insight: Created an affordable "Eviction Answer Package" service for $500, became top-reviewed provider in 6 months
2. Competitive Pricing Intelligence
See what other legal professionals charge for specific services in your market - not billable hours, but fixed-price unbundled services.
Laymans marketplace pricing is transparent by design:
- Every service lists expected billable hours and total cost
- Clients can compare services across firms
- Reviews indicate whether final invoices matched quoted prices
- You can see average service costs by practice area
Key pricing research capabilities:
| Market Research Goal | Strategy on Laymans |
|---|---|
| Benchmark your rates | Compare your service pricing to similar offerings in your county |
| Identify pricing gaps | Find practice areas where services are overpriced or unavailable |
| Test price sensitivity | Observe review patterns on high-priced vs. low-priced services |
| Understand unbundling trends | See which full-service offerings competitors break into discrete tasks |
How to research competitor pricing:
- Navigate to Solutions on the homepage (the Marketplace)
- Search for specific services (e.g., "contract review", "motion to dismiss")
- Review service cards showing hours and total cost
- Click Reviews to see client feedback on pricing transparency
- Visit organization profiles to see full service catalogs
Pricing Strategy Insight
Laymans uses an "Uber-style" pricing model: clients pay the quoted average upfront, then receive adjustments via invoice. Services with transparent, accurate quotes get better reviews and higher conversion rates.
3. Client Needs & Search Behavior
Understand the language clients use to describe their legal problems - which rarely matches legal terminology.
The Laymans search system uses AI-powered semantic search, meaning:
- Clients find relevant results even when using "wrong" legal terms
- Search queries reveal how real people describe legal problems
- Search history shows query refinement patterns
- Bookmark behavior indicates what resources resonate
Research applications:
Discovering Client Language Patterns
Clients rarely search for "breach of contract" - they search for:
- "company didn't pay me for work"
- "landlord broke the lease agreement"
- "contractor never finished my kitchen"
By observing search queries and casefile titles, you can:
- Optimize your service descriptions to match client language
- Create educational content that answers real questions
- Advertise services using terms people actually search for
Example: Instead of listing "Post-Conviction Relief Motions", a criminal defense attorney advertised "How to Clear Your Record After a Conviction" - increasing inquiries by 60%.
Understanding Client Preparation Levels
By reviewing casefiles and cases created by potential clients, you can understand:
- What evidence clients typically have when they contact you
- Common misconceptions about legal processes
- How organized (or disorganized) their documentation is
- Which resources they've already tried
Insight: Offer "Case Organization Consultation" as an entry-level service to assess whether clients need full representation or just document review.
4. Underserved Markets & Expansion Opportunities
Identify geographic and demographic gaps in legal service coverage.
Laymans serves all 3,143 U.S. counties - including rural areas, tribal lands, and communities traditionally ignored by legal tech platforms.
Market gap research strategies:
| Research Goal | Methodology on Laymans | Business Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Find counties with high demand, low supply | Search by county, observe service scarcity | Consider remote service offerings or travel clinics |
| Identify underserved practice areas | Review Movements with few participating attorneys | Develop niche expertise |
| Discover unmet clerical service needs | Analyze which non-legal services clients purchase most | Partner with service providers or build internal capacity |
| Understand movement organizing trends | Follow movements to see collective legal issues emerging | Position yourself as movement counsel before issues go mainstream |
Example geographic analysis:
- Localize to a rural county (e.g., rural Montana)
- Search for "family law services"
- If results show zero local providers, that's an expansion opportunity
- Review Movements and Campaigns to understand demand volume
- Decide whether to offer remote consultations or monthly in-person clinics
Small Team, Big Vision
Laymans is currently a small team. If you request custom aggregate data reports for market research, please be patient with response times. We prioritize academic, press, and public interest research requests.
How to Conduct Market Research on Laymans
Step 1: Define Your Research Question
Before diving into data, clarify what you want to learn:
- Pricing research: "What do competitors charge for X service in Y county?"
- Demand research: "Are people searching for X legal issue in Y area?"
- Gap analysis: "Which services are unavailable in underserved counties?"
- Client behavior: "What resources do clients bookmark before contacting attorneys?"
Step 2: Use Search and Filters Strategically
Laymans search is your primary research tool:
- Start with broad search - e.g., "employment law"
- Localize to your target county - e.g., Cook County, IL
- Use sort options to analyze patterns:
- Popularity: What services/resources are most viewed?
- Recent: What issues are trending now?
- Most Used: What resources do clients actually use in their cases?
- Most Saluted: What content does the community value most?
- Review multiple result types:
- Casefiles: What evidence/resources do clients share?
- Services: What offerings exist? What's missing?
- Movements: What collective issues are organizing?
- Seminars: What educational content is available?
- Organizations: Who serves this market?
Step 3: Analyze Service Marketplace Data
Navigate to Solutions on the homepage to browse the marketplace:
- Browse by category - Family law, criminal defense, housing, employment, etc.
- Click on services to see detailed pricing, hours, and descriptions
- Read reviews to understand client satisfaction and pricing transparency
- Visit organization pages to see full service catalogs and team credentials
- Compare across counties by changing your localization
What to look for:
- Average price points for common services
- Service bundling strategies (e.g., "Divorce Starter Package")
- Which clerical services are bundled with legal services
- Gap between service supply and demand (many searches, few services)
Step 4: Follow Organizations and Movements
Stay updated on market trends:
- Follow legal organizations in your practice area to see when they post new resources or services
- Apply to observe Movements (even if not participating as counsel) to understand collective legal issues
- Track Campaigns to see what legal problems drive fundraising activity
Step 5: Request Custom Aggregate Data
For in-depth research projects:
- Academic research: Studying pro se litigation trends, legal service pricing, access to justice metrics
- Journalism: Investigative reporting on legal services markets, consumer protection
- Public interest research: Policy analysis, community legal needs assessments
We provide anonymized, aggregate data at cost to support transparency in legal markets.
How to Request Custom Data
- Navigate to Research Opportunities
- Submit a request describing:
- Your research question
- Data fields needed (e.g., service pricing by county, search volume by issue type)
- Intended use (academic publication, journalism, policy advocacy)
- Timeline and budget
- Our team reviews requests and provides cost estimates
- Data delivered as CSV, JSON, or custom format with documentation
Note: We prioritize requests that advance public understanding of legal service markets and access to justice.
Practical Use Cases for Legal Professionals
Solo Practitioners: Finding Your Niche
Challenge: Competing with established firms in saturated markets.
Laymans research strategy:
- Search for high-demand, low-supply services in your county
- Identify practice areas where search volume exceeds service availability
- Review casefile comments to understand client pain points
- Create specialized, affordable service offerings targeting unmet needs
Example: A new attorney in Los Angeles discovered high search volume for "small business contract review" but few services under $1,000. Created a "Startup Legal Checkup" service for $750, became top-rated in 4 months.
Small Firms: Expansion Planning
Challenge: Deciding whether to open satellite offices or expand practice areas.
Laymans research strategy:
- Compare service demand across multiple counties using localization filters
- Analyze competitor density and pricing in target markets
- Review Movement activity to identify emerging practice areas
- Assess whether remote service delivery could serve underserved counties
Example: A three-attorney firm in Phoenix used county-level data to identify 12 rural Arizona counties with zero family law services. Launched monthly "traveling clinics" offering fixed-price consultations and document services, expanding client base by 40%.
Legal Aid Organizations: Resource Allocation
Challenge: Limited budget requires strategic prioritization of services.
Laymans research strategy:
- Analyze search data to identify most-requested services in your service area
- Review casefile and campaign data to understand community legal needs
- Identify gaps between client needs and available pro bono resources
- Use marketplace data to understand market-rate costs for comparison
Example: A legal aid nonprofit discovered that 30% of their county's searches involved consumer protection issues, but only 10% of their casework addressed it. Reallocated resources to hire a consumer protection specialist and saw client satisfaction increase by 25%.
Law Schools & Clinical Programs: Curriculum Development
Challenge: Teaching students about real-world legal needs, not just theory.
Laymans research strategy:
- Review trending legal issues and service demand in your region
- Analyze client language patterns to teach effective communication
- Use marketplace pricing data to discuss access to justice economics
- Incorporate Movement case studies into clinical education
Example: A law school clinic in Detroit analyzed Laymans search data and discovered high demand for expungement services. Created a student-run "Clean Slate Clinic" offering free record-clearing assistance, serving 200+ clients in the first year.
Why Laymans Supports Market Transparency
Our philosophy: Legal services are expensive partly because of informational market failure.
When clients don't know:
- What services should cost
- What services they actually need
- How to evaluate attorney competence
- What alternatives exist
And when attorneys don't know:
- What clients can afford
- What competitors charge
- What unbundled services are viable
- Which markets are underserved
Negotiations fail. Costs rise. Access to justice suffers.
By making marketplace data transparent and accessible, we aim to:
- Reduce information asymmetry between clients and attorneys
- Enable competitive pricing based on real market conditions
- Identify underserved populations and incentivize service expansion
- Support evidence-based policy around legal service delivery
This benefits everyone: Clients get affordable, appropriate services. Attorneys compete on quality and value, not information advantage. Communities get legal needs met.
Getting Started with Market Research
| Step | Action | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Create your free account | Start Registration |
| 2 | Learn to search effectively | Conducting Your First Search |
| 3 | Localize to your target market | Localize to Your County |
| 4 | Explore the marketplace | Browse Services |
| 5 | Follow organizations and movements | Find and Follow Organizations |
| 6 | Request custom data (optional) | Research Opportunities |
Research Tools & Features
| Tool | Purpose | Learn More |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Powered Search | Semantic search reveals client language patterns | How to Search |
| County Localization | Hyper-local market analysis across 3,143 counties | Localize Laymans |
| Service Marketplace | Transparent pricing data for unbundled legal services | Browse Marketplace |
| Organization Profiles | Competitor analysis and service catalog review | Find Organizations |
| Movements & Campaigns | Understand collective legal issues and demand patterns | Movements |
| Search History | Track your research queries and revisit findings | Manage Search History |
| Bookmarks | Save relevant marketplace data and resources | Manage Bookmarks |
Start Researching Today
Laymans is free to use for market research. You only pay when you purchase services or request custom data exports. Create an account and start exploring the only platform with county-level legal marketplace intelligence.