What We Do
At Legal Consumer, we believe you should have access to quality information about the legal issues affecting your life. Whether you’re facing financial difficulties, health concerns, or trouble at your job, we want to help you find the resources you need. Our websites are written by lawyers and designed to give you accurate, relevant information for your location.
Our Story
Legal Consumer began in 2006, when owner and founder Albin Renauer created Bankruptcy by Zip Code. As a coauthor of Nolo's How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (now in its 20th edition), Albin spent years trying to make filing for bankruptcy as easy and non-threatening as possible. In 2005, the U.S. Congress enacted sweeping bankruptcy law changes to make filing for bankruptcy costlier and intimidating. When that law passed, Albin vowed to do something about it. Legal Consumer was the result.
Albin wanted anyone considering bankruptcy to be able to quickly and easily find the full range of resources available them:
- free information
- low-cost, high-quality books
- online services
- form preparation services, and
- full-service bankruptcy lawyers.
Bankruptcy by Zip Code endeavors to gather and organize all that information and present it in one place.
When Albin founded Legal Consumer, he never imagined it would be only about bankruptcy. Over time, he wanted to cover other areas where localized information could help people get the rights and benefits they deserve. In addition to the bankruptcy website, Legal Consumer now offers comprehensive, local information on:
- Obamacare (Health Insurance)
- Inheritance Law
- Unemployment Law
- Minimum Wage and Overtime Law
- Child Custody Law
- Exercising Your Rights in a Democracy
- Student Loans and Repayment Options
And there is more to come!
Who We Are
Legal Consumer is growing. Albin’s one-man show is taking shape as a collective of smart lawyers with decades of experience delivering plain-spoken legal and practical information to the people who need it.
Albin Renauer, Founder and Owner
Albin is the owner of Relational Vision, LLC, the company that owns and operates Legal Consumer. He’s a web designer, writer, programmer, and computer geek. He’s also a lawyer and a member of the California Bar Association. (Because he focuses on putting the largest amount of useful information into the hands of the greatest number of people, he doesn’t take individual cases.)
Albin earned his law degree and was a Law Review editor at the University of Michigan Law School (Go Blue!). After dabbling in public interest law in San Francisco in the early 80's, he joined the staff of the late Chief Justice Rose Bird for her final two years on the California Supreme Court.
When Justice Bird lost her confirmation election in 1986, Albin wanted to use computers to make the legal system more accessible. With that in mind, he began a fruitful 17-year relationship with Nolo, the pioneering do-it-yourself legal publisher in Berkeley, California. At Nolo, Albin researched, edited, and wrote law books; developed legal software; managed the Nolo website (winning a Webby Award); and developed a keen interest in exploring new ways to harness the power of the Internet and relational databases to make legal information easier to find and use.
In 2004, Albin left Nolo and soon after launched Legal Consumer to explore new ways to "mash-up" Internet technology with relational databases to deliver high-quality, useful, localized legal information to consumers. The topic of bankruptcy was a natural subject to start with, given his 15+ years as a coauthor of Nolo's book on Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Although he lives in California, Albin’s Midwestern roots run deep. He grew up in the Detroit area and is a fanatical Detroit Tigers fan. Being raised in a working class family in the so-called "rust belt," then attending an elite college and law school, gave Albin a personal view of two very different worlds -- and the understanding that the legal system is too expensive for many people. This understanding motivated Albin to create Legal Consumer, a company that wants to make your legal tasks -– and your life –- easier.
LegalConsumer's Writing Team
Deborah C. England
Deborah England is a practicing attorney who represents employees whose rights have been violated, and she is the author of books and articles on employment law issues. Her Legal Consumer websites include Unemployment Law by Zip Code and Minimum Wage and Overtime Law by Zip Code.
Lisa Guerin
Lisa Guerin has been an employment lawyer in government, public interest, and private practice, and she was written numerous books and articles on workplace topics for Nolo Press. Her Legal Consumer websites include Unemployment Law by Zip Code and Minimum Wage and Overtime Law by Zip Code.
Liza Hanks
Estate Planning Attorney Liza Hanks is the author of several books by Nolo Press as well as a popular blog. She is a California Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law, helping people of all ages plan their estates. A graduate of Stanford Law School, Liza has also served as an instructor at the Santa Clara University Law School and practiced with the State of California and a prestigious Silicon Valley firm. Her Legal Consumer website is Inheritance Law.
Shae Irving
Shae Irving has written and edited many books for Nolo Press, and began writing for Legal Consumer in 2013. Her Legal Consumer websites include Obamacare by Zip Code and Child Custody by Zip Code.
Albin Renauer
Albin Renauer, co-author of Nolo's How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, developed and maintains Legal Consumer's information on Bankruptcy and the Means Test Calculator.
Legal Information Is Not Legal Advice
We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal, business, or tax advice.
Our websites give you general information about the law to help you understand handle your own legal needs. We also work with third parties to help you connect with independent lawyers who can advise you about your specific situation. But we are not a lawyer referral service and, again, the websites and services provided by Legal Consumer are not legal advice.
No website is a substitute for the advice, services, or counsel of a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. Our websites may serve as a starting place for information. We suggest that you do further research and we provide links, where possible, to assist you. We recommend that you consult a lawyer or other professional if you need legal, business, or tax advice.
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The content of this article pertains to all US states and counties.