Richard S. Granat, Esq.
Granat Legal Services, P.C.
http://www.mdfamilylawyer.com

Welcome to MD Family Lawyer.com - the law firm that provides legal services that you can afford and at your convenience.  One of my passions is figuring out how to help people divorce peacefully and get on with their lives, without spending thousands of dollars on legal fees.  If you have children, the money is better spent on your children rather than on legal fees, if you can avoid it.

I am also intrigued by the potential of the Internet as a means to lower the cost of legal services and for demonstrating new ways to offer legal services.  In 1998, during the early days of the Internet, I established Granat Legal Services, P.C.,  to demonstrate the concept of a law firm on the web, or a "virtual law firm".  A virtual law firm is one which offers legal services in domestic relations matters at a price that people of moderate and middle income can afford.  As you can see from this web site, this law firm is a "virtual law firm".

Relevant Professional Background and Credentials:

I am the author of "How to Do Your Own Divorce in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia," and "Divorce:  A Do-It-Yourself Manual For Marylanders," (receive it as a free download if you register for this web site).  I am also a member of the Maryland Bar and District of Columbia Bar.  I am also very interested in the potential the role that paralegals can make in making legal services affordable, as I previously served as the President and Dean of the Philadelphia Institute for Paralegal Training, the nation's first paralegal educational institution. 

I am presently  Co-Chair of the ELawyering Task Force of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association, whose mission is to help lawyers deliver legal affordable legal services over the Internet to clients of moderate income.  I am also a liaison member of the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services of the ABA., which is concerned with developing new methods of delivering legal services to people of moderate means. I am Co-Author of the Best Practice Guidelines for Legal Information Web Site Providers which were adopted by the ABA House of Delegates in February 2003.

In addition, I have been:

• the Coordinator of a pro se project on self-help representation in family law matters. See research on pro se representation at http://www.pro-selaw.org.  This is where I learned about the power of self-help, and I maintain this site for others who are interested in this important movement.
• the Founder of the People's Law Library of Maryland.  This project taught me about the power of the Web to change peoples lives through the provision of legal information.
• a member of the American Bar Association, the Maryland Bar Association, (and a member of the Family Law Section for both), and the District of Columbia Bar Association.  I am a graduate of Columbia University School of Law (J.D.); the University of Pennsylvania, (M.S.); and Lehigh University. (B.A.).
• a member of the core group that started the Civil Justice Network of Maryland.