Derek Bluford was in eighth grade when his single mom got into legal trouble. She had gotten injured at her prison job and couldn’t work full-time. Disability assistance wasn’t enough to cover utilities, food and rent, and they were about to get evicted from their duplex rental in Elk Grove. But through a friend of a friend, they connected with a lawyer. “He pulled up in a nice car, a genuinely nice guy, and he helped us be able to stay at our house,” Bluford recalls. “He was Superman for me.” Bluford grew up wanting to help rescue others from such legal problems. But instead of flying solo, he chose to use the power of modern technology to harness the abilities of attorneys nationwide. In 2014, Bluford created Quicklegal, a cloud-based legal practice management system, where lawyers can offer on-demand advice to customers with legal questions. Customers can submit one question for free. Each additional question costs $25. Or they can video chat with an attorney f...
