A report in the ABA Journal describes the offering from Atlanta-based Manely Firm as ‘a la carte divorce services’ – and indeed the lawyers themselves have labelled the outlet as a ‘justice cafe’.
The shop front office is located near the Fulton County Superior Courthouse and it advises clients at a rate of $75 an hour on divorce and other family matters, with no retainer fee required. According to the Journal, the service is aimed at ‘walk in clients’ that hope to manage their own divorce proceedings but require initial advice.

Recruitment drive

‘It's a way to serve people on main street,’ Michael Manely told the magazine a few weeks ago when he initially launched the service. ‘There is no reason a working man or woman should not have access to legal services.’
The Journal reports the nascent service is so successful that the firm is now recruiting additional freelance legal staff to man the café. The magazine says the café’s legal staff operate on contracts that allocate them half the hourly fee, with the other half going to the firm.