Webster

I. Facts

This appeal stands at the confluence of two Los Angeles class actions against LegalZoom.com, Inc. One class action is Drozdyk v. LegalZoom, which later became Whiting v. LegalZoom. The other is Webster v. LegalZoom. LegalZoom, the defendant in both of these cases, is a nationwide internet company that sold self-help legal documents to the public. LegalZoom’s website advertised, “Save time and money on common legal matters!” Its self-help legal documents offered assistance with name changes, wills, trusts, incorporations, trademark registrations, divorces, and so on. Consumers could visit the LegalZoom website, select documents they wanted, and answer questions on the screen. LegalZoom employees would check answers for completeness, consistency, and spelling. Software generated the documents, which employees checked and mailed to the customer. LegalZoom charged between $35 and $299 for most documents. The first class action against LegalZoom started as Drozdyk v. LegalZoom on September 15, 2009, and changed to Whiting v. LegalZoom in 2011. The original plaintiff was Charles Drozdyk, who alleged problems using LegalZoom documents for his Bike Cafe business. Drozdyk sued…