Former executive director of the American Bar Association (Jack Rives) transitioned to legal services company Rocket Lawyer, assuming the role of president of the newly created Rocket Legal Professional Services sector. He brings to the table a rich history with the American Bar Association, spanning 12 years, and an agenda to drive Rocket Lawyer’s endeavors to make legal services more universally affordable and accessible.
Rives’ portfolio extends beyond simply expanding affordable legal services; it further includes managing Rocket Lawyer’s alternative business structure (ABS) initiatives in the UK, pursuing ABS designation in Arizona and playing a significant role in Rocket Lawyer’s ambition to harness artificial intelligence to expediate lawyer productivity.
Interestingly, during his tenure at the ABA, Rives led the formation of a partnership with Rocket Lawyer aimed at examining the viability of legal services for small businesses in select states. Despite being discontinued after a short trial period, the partnership introduced Rives to Charley Moore, founder and CEO of Rocket Lawyer. This relationship eventually led Rives to his current role.
Rives, with a history in the U.S. Air Force as a judge advocate and a three-star rank of the lieutenant general, is passionate about extending easy access to legal services—A norm in the military structure that he wants to replicate on a broader canvas. He was explicitly attracted to Rocket lawyer’s ethos of making the law affordable and accessible while enriching the practice for legal professionals.
Within his role at Rocket Lawyer, Rives’ primary goal is to significantly grow the network of lawyers to meet consumers’ legal needs promptly. He also intends to leverage technology and AI to increase the capacity of lawyers to provide legal aid. For instance, by utilizing AI’s problem-defining abilities, Rives anticipates that lawyers can save on time and focus on the higher level, strategic work that only attorneys can do. He also remarked on Rocket Lawyer’s ambitions to seek the ABS designation in Arizona to expand its services further.
Rives acknowledged the transformative power of technology in today’s world and the necessity for the legal profession to adapt to maintain relevance. As an incumbent in Rocket Lawyer, he expressed the company’s determination to influence the legal profession to make it affordable, simplified, and accessible. Ultimately, Rives hopes that the working model of the newly formed Rocket Legal Professional Services will reflect these goals.