Nolo, formerly known as Nolo Press, is a publisher in Berkeley, California, that produces do-it-yourself legal books and software that allows people to handle simple legal matters such as making wills or writing business partnership contracts.[4] Its areas of focus include immigration, family law, employment law, tenant and landlord issues, wills, trusts and intellectual property.[5] Even though Nolo encourages consumers and small business owners to handle their own legal matters when it is reasonably feasible to do so, the company recommends getting professional legal help for disputable or difficult matters.
The company was founded in an attic in 1971 by Ralph Warner (a graduate of UC Berkeley's Boalt School of Law) and family law attorney Ed Sherman. The company's logo shows the scales of justice tilted in favor of the reader, and includes the motto "LAW for ALL."
History
In 1971 Ed Sherman wrote How to Do Your Own Divorce in California. He and Ralph Warner discovered that established publishers wouldn't publish the book because they feared being prosecuted for practicing law without a licence. In response Sherman and Warner created Nolo Press and published it themselves.