Randy Finney acknowledges that he was part of the problem. The family lawyer from Seattle once charged $1,500 for even the simplest of divorce cases.

But two years ago, Finney launched completecase.com, an online company that processes Web users' divorce information into state-specific forms. The cost is $300. And it's been so popular that 20,000 people have used it.

Finney is one of a growing number of lawyers and paralegals setting up shop on the Internet. Their Web sites offer hassle-free divorce filings for couples who agree on the terms of their separations but don't want to pay large legal fees.

The Web sites' success, however, has raised prickly questions in the legal community, forcing lawyers into bitter debates over whether to regulate them--and if so, how--and whether the sites improperly offer legal advice across state lines.

With about 975,000 divorces filed in the United States each year, the stakes are high. If the online services remain successful, they could drive down the overall cost of divorces, and force more lawyers to charge by the service, not the hour.

So far, the legal community has acted mostly in the name of consumer protection, seeking to rein in the sites. And scattered legal battles are brewing to shut down these services.

But advocates for the poor see these moves as attempts to protect lawyers' monopoly on legal services at the expense of affordable access to justice.

"The preparation of uncontested divorce is one of the submarkets where there is a lot of competition among lawyers," said Gillian Hadfield, a law professor at the University of Southern California who specializes in legal issues. "There's been concern that these Web sites are cutting into the market of solo practitioners."

Paperwork through the Web

Divorce Web sites are essentially document-preparation services. Logging on to sites with names such as divorcedirect.com and divorcewizards.com, divorce seekers pay for local divorce forms and fill them out online. Some sites have users answer questionnaires that behind-the-scenes paralegals use to fill out documents.

On sites such as completecase.com, users can request definitions for confusing terms or pay $50 to pose additional questions to a lawyer in their state.

At the end of the process, consumers must file their papers at the courthouse themselves, which in Illinois costs around $200. A judge then gives final approval to the divorce.

The Web sites still offer only the simplest of divorce proceedings. When a lot of wealth is involved, or in the event of custody disagreements, both spouses still need lawyers to sort through the complex legal landscape. So the online customers tend to be young and of moderate means.

In the pre-Internet era, consumers could buy self-help divorce books. But what makes the online services distinct--and their impact larger--is that they are simpler. And because of the interactivity between site operators and users, they run into allegations of offering legal advice.

Non-lawyers are prohibited from offering such counsel, as are lawyers working with clients from other states. Legal advice can run the gamut from a lawyer instructing a client to pursue a particular strategy to, under some definitions, merely explaining what a law means.

How to regulate still unclear

Operators of the Web sites say they are merely filling out forms, but when completecase.com allows users to click on a button to learn the definition of, say, community property, some contend that's equivalent to giving legal advice.

"It's more complicated than giving a one-sentence definition of these terms," said Sandra Morris, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. "Even judges haven't been able to resolve what is community property."

While similar Web sites exist for wills, mortgage closings and other common legal processes, analysts say the divorce sites have captured the most market share, partly because they have become easy to use and partly because it can cost so much to hire lawyers. In general, the average lawyer charges $180 an hour, according to the U.S. government.

Figuring out how to regulate the Web sites has proven tricky. Almost everybody agrees that consumers need protection against misleading services, but the bar associations have faced allegations of anti-competitive impulses when they have waded into the debate.

Earlier this year, a task force of the American Bar Association suggested that the practice of law be defined as "the application of legal principles and judgement . . . of a person trained in the law."

But critics, including the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, said such a definition would restrict the legal services market to just lawyers, keeping paralegals and online services out.

In other words, these critics said, the ABA recommendation would drive up the cost of legal services.

The task force responded by withdrawing that recommendation, suggesting instead that states develop their own definitions of the practice of law.

As a result, state bar associations are taking the lead in reacting to the Internet sites.

Bar groups mobilize

The Illinois State Bar Association launched a television ad campaign earlier this year to dissuade consumers from turning to the Web for their legal services. "Software does have its limits," the voiceover warns. "When it really counts, be sure. Work with a lawyer from the Illinois State Bar Association."

The ad has been pulled until the organization finds additional funds for airtime.

The Illinois group also has filed suit to shut down We the People, a document preparation service. The state alleges that the company, run by paralegals, illicitly provides legal advice.

In Arizona, the State Bar just passed certification guidelines for document preparers who are not lawyers. By requiring document preparers to be certified in the state, many believe it will become harder for out-of-state Web sites to file paperwork for Arizona residents.

And in Texas, where the State Bar tried unsuccessfully in the late 1990s to ban a do-it-yourself legal software program, the Bar just passed a new ruling subjecting all lawyers' Web sites to advertising regulations. The result, analysts say, will be more oversight of online legal services.

All of this, according to advocates for the poor, amounts to anti-competitive behavior on the part of bar associations.

`Perceived economic threat'

"The Internet services are the latest perceived economic threat to be targeted by the organized bar," said James C. Turner, executive director of HALT Inc., a Washington-based organization that works to increase accessibility to the civil justice system.

But lawyers say they are trying to strike a balance between protecting consumers and making the legal system affordable.

"The context we view the Web sites in is the delivery of legal services, that there needs to be new delivery mechanisms for legal services to Americans of moderate means," said ABA president Alfred Carlton.

"The challenge is to deliver these services in a way that you satisfy the protection of the consumer."

In Illinois, the State Bar says it's just acting to protect consumers.

"We're urging people to find a lawyer for their legal services instead of a non-lawyer because we believe people deserve to have their legal rights protected, and the do-it-yourself avenue just doesn't provide assurances at all," said Dave Anderson, a spokesman for the Illinois State Bar Association.

Consumers see affordability

But for consumers, the Web sites are filling a much-needed market niche.

Lisa Curtis, a Long Island, N.Y., resident, said she first approached lawyers when she was looking to divorce her husband.

"They said they the paperwork is $500 if the divorce is uncontested," she recalled. "Then they kept on adding on money,"

A friend mentioned that Curtis could fill out her paperwork online. And so she logged onto completecase.com and decided that was the best, more affordable option.

"You just answer the questions," Curtis said. "It's an easy process. I just set aside the money when I got my paycheck."

She was done in an hour.