Pioneer of Self-Help Legal Books Retires
Ralph "Jake" Warner, the Berkeley activist-lawyer-author who set out to liberate law from the lawyers three decades ago, has retired from active management of Nolo, the nationīs leading provider of do-it-yourself legal and business books, software and online services.
Since co-founding the company in 1971, the longtime president of Nolo has sought to make the law more accessible to ordinary people. Warner is widely credited with creating todayīs thriving market for self-help law and business books. "Millions of Americans owe an enormous debt to Ralph Warner and the industry he helped to launch," says Deborah Rhode, a professor at Stanford Law School.
"Ralph Warner is a visionary," adds attorney John Lamb of Sacramento, an expert in consumer law. "If you think back 30 years when the legal aid movement was in stride, the idea was to bring as much help as possible to people. Nolo books epitomize the essence of the movement."
"Under Warnerīs leadership, Nolo has been a torch for increased legal access," says Forrest Mosten, a Los Angeles mediator and certified family law specialist. "His books have been revolutionary."
Warner began publishing when numerous publishers rejected the early books written by him and his colleagues. Always an innovator, he adapted his company to a changing world, adding software to books with the advent of the personal computer, and pioneering online marketing with the emergence of the Internet. In addition to guiding the company, Warner was an active editor and author. He wrote many books, including Get a Life: You Donīt Need a Million to Retire Well. A new book, How to Run a Thriving Business, will be published this month.
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