The legal landscape of the sharing economy

• Author: Janelle Orsi
• Profession: Is the Director of the national nonprofit Sustainable Economies Law Center, and she is a 'sharing lawyer' in private law practice in Oakland, CA
• Pages: 1-20

1

CHAPTER ONE

THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE

OF THE SHARING

ECONOMY

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

To most public interest–minded law students and lawyers, practicing

transactiona l law isn’t an obvious path to saving the world. After all, t he

majority of transactional lawyers work for firms that grease the wheels

of the very economic system that is causing widespread ecological and

social distress.

Now transactional lawyers are needed, en masse, to aid in an epic

reinvention of our economic system. The world’s economic and eco-

logical meltdowns demand that we now redesign our livelihoods, our

enterprises, our communities, our organizations, our food system, our

housing, and much more. This glorious reinvention has already begun,

and many refer to it as the “sharing economy,” the “relationship econ-

omy,” the “cooperative economy,” the “grassroots economy,” or just the

“new economy.”

Transactional lawyers manage economic activity and relationships,

which puts them in a good position to work on the reinvention of our

economy. Transactional lawyers write contracts, form business enti-

ties, structure transactions, manage and allocate risks, and navigate

the world of tax, business regulations, land use, and labor laws. Sharing

economy lawyers do all of these things, but we do them for the explod-

ing numbers of social enterprises, cooperatives, u rban farms, cohousing

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communities, time banks, local currencies, and the vast array of unique

organizations ar ising from the sharing economy.

The work and legal questions faced by sharing economy lawyers

are uniquely challenging, and they tell us some important things about

both our economic system and our legal system. To understand what’s

unique about the practice of shari ng economy law, it’s important to first

understand what is unique about the sharing economy.

PART 2: THE SHARING ECONOMY

Although it is hard to encapsulate the qualities of this new economy,

it generally facilitates community ownership, localized production,

sharing, cooperation, small-scale enterprise, and the regeneration of

economic and natural abundance. To achieve this, the new economy

involves different ways of meeting our needs, participating in produc-

tion, and transacting with each other.

Sometimes, the best way to picture the sharing economy is to list

the phenomena and practices that are beginning to comprise it:

• Cohousing communities

• Community gardens

• Social enterprise

• Community-owned enterprises

• Shared commercia l kitchens

• Car-sharing groups

❖❖❖❖

Seeking 500,000 Sharing Economy Lawyers

Every community in the United States will soon need sharing economy

lawyers, grassroots transactional lawyers, or whatever you may prefer to

call these new legal specialists. With around 30,000 incorporated towns

and cities in the Uni ted States, we will soon n eed at least 100,000 s haring

economy lawyers. And as the sharing economy becomes the predomi-

nant economic force in our society, then all transactional lawyers in the

United States (approximately 500,000) should consider transforming the

focus of their practices to smooth the way toward a more sustainable

economy. No matt er how you do the math, the sharing ec onomy offers a

huge opport unity to new and experienc ed lawyers alike.

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