Howard University Grads Launch LegalEase to Help Millions Erase Criminal Records in Minutes Without a Lawyer
By Edrea Davis – CANTON, Miss. — Lawrence Blackmon and Roger Roman, both graduates of Howard University, have launched a Black-owned justice-tech startup called LegalEase, which make clearing criminal records faster, more affordable, and more accessible. Their flagship platform, Expungement.ai, allows people to determine whether they qualify for expungement and file court petitions in roughly five minutes—via voice, web chat, or SMS—without hiring an attorneys.
Co-founder Lawrence Blackmon, a practicing attorney and Mississippi State Representative dedicated to criminal justice reform, said in a statement to Black Business, “Too many neighbors have waited years for a second chance… we’re proving that equal justice can scale—from Jackson today to every zip code in America tomorrow.”
Currently operating statewide in Mississippi with plans to expand to Illinois and the DC/Maryland corridor this fall, LegalEase uses “Wilma,” an AI assistant trained on each state’s statutes, to provide real-time eligibility checks. The service offers two plans: a $150 do-it-yourself option and a $500 concierge plan, and it will launch “Expungement Express” community clinics in September.
Blackmon’s co-founder, Roger Roman, a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder of AfriBlocks—a freelance marketplace connecting African talent with global opportunities—added, “Clearing a record should be as routine as paying a bill online. Text Wilma, get your answer, file the paperwork, and move forward.”
The need for services like LegalEase is clear. According to a 2010 study by the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs, approximately 8 percent of all U.S. adults—and about 33 percent of African American men—have a felony conviction. The Sentencing Project reported in 2021 that Black Americans are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of white Americans, while Hispanic Americans are incarcerated at roughly double the rate of white Americans. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that Black individuals make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population but accounted for 32 percent of the prison population in 2021, while Hispanics made up 19 percent of the population but 24 percent of those incarcerated.
The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that the reduced earnings of people with criminal records cost the U.S. economy $372 billion annually, a burden that falls disproportionately on people of color. Research by Devah Pager and Bruce Western published in the American Journal of Sociology in 2003 found that white job applicants with felony convictions received callbacks at roughly the same rate as Black applicants with no criminal record—a finding later confirmed by follow-up studies showing ongoing racial bias in hiring.
Felony convictions also carry civic consequences. The Sentencing Project’s 2022 report on felony disenfranchisement found that 7.4 percent of Black adults in the United States are barred from voting due to felony convictions—nearly four times the rate for non-Black adults.
LegalEase’s founders say their mission is to close the “second chance” gap by making the process simple and affordable. By providing AI-guided workflows, offering access via phone, chat, or text, and delivering real-time docket tracking, the company seeks to bypass the long waits and high attorney fees that keep many from pursuing expungement.
While some states have adopted “clean slate” laws that automate certain record clearances, many exclude felony convictions or multiple offenses—restrictions that disproportionately affect Black and Brown communities. A 2023 analysis by Code for America found that exclusion criteria in such laws often result in thousands of eligible individuals still needing to file manually. LegalEase aims to fill that gap.
As the company expands into additional states over the next 18 months, Blackmon and Roman say they intend to process one million expungements by 2030. “When a five-minute chat can open doors across the country,” Roman said, “the system is finally working for everyone.”
Learn more at LegalEase.com.
