The problem with lawyers is you often just want one quick answer from them. But they charge by the hour, and you have to ensure a formal sit down so everyone can play the game. Seems a bit outdated, don’t you think?

In today’s fast-paced online world, contracts and a large amount of answers to your legal questions can be found online. It’s just those small custom details or the odd clause that needs special attention. Stuff you could do over WhatsApp, right?

Mariam Haroun, a commercial contract lawyer from Cape Town, is available any time of the day to answer your legal questions via text message. She is available as a ‘guru’ on an app called Timon and charges R150 for every six minutes that go by on the chat.

Timon has a clock at the top of the chat to show how long you’ve been chatting for and total price so far.

But how does Mariam manage her normal day’s work with all these messages coming in?

I’ve been getting used to Timon and it actually works out very nicely. Every chat request I get has a subject and I can delay the start of the chat for up to two hours. So if I am in a meeting I just click ‘delay 30 minutes’ and a countdown starts on my phone and the user’s phone. When it gets to zero the chat starts. It’s got notifications as well, in case you forgot.

I’m mainly assisting with agreements, legal advice for companies, leases and shareholder matters. Cameras on phones are so good these days, often people will send through a picture or a screenshot of a clause in a contract and I’ll help them word it or interpret it correctly.

All chats are private and confidential – although one user sent us the following highlights from a recent chat.

Mariam is not the only guru on Timon – she shares her guru status with other professionals (insurance, politics, wine) and even some local celebrities, including the likes of musician Ard Matthews, Radio DJ Ryan O’Connor, rugby’s John Smit and model Tracy McGregor.

So before you sign that lease agreement, make sure you ask Mariam what that one clause means that you don’t understand. R150 could save you thousands in the long run!

Check out Timon here.