Two million people in Arizona have a criminal record, and the state has the fifth highest incarceration rate in the country. Even old and minor records can prevent a person from renting an apartment, getting a job or obtaining a professional license needed for work.
Rasa’s mission is to make the process of sealing, set asides and expungement of records simple and affordable for everyone. This helps improve public safety, benefits our economy, and is good for working families trying to find affordable housing and job opportunities. For more information visit rasa-legal.com
Rasa’s mission is to make the process of sealing, set asides and expungement of records simple and affordable for everyone. This helps improve public safety, benefits our economy, and is good for working families trying to find affordable housing and job opportunities. For more information visit rasa-legal.com
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 A new legal tech company is launching services here
00:02 in Arizona this December.
00:04 And we're talking with Noella Sudbury, CEO and founder
00:07 of Rasa Legal, about how they can help people deal
00:11 with their criminal records so they can find work,
00:14 which is kind of neat.
00:15 How are you doing this morning?
00:16 Good.
00:16 Thanks for having me.
00:17 Let's talk about the company, because this
00:19 is very interesting that we are finding out
00:21 there's more people out there that
00:23 have criminal records that affect for them getting jobs
00:27 when they're very much--
00:29 what I want to say, capable of having these jobs out there,
00:31 but one thing stopping them.
00:32 Yeah.
00:33 So the first thing I like to tell people
00:35 is having a criminal record is a lot more common
00:38 than you might think.
00:39 One in three Americans have a criminal record.
00:41 In the state of Arizona, more than 2 million people
00:44 have criminal records.
00:46 And even old and minor records can prevent somebody
00:49 from getting a good job, renting an apartment,
00:52 and moving forward with their lives.
00:54 Yeah.
00:54 And when you talk about criminal records,
00:55 people have to understand it's kind of like minor ones
00:58 that people don't realize.
00:59 I was talking about here, it's I think at 20 over,
01:03 becomes a criminal speeding ticket.
01:05 That's a criminal record.
01:07 Or you were saying people who might
01:09 be stopped without their driver's license or register
01:11 ID, those can be-- and that can stop somebody,
01:13 because people, when they look for jobs
01:15 or when they're going through or employees,
01:17 they just see criminal.
01:18 They don't know what it's about.
01:19 And so that helps a lot with the company
01:21 you have started to get those taken care of.
01:24 Absolutely.
01:25 So lots of different crimes out there.
01:27 Some of them can be relatively minor.
01:29 In a digital age, every company is doing background checks.
01:32 Every landlord's doing background checks.
01:35 And so even something like that, or a minor shoplifting charge,
01:39 or a drug possession-related charge,
01:41 can hold someone back, pop up on a background check,
01:44 and then they get denied employment.
01:46 And it can be really frustrating for somebody
01:48 who just wants to work.
01:50 Yeah.
01:50 And your company is here because the regular person doesn't
01:53 know where to go or how to go check their criminal record.
01:56 Because again, they might have, say, for instance, got it
01:59 and they had to pay the fine or even done a little time.
02:03 And they're thinking, OK, I did it.
02:04 It's all done with.
02:05 Now I can move on with my life.
02:06 But that's not the case.
02:08 And that is where your company comes in to help.
02:10 Yeah.
02:10 So clearing a criminal record can be costly and complicated.
02:14 Most people find that they need a lawyer to help them.
02:16 Most people can't afford what a lawyer will typically charge.
02:20 And so we're a new mission-driven legal tech
02:23 company that's trying to make that process more
02:26 simple, more affordable for people who need it.
02:29 So we've designed technology where someone with a record
02:33 can come to our website, type in their name and date of birth,
02:36 and in under three minutes, we'll
02:38 tell them what's on their record and whether it
02:40 might be eligible for sealing, set aside, expungement
02:44 under Arizona law.
02:46 And if so, provide an affordable lawyer to them
02:49 to get through the process.
02:50 And that's because some people can't afford the lawyer or not.
02:53 But one thing I also like that you were telling me
02:55 is that you're there to guide people to.
02:57 I love this that if you guys don't have the answer
03:00 or you guys can't help them, you're
03:01 there to connect them with people
03:03 because that's what you want is people to be
03:05 able to get back to work.
03:07 Absolutely.
03:08 So we want to be a good partner in the Arizona ecosystem.
03:13 So when someone uses our tool, we're
03:15 going to connect them to the person that can help them best.
03:18 So if you qualify for legal aid, we're
03:20 going to connect you with legal aid.
03:22 If you have marijuana-related offenses,
03:25 we're going to connect you to the Arizona Justice Project.
03:27 If there's not a good option for you,
03:29 we also provide direct services to individuals
03:32 to get through the process.
03:33 Yeah.
03:34 I think the other part, too, it's very important
03:36 in that as businesses, you want to actually come to you, too,
03:39 because that's one way we get people back to work
03:41 is the business working with the legal teams
03:44 to find those employees, employers that
03:46 can do that, right?
03:48 Yeah.
03:49 This is something we've been doing in Utah,
03:51 where we're based.
03:52 And as we expand to Arizona, we also
03:54 hope to partner with employers here
03:56 to use this as a recruiting and retention tool, right?
04:00 Come work for our company.
04:01 We do fair chance hiring.
04:03 But we're not only willing to hire someone with a record.
04:06 We're willing to invest in you.
04:08 So if you come work for our company, stay up to a year,
04:11 we'll pay to help you get your record cleaned up.
04:14 And that can lead to upward mobility within the company
04:16 and be a good environment for you to work and also
04:20 have an option to get this stress out of your life.
04:23 Yeah.
04:23 Well, I guess what I love is that you're
04:26 very easy to talk to.
04:27 And I think that sometimes scares people to go and talk
04:29 about these things.
04:30 But your team's ready to talk.
04:32 I love that you are easy to talk to.
04:33 And that's what you want to make sure
04:35 happens when people come to the website and also to your team.
04:38 I like that you even have this awesome logo here.
04:41 Yes, RASA.
04:41 That people have RASA right there, which is really cool.
04:44 Yeah.
04:44 So where can people find more information?
04:46 Yeah.
04:46 So the best way to find out more is
04:48 to go to our website, which is RASA-legal.com.
04:52 Perfect.
04:53 Thank you very much for talking to us.
04:53 Thank you so much.
04:54 So nice to meet you.
04:56 Yes, and we're happy to have you here in the Valley.
04:58 Thank you.
04:58 Thank you.
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