An online legal document provider is expanding into mainland Europe after persuading more than 200,000 people in the UK to sign up for the service.

US-based Rocket Lawyer, which founded four years ago in the UK, will launch in France this autumn before spreading to Spain and the Netherlands.

The service, which also connects clients with vetted lawyers in the jurisdiction, claims to fill the gap between clients eligible for state funding and those rich enough to afford legal representation.

Since 2012, UK users have created more than one million legal documents but the business has relied on its US parent for funding. More than 100 UK lawyers are handed work when legal problems become too complex to handle online.

Rocket Lawyer said today it has teamed up with European legal publishing company Editions Lefebvre Sarrut (ELS) for a joint venture to create a European arm. Google Ventures, Morgan Stanley Ventures and Swiss bank Salfort Privatbank are among investors in the business.

Lawyers from local jurisdictions will be recruited to provide legal advice to clients that request it. Legal documentation will be provided through a platform that requires users to answer questions to create forms which can be reviewed by lawyers and signed electronically.

‘Legal protection – whether in the form of valid documents or the advice of a great lawyer – should be a basic human right,’ said Charley Moore (pictured), founder and chief executive of Rocket Lawyer.

‘Our mission is to make high-quality legal services affordable and simple for everyone, regardless of where they live or how much money they have to spend.’

The UK business, based in Shoreditch, London, now has around 20 employees, mostly IT workers.