Mid-Year Review – Virtual Law Practice in the News

July 10, 2009

Virtual law practice has been a hot topic in the press repeatedly over the first half of 2009.  There have been articles about virtual law practices in its many different forms, from web-based solo practices to remote BigLaw attorney collaboration.  The use of software as a service (SaaS) technology and talk of practicing law “in the cloud” have been discussed in legal blogs and other publications. 

Companies such as Rocket Matter, Clio, Directlaw, Lexbe, VLOTech and others are encouraging the legal profession to consider the use of technology to deliver legal services online or to take a portion of their law practice management virtual.  The efficiency and cost-savings to both the attorneys using the technology and to the general public is showing as the popularity of virtual law practice in its various forms increases.   The ethics and malpractice risks associated with practicing law online are also being discussed as the legal profession learns to adopt to the changes that are taking place.  It’s an exciting time to be involved in law practice management and to operate a virtual law practice.

As a resource, I’ve compiled links to articles that have come out in the past six months or so regarding virtual law practice.  These are in no particular order and I’m sure there are more out there.  Please drop me a comment to share. 

Virtual Law Partners Hires Four Attorneys, JDJournal, Jun 30, 2009

Virtual Law Firms Going Viral, by Carolyn Elefant, June 26, 2009, Law.com Legal Blog Watch

Virtual Law Practice: A Passing Trend or the Wave of the Future?, by Aviva Culyer and Nicole Black, GP Solo Magazine, Volume 26, Number 4, June 2009.

More virtual law firms sprout up, by Mitch Kowalski, National Post, June 26, 2009.

Law firms boost their image and client base by going social, Long Island Business News, July 9, 2o09

The Nuts and Bolts of a Virtual Law Office, by Chuck Newton, Texas Bar Journal, June 2009

More legal issues when working in the cloud, by Carolyn Elefant, Law.com Legal Blog Watch, July 8, 2009

Best  Practices for Virtual Law Firms, by Richard Granat, eLawyering Blog, January 10, 2009

Richard Susskind’s keynote presentation  at the April 2009 ABA TECHSHOW discussed disruptive technology changing the face of the legal profession.

Law Firm Websites that Work, “Virtuality”, ABA Journal, April 2009

Virtual Courthouse Wins 2009 ABA Brown Award for Legal Access

Law Practice Management in the Cloud, by Nicole Black, Practicing Law in the 21st Century Blog, May 12, 2009

Practicing Law with SaaS, by By Luigi Benetton, Canadian Bar Association’s National Magazine, Winter 2009.

Cloud  Cover: Software as a Service enables virtual law practice management, by Luigi Benetton, Canadian Bar Association’s National Magazine, June 2009

Why Going Home To Go To Work May Be Just What Your Client Wants,by Susan Cartier Liebel, Build a Solo Practice, LLC, June 22, 2009

The Cloud Explained, by Larry Port of Rocket Matter, Findlaw Legal Tech Center, 2009

Lawyers find meaning floating on the Tag Cloud, by David Bilinski, Thoughtful Legal Management Blog, June 9, 2009

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Posted by slkimbro

Social Networking Policies for a Virtual Law Practice

June 14, 2009

Last week I gave a brief presentation for the Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP) about developing policies for online social networking. While researching for the presentation and round table discussion, it occurred to me that having a policy in place for social networking is a wise idea for a virtual law practice. Considering that a great deal of the marketing and professional networking for a virtual law practice is going to be handled online using social networking tools, it makes good sense to establish a policy for your practice whether you are a solo practitioner or a medium-sized online law practice with virtual assistants.

If you haven’t already, please check out Carolyn Elefant’s ebook Social Networking for Lawyers: The What, Why and How.  This is a good resource regarding the use of social networking for legal professionals and could be useful for developing your own social networking policies for a virtual law practice.

Here are some social networking policy suggestions from my presentation that can be applied to a virtual law practice:

Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by slkimbro

Transitioning with a Virtual Law Practice

June 5, 2009

Over the past couple weeks I have spoken with two or three attorneys who have been  laid off from their positions at large law firms.  A couple of them knew that the practices of their BigLaw firms were not sustainable in this economic environment and had the foresight to pad their savings.  Now they are considering opening virtual law practices as a way of transitioning from a large law practice into the next phase in their legal career.

The trend of opening a virtual law practice as a method of career transition seems to  be growing.  Previously I had been working with attorneys who wanted to use a virtual law office (VLO) to generate additional online client revenue for their existing law practices or who wanted to go completely web-based for the flexibility and better work/life balance.  Transitioning with a virtual law practice is another use of the technology to consider.

A VLO could be a great way of keeping an attorney’s resume up to date and allow them to continue practicing law while they transition from one phase of their legal career to the next or perhaps phase into retirement, taking only the online clients they want to continue to handle.  Maybe an attorney needs to move with their spouse to another state but  has yet to sit for another state’s bar exam.  They could continue to practice law of the state they are licensed in through a VLO while studying and moving to another jurisdiction.

The technology is flexible so that conflicts of interest checks can be run against any previous law practice contacts and export features would allow an attorney to export the data contained in a VLO into another law practice management system once the attorney had completed the transition in their career.   If the transitional VLO took off, generating a steady online client base, then the attorney would have the option of keeping their virtual doors open and operating a completely  web-based VLO or adding it to whatever practice of law they join or open for themselves.

Or an attorney transitioning into retirement and closing the doors to their traditional law practice might use a VLO to retain a select number of clients to work with on the side online while enjoying their retirement by traveling and not being tied down to a physical law office.  They could even use a VLO to transition out of a practice by using it to communicate and work online with their partners and associates in the traditional law office while they cruise around on a yacht or go hiking in the mountains.  As long as they could carry their iPhone or Blackberry around with them and get wireless access, they could transition gracefully out of the firm remotely.

These are just a couple ideas about how to use a virtual law practice to transition through phases of a legal career.  I’ve written before about how both men and women in the legal profession could use a VLO to take time off to care for their families and transition in and out of a traditional law office using the technology for that purpose.   Let me know your thoughts on other ways that legal professionals could use a virtual law practice to transition between phases in their lives and careers.

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Posted by slkimbro

Article Notes Rise in Virtual Law Firms

May 25, 2009

Today’s Legal Technology section over at Law.com has an article about the increasing number of solo practitioners who are profiting from going virtual.  As I’ve blogged about in the fall of last year, operating a virtual law office is a great way for a solo or small law firm to compete in this difficult economy.  The general public, our clients, are seeking more affordable legal services and they want the convenience of using technology to acquire those services.   After all, being able to take care of your legal needs at 1am without having to take time off of work or arrange for child care saves money as much as a reduced legal fee.

I have noticed an increase in my virtual law practice since last October and many of my online clients are forthright about why they decided to come to my VLO instead of going to a traditional law firm.   My clients are scattered across the state  so at the same time that I am helping my clients, I am also helping my law practice by being able to expand my client base and compete with traditional solo practices in my state.

Working with VLOTech to set up other attorneys with virtual law practices and seeing the increase in interest in the web-based technology assures me this is a trend that is not going anywhere anytime soon.  Check out some of the newest VLOs  in my links to the right.

The Law.com article talks about virtual law practices that communicate through email (usually unencrypted and not secure), phone and Internet but does not really give us the details on what technologies these virtual law practices are using.   The focus is also on collaboration virtually between attorneys rather than online attorney and client communication.  Let’s hope data security is a primary concern for these practices with whatever technologies they are using to deliver legal services.   Expect to see future articles that focus more on attorney/client online communication to deliver legal services online.

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Posted by slkimbro

Twitter and the Virtual Law Office

May 5, 2009

 

I’ve been using Twitter on almost a daily basis since last summer as @StephKimbro.  I started using it out of curiosity and am at over 1400 updates.  I have met many new people both in the legal profession and in other industries through Twitter.  Like anything else online, it requires savvy filtering skills.  I use TweetDeck to help search and filter tweets. 

Many blog posts have gone up about attorneys using Twitter for networking, marketing and client development.  I’ll list a few below for reference.  Since my virtual law office clients are online and more likely to be using Twitter themselves I wanted to give the application more time before blogging about it to see how it could have an impact on a virtual law practice.

So far, no new online clients as a direct result of using Twitter.   The difficulty is in narrowing in on my online client base here in North Carolina.  My Twitter network knows no jurisdictional boundaries which I am held to by my law license.   While I have a good number of North Carolina followers, the number of Twitter users is still not touching the general public enough that my posts about my law practice are reaching potential consumers of the online legal services that I provide.  Of course, I am not directly advertising my services through tweets, just posting about what I am working on at the time on my VLO.  I use other forms of online advertising that are targeted more towards my NC client base, but Twitter is just not able to tap into that base as easily- not yet.  

That said, if I were able to connect with a prospective client through Twitter, I would immediately have to send them to my VLO to continue online communication.  Even the use of direct messages through Twitter conveys via unencrypted email and would not be a secure method of conveying sensitive attorney/client communications.  I would worry that a less sophisticated client might send a tweet with confidential information to me and the rest of the online world before I would have the chance to warn them.  I know other attorneys have written about these concerns and some refuse to use Twitter at all for that reason, but I still think the benefits for the legal professional outweigh any risks.  I’m keeping my eye out for a state bar ethics or advisory opinion to specifically discuss the use of Twitter.  Clue me in if you’ve read one.

The value of Twitter for the virtual law practice is obvious – connecting with a network of other legal professionals on a closer level.  I have gotten to know many attorneys, virtual assistants, legal software providers and law practice management advisers through Twitter. Sure, I have a LinkedIn, Facebook and other social and legal networking accounts, but Twitter lets me get a glimpse into the daily lives of these people and likewise, they occasionally see tweets about my family and my daily musings.  Tweets help to humanize the online networking process.  

For some attorneys operating a virtual law practice may seem isolating if they are working from a home office or other remote location on their VLO.  Twitter helps them stay connected to legal news and the opinions of other legal professionals across the world.  I have asked my Twitter followers for general advice on law practice management in the past and received useful insights.  Likewise, I have been able to share tips about VLOs and virtual law practice with others. 

The network of virtual attorneys and virtual law firms on Twitter is growing which is helping to spread the word about VLOs and the delivery of legal services online.  Here are some VLOs on Twitter:

@Olea_LLP

@TimFerraris

@FrameLegal

@PattiSpencer

@Debrina

In conclusion, I don’t think using Twitter has much of a benefit of pulling in clients directly to a VLO.  However, it is a great tool to use for networking and learning from other legal professionals and a way to continue to grow the online presence of a virtual law practice.  As more of the general public joins Twitter, it is possible that the general advertising of a VLO website and services through tweets will over time help an attorney to grow his or her online client base.  

Here are a list of some popular blog posts that have gone up about the use of Twitter by legal professionals:

Twitter 101 For Lawyers, Nicole Black (@nikiblack)

145 Lawyers (and Legal Professionals) to Follow on Twitter, Adrian Lurssen (@jdtwitt)

Lawyer Marketing with Twitter, Steve Mathews (@stevematthews)

Lawyer Marketing with Twitter has Arrived, Kevin O’Keefe (@kevinokeefe)

How to Use Twitter as a Lawyer, Grant Griffiths (@grantgriffiths)

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Posted by slkimbro

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