Virtual Law Practice

Category: Cloud Computing

  • Congrats to the Virtual Courthouse

    Congratulations goes out to the Virtual Courthouse for receiving the 2009 ABA Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access.  Each year the ABA gives out the Brown Award to recognize projects or programs that have addressed the need for legal services to members of the public who are in the middle class or of moderate means.  The project must not only have exhibited an innovative solution to delivering legal services to the public but also be replicable for others in the legal profession.  Since this year’s winner provides an unique virtual solution to a specific area of law practice, I thought I’d share it with this blog’s readers.

    The Virtual Courthouse provides an online method of dispute resolution. According to its website the Virtual Courthouse “enables parties to submit disputed claims, responses and supporting material in digital form for resolution by a neutral provider of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services. These ADR services can include arbitration, mediation, neutral case evaluation or a settlement conference by members of a panel of neutrals.”  There are screenshots of the technology on the website, but not many details regarding data security or the actual technology behind the solution.

    This company is a good example of how attorneys are finding ways to integrate different forms of virtual law practice into their traditional practice methods to provide the public with access to more affordable and convenient legal services.  If your practice includes ADR and you have considered adding a virtual component to your practice, then you may want to check this out.

    The ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services also recognized Heisler, Feldman, McCormick & Garrow, PC and Have Justice Will Travel for their law practice methods.

  • Update to Virtual Law Practice eBook

    Please check out the latest, updated version of my free eBook, Practicing Law Online: Creating a Web-based Virtual Law Office.  Because the technology behind virtual law practice is changing at a rapid rate and because new state bar advisory opinions on the topic are starting to emerge, I plan on updating the eBook at least every six months.

    For this latest update, I conducted some additional research online through the Cornell University Law School’s American Legal Ethics Library which has a great state-by-state comparative analysis of the ABA’s Model Code.  There were some new state bar advisory opinions that related to third-party service providers, online backup and retention of law office data, email, online advertising and other technology related topics.  I included these in the different sections of the eBook relating to ethics and malpractice issues in virtual law practice.  I’m sure there are more formal and informal opinions from state bars out there that I did not find.

    Please share if you have any experience presenting technology-related law practice management questions or formal advisory opinions to your state bar.  I’ll post them on the blog and add the information to the eBook — with a hat tip to the sharer, of course.

  • Top Ten 2008 Developments in Virtual Law Practice

    Happy New Year!  The following is my list of the top ten developments in the delivery of legal services using technology that have happened in the past year.  Please feel free to expand on this list in the comments.  I’m also including at the end my predictions for virtual law practice in the new year.

    1.  Richard Susskind’s book, The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services, is published.  The book discusses “disruptive technologies” that allow attorneys to provide legal services online.  Susskind predicts that attorneys who adopt rather than resist these changes in the technology used to deliver legal services will prosper as the profession adapts to marketplace changes.  The public’s need for affordable and accessible legal services will drive the legal profession’s use of technology to meet this demand.

    2.  State bars and other professional legal organizations offer CLEs and sessions geared at teaching attorneys best practices and security standards for using technology in their law practices.  Popular topics include email security, online backup solutions for law office data, minimizing metadata and using scanners to decrease the use of paper.  See the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center’s website for a list of 2008 articles.  In addition to increased law and technology management education in the profession, several state bars provide specific ethics decisions with approval for virtual law offices (VLOs) and/or allow for attorneys to provide unbundled legal services online.

    3.  More attorneys turn to piecemeal technologies and free online apps to collaborate with each other and their clients online.  Basecamp, Google Docs, Adobe ConnectNow, Webex, GoToMeeting, and Dimdim are a few of the popular web-based tools.  

    4.  New web-based, software as a service (SaaS) law practice management products launch, including Rocket Matter and Clio.  Popular legal blogs and listservs discuss the pros and cons involved in the use of “cloud computing.”  The discussions center on the security and backup concerns with a hosted system.

    5.  VLOTech sets up web-based, virtual law offices (VLOs) in Alabama, Maryland, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia with more VLOs planned in Alaska, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and North Carolina for the upcoming year.  The technology aims to provide attorneys with the flexibility to operate a completely online law office or to combine the technology with a traditional law practice and offer unbundled legal services online.  “VLO” becomes a more recognized term for a web-based virtual law practice and elawyering.

    6.  Virtual Law Partners opens its doors as the newest example of BigLaw using technology to allow its attorneys to work remotely and collaborate on legal cases.

    7.  LegalZoom comes under fire over filing fees that the legal document service company charges to online clients, in particular in relation to the filing of trademark applications with the USPTO.  Critics of invention submission companies and of companies that provide form-generated legal documents in general spoke out about what they saw as the potential misleading of the public by online companies offering legal services where an attorney was not involved in reviewing the final legal product. 

    8.  With more attorneys practicing law using mobile devices and relying on electronic forms of communication with clients and other attorneys, management of electronically stored information (ESI) became more of a concern.  Solos and small firms are expected to understand e-discovery and ESI management in their daily practices.  Check out the archives of the EDD Blog co-authored by Bob Krantz and Jeffery Fehrman.

    9. Larger numbers of attorneys adopted popular online social networking tools to meet up with others in the legal profession.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Legal OnRamp, JD Supra and other sites connect attorneys with each other and prospective clients. 

    10. Some useful law and tech/practice management blogs came online this year, including Law 21, Above and Beyond KM, 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, and Law Practice Matters, among others.  Blogging continues to grow as an attorney marketing tool and is used as a method of providing the public with basic legal information and resources. Law blogs remain a method for attorneys to educate themselves and network in their individual practice areas.  The Louisiana State Bar’s proposed rules of professional conduct touch on attorney blogging, social networking and other forms of online attorney communication causing some concern and originating in a lawsuit from attorneys in that state. 

    My predictions for virtual law practice in 2009:

    1.  Attorneys will continue to question web-based, hosted software providing law practice management tools. However, companies providing SaaS legal products will band together to establish standards regarding the security of their products for the benefit of the legal profession and the reputation of the companies and the saas business model. 

    2.  The ABA will move forward with proposing standards or policies for the delivery of legal services online. The eLawyering Task Force as well as the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services will both play a critical role in establishing these guidelines.

    3.   Attorneys hit hard by the downward economy will seek out ways to minimize their law practice overhead using technology.  Some will use piecemeal software solutions to minimize overhead in law office administrative tasks. Others will consider opening completely web-based VLOs to get rid of the law office lease and expand their client base statewide or nationwide depending on their practice areas.  

    4.   More attorneys will realize that customer service is the key to growing a successful practice and that the public is demanding more efficient and convenient legal services through the use of technology.  This will prompt more attorneys to provide unbundled legal services online to clients either as the sole form of virtual law practice or in addition to their traditional law office practice.

  • Attorneys Discuss Virtual Law Practice

    Check out two blog posts discussing virtual law practice from Chuck Newton and Jay Fleischman, both attorneys who use technology to practice law outside a traditional law office.  Newton’s post Is Virtual Virtually Impossible? prompted Fleischman’s post An Open Response to ‘Is Virtual Virtually Impossible?’

    As I commented on Newton’s blog, I believe there is room in our profession for many different law practice methods, including virtual law offices, whether they are completely web-based or integrated into a traditional law office setting.

    Fleischman’s post discusses the definition of the word “virtual” and whether it is the appropriate term to use.  When I was considering what to call my own web-based law office and we were evaluating the name for VLOTech, we looked at all of the existing terms that came close to describing the method of practicing law securely over the Internet, such as elawyering, online law practice, online legal services, web-based law office, online unbundled legal services, etc.

    The term “virtual” and the connotations it brings may depend on an attorney’s concept of how the Internet can be used to recreate real world environments.  Virtual can also mean a software representation of something physical. A virtual reality world is a software representation of the 3D physics of the real world.  Virtual machines, such as VMWare or Virtual PC, are software representations of physical hardware.  Virtual law offices are software representations of a physical law office, including front office, backend office and even secretary.

    What we intended to convey by the term VLO or virtual law practice was that this method was a way of recreating an entire law office environment on the Internet.  Second Life, for example, is a virtual reality world; a digital world accessed completely online.  Likewise, my VLO is a complete virtual law office accessed online.  My waiting room, my conference room, my filing cabinets, my copy machine, my law library, etc. are all in one place online.

    Since I started my own web-based practice I’ve worked with other attorneys who are using technology to run both a traditional law practice and a web-based law office.   As long as the technology used to practice law over the Internet protects the general public that we serve, it should not matter what method or combination of law practice methods legal professionals use to get their work done.  There will always be clients and attorneys who prefer certain methods over others.  It doesn’t make one type of attorney more or less of a professional.

    My prediction is that in the next ten years attorneys will continue to run into more clients who expect them to use web-based methods of communication to provide legal services.  Look even further down the road and expect to see attorney avatars having online conferences with their clients’ avatars.  While some attorneys already have law offices in virtual reality worlds, the security is not there yet for attorney/client confidentiality and the general public is not quite at that level of comfort with the concept.

    I certainly don’t think traditional face-to-face lawyering will ever disappear.  However, attorneys operating VLOs and those practicing law online are at the forefront of an increasingly useful and popular law practice method.

  • Unbundling Legal Services in a Virtual Law Practice Benefits the Public

    More middle income Americans are choosing to handle their legal matters themselves because they cannot afford to hire a traditional attorney.  The International Herald Tribune reported this growing trend in an article last week.  The downturn of the economy has made the cost of traditional full-service law firms unavailable for many Americans.  In order to resolve their legal matters, many middle income individuals are turning to self representation.  

    What does this mean for the justice system?

    The increase in numbers of pro se litigants has begun to burden court administrations on different levels.  While court clerks and other assistants are not permitted to provide legal advice to pro se litigants who come to the courthouse seeking free legal guidance, these administrators are obligated to provide pro se litigants with the necessary legal forms and procedures that they will need to proceed with their case.  When the instructions on these legal forms are not followed, court administrators must then go through additional work contacting the pro se litigants to rework the legal forms or assist them with scheduling court dates. 

    Once inside the courtroom, judges are burdened by the increased number of unassisted pro se litigants when they are obliged to provide basic directions to the pro se litigants regarding standard courtroom procedures.  Attorneys who find themselves standing opposite a pro se litigant when presenting a matter to the court must exercise patience.  They may find themselves rewording their statements so that the pro se litigant will understand the issues.  Overall, the case may take more time and become more expensive than it would have been if handled by legal professionals. 

    Unbundling Legal Services Provides A Practical Solution

    There is a high demand for affordable and accessible legal services to fill in the gap between full, traditional legal representation and unassisted, pro se representation.  Unbundled legal services may provide individuals with an affordable option.  By retaining an attorney for assistance in filling out legal forms and for basic guidance on the legal process, the individual who would otherwise be a pro se litigant is assisted to the level where he or she is not as much of a burden on the court administration and other legal professionals he or she encounters in the legal system. 

    Many Americans who are searching for an affordable solution to legal services are turning to online companies like LegalZoom for form-generated legal documents. However, these legal documents and kits for sale are not actually reviewed by an attorney nor is the individual legal situation of the online consumer evaluated by a legal professional before he or she purchases the legal product.  A worse trend is that many members of the public are finding samples of legal documents online and attempting to revise these documents on their own without any legal guidance. 

    Web-Based VLOs Provide a Higher Quality of Unbundled Legal Services

    Web-based virtual law practices can provide the public with unbundled legal services that include more personalized attention to individual legal matters.  Attorneys operating a VLO communicate directly with their clients securely online.  Because of the low overhead associated with running a VLO, the attorney may pass on his or her savings to provide unbundled legal services at a more affordable price than traditional legal services.  Clients may acquire the quality legal assistance they can afford so that they may perform the footwork at the courthouse themselves.  

    As with any prospective client that walks through a physical law office, it is the responsibility of the attorney running the VLO to evaluate each online client on a case by case basis.  If the prospective client’s unique situation requires full-service representation, then the attorney must either meet with the client in person for additional legal assistance or refer the client to another attorney. 

    Given the continuing rise of pro se litigants across the country, an attorney operating a VLO and offering unbundled legal services provides a much needed option in the delivery of legal services to the public.  He or she may provide unbundled legal services online through a VLO either as the sole form of legal services offered or as an addition to a full-service law firm.  In addition, an attorney launching a VLO taps into a vast and growing consumer market that can be served using secure technology that does not raise the attorney’s law practice overhead.

    As more state bars continue to revise their rules of professional conduct and ethics decisions to address the use of technology in the practice of law, legal professionals who understand the importance of using technology to deliver legal services online will need to step forward to educate and defend the critical need for this as an option to provide affordable and convenient legal services to lower and middle income Americans.  A VLO providing unbundled legal services is a practical solution that serves both the public and the legal profession.

  • ABA’s Excellence in Elawyering Award Accepting Nominations

    The ABA’s eLawyering Task Force has announced that it is accepting nominations for The James I. Keane Memorial Award.  This annual award gives recognition to law offices or legal organizations that have developed legal service innovations delivered over the Internet.  According to the Task Force, the focus of the award is the innovative delivery of personal legal services, with special attention given to firms and entities that serve both moderate income individuals and the broad middle class.

    From the Task Force’s website:

    “The Jim Keane Award is named for James I. Keane, the founding Chair of the ABA eLawyering Task Force. The Task Force was created in 2000, when ABA President William G. Paul, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, took the unusual and creative step of asking a Section to assume responsibility for one of his presidential initiatives, namely an examination of ways that lawyers could use the Internet and other electronic resources to deliver legal services to people of moderate means more efficiently and effectively.”

    To learn more about eligibility requirements for the award or to submit a nomination, click here.

  • How to Get Online Clients – Marketing A Virtual Law Practice

    I’ve been working closely with attorneys who are launching web-based virtual law practices powered by VLOTech.  I provide them with marketing suggestions and tips based on my own virtual law practice experience and share lessons I’ve learned from such wise attorneys as Lisa Solomon, Susan Cartier Liebel, Grant Griffiths, and others who have been generous in sharing their time and marketing wisdom with me. 

    One of the most frequent questions I receive from attorneys considering opening a VLO is “How can I be sure that I will get online clients once I set up a VLO?”  I thought I’d share my response here for the benefit of others who are interested in learning how to obtain online clients for a web-based virtual law practice.

    How do I get paying, online clients to my VLO?

    The goal of a VLO is to provide legal services to the public online.  From the attorney’s prospective, the primary goal of a web-based virtual law office is to generate online client revenue for his or her law practice. My VLO is my law office.   I handle everything through the web-based system.  It is the sole place where I retain, meet with and work with my clients.  Some attorneys are combining VLOs with traditional law practices, so they will do a combination of meeting with clients online and in a physical law office.  Others are taking their VLOs completely web-based. 

    So how do I get prospective clients in the virtual door?   I use many of the same marketing techniques that any attorney would use after hanging his or her own shingle, except I market my VLO website address rather than a physical law office address. Most of the advertising I use for my VLO is free.  Instead, I pay with my time and dedicated energy.  

    I’ll use my own virtual law practice as an example of how I began pulling in paying online clients.  Right after my VLO launch, I emailed simple press releases to local papers and then to the technology, legal and news editors at the papers in larger cities in my state announcing the opening of my VLO.  There are media lists that you can purchase online that will tell exactly who to email the press releases to, but you can do the footwork yourself which is what I did.  I announced in my release that I was opening a virtual law office and explained why this was beneficial for the public, their readers.  Editors realized that this was useful information for the public and helped spread the word.  Once you get one article or even a blurb written about you, that article has the potential to be picked up by other media outlets.  This is what happened in my case and the press spread from there. 

    The press releases are just one example.  Each publication that came out regarding my VLO resulted in about two weeks of new online client activity.  I also used and continue to use a lot of free online postings that direct people to my VLO.  Of course I am careful about my wording in these posts so that I comply my state bar’s rules for advertising and avoid the unauthorized practice of law in other jurisdictions. 

    Some Early Mistakes

    Initially I made the mistake of entering into a contract with Lawyers.com for a $2,000 a year listing that came with a tacky splash page to my VLO.  Because I didn’t have the advertising budget of BigLaw or even a smaller established firm, I couldn’t pay them enough to get a “top” listing under any practice area categories and was limited to listings in the city where I am physically located only.  The result was a total cost of $2,000 for one paying client the entire year from that service.  Today I have the free listing with them which is satisfactory.  I also have a free listing with FindLaw.  These companies will try to scare you by saying that without a listing clients will never find you online in any search engines.  Not true.  You can build your own web presence if you stay dedicated to your marketing strategy.

    Today I boost my search engine ratings for my VLO by blogging about my practice, by using free listings and by sharing my legal knowledge with others through forums, listservs and other social networking sites.  Recently, Grant Griffiths wrote a blog post over at Home Office Lawyer about using blogs to pull clients into a home office which you might want to check out.  I also donate estate planning packages or small business counseling sessions to silent auctions or raffles for organizations, such as MOPs, SBCs or other groups that might be interested in estate planning or small business assistance.  This leads to referrals, but often not for several months after I’ve donated the legal work.  Again, these methods take time, but they are free and have resulted in a growing client base that’s built on referrals from other attorneys and existing clients.

    Ongoing VLO Client Development

    Just as with any solo practice, I have to make an effort every week towards client development.  What I do this month may not pay off with online clients until three months from now, but as long as I keep it up I have a steady client base.  I think that’s pretty typical of most small businesses whether law-related or not.

    Currently, the only traditional advertising that I commit to is for a local parenting magazine ad for $190/month.  It has consistently and easily paid for itself so I keep it.  Other than this local publication, the rest of my marketing is conducted online on a regular basis and is geared towards the entire state since my potential client base extends outside of the town where I reside.  

    I have created an online client development to-do list.  At the end of every other week, I commit to going through each of the steps to maintain a steady client base in the future.

    How Long Will It Take To Build A VLO Client Base?

    To be honest, a VLO is not much different than hanging a shingle on a traditional law practice.  It will probably take six months or longer of marketing the virtual law practice before there will be a steady online client base.  However, it depends on what state the virtual law practice is located in and how dedicated the attorney is to his or her online marketing plan. 

    The clients are not going to magically waltz into the VLO just because you set up a website or blog and add the web-based VLO.  It takes time and significant effort.  However, in my experience, it is worth it.  After three years of practicing law online from my home office, I find that most of my new clients come from referrals from other online clients.  I can stay busy now working with clients on the VLO and be less aggressive with my marketing strategies.  That said, I still keep and revise a business plan and marketing strategy, and stick with my client development to-do list to ensure that my practice will keep growing. 

    VLO Marketing Strategies

    As I mentioned above, I provide VLOTech clients with more detailed information and tips for how to specifically market a VLO using online methods.  I ask others attorneys practicing with a web-based VLO to provide me with the strategies that they have found work best with pulling in paying online clients to their VLO.  Then I compile these tips to share with all of the VLOTech attorneys.  

    In addition to these tips, there are a great number of marketing resources online for attorneys to learn from.  Many of these resources are geared towards the traditional solo practitioner, but they can easily be modified to apply to marketing a VLO.  My next post will provide a list of these blogs/websites and resources.

  • Joining the Faculty at Solo Practice University

    I am excited to announce that I have joined the faculty at Solo Practice University™, a web-based, legal education community created by Susan Cartier Liebel of Build of Solo Practice, LLC.  Solo Practice University™ (SPU) is opening its doors to law students and legal professionals who want to learn more about the practical aspects of running a law practice that attorneys probably didn’t receive in law school. 

    As faculty, I will teach a course on virtual law practice that covers many different aspects of elawyering, including opening and operating a virtual law office (VLO), marketing techniques for an online practice, and handling technology and ethics issues that may arise from practicing law over the Internet.  Susan is strongly encouraging the faculty at SPU to use a variety of teaching formats so I plan to find creative ways of using technology to foster an active dialogue between myself and SPU students. 

    My goal as faculty will be to provide SPU students with the resources they need to open a virtual law practice and to operate that practice with strong ethical and professional standards that will provide quality online legal services to the public. As with any teaching experience, I expect to gain some new perspectives on virtual law practice as I share my own knowledge with the students.  I’m very excited to get started.

  • A Primer on Virtual Law Practice Terminology

    Update: The appendix to the book Delivering Legal Services Online, contains a much more in-depth definition section covering elaywering, virtual law practice, cloud computing and other technology terms related to the online delivery of legal services.

    Virtual Law Practice Terminology for Beginners

    Given the rapid development of Web 2.0 applications to provide online legal services, I decided to create this mini-primer which will have to be updated regularly. Feel free to contact me with suggestions and additions. I’ve noticed a lot of confusion of terminology regarding online legal services so I thought this resource might be useful.

    eLawyering —  The term means the practice of law online and includes everything from form-generated documents for sale and purchase to emailing your clients from unencrypted “contact us” forms on attorney websites. The ABA has an eLawyering Taskforce that covers these issues.  Virtual law practice is one form of elawyering.  

    Virtual Law Practice — A professional law practice that exists online through a secure portal and is accessible to the client and the attorney anywhere the parties may access the Internet.

    Virtual Law Office (VLO) — A web-based law office which allows for the attorney and his or her clients to securely discuss legal matters online, download and upload documents for review and handle other business matters in a secure digital environment, including all of the backend management functions of a traditional law office. A VLO may be the sole software used by the virtual attorney or may be used in conjunction with a traditional law office to provide online legal services to clients.

    Virtual Lawyer — A licensed professional providing legal services through a virtual law office to online clients.

    Virtual Legal Assistant — A professional legal assistant who accesses the virtual law office and assists the virtual lawyer remotely. See Virtual Assistance for a Virtual Law Practice.

    Mobile Lawyering/Mobile Attorney — An attorney who makes use of mobile devices to practice law either with a virtual law office or in conjunction with a traditional law office.

    Web-based Law Practice Management Tools — Web-based, software as a service (SaaS) applications used in conjunction with other law office software to conduct administrative and management tasks, such as billing and time management, online.

    Paperless Law Office (also termed a “Green Law Office”) — A law practice that attempts through the use of technology to reduce or eliminate the amount of paper and law office waste that it generates.

    Virtual Reality Law (also termed Virtual Law) — This refers to the development of law in virtual reality worlds, such as the Second Life Bar Association.

    Virtual or Online Attorney Collaboration — Attorneys using technology to collaborate on legal cases or to network and share resources within the legal profession. Some online collaboration communities include VLOTech, JDSupra, Lexpertise, LawLink. The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell is a good resource.

  • Setting Up a Virtual Law Practice

    I asked my readers in a recent post to let me know what their top questions were regarding virtual law practice.

    One reader writes:

    “Is there a software solution that can be installed out of the box that would work well for a virtual practice, or does someone have to find someone with programming expertise to set up the website? What software do you use for your virtual practice?”

    Since I don’t know of any “out of the box” products that can create a completely virtual law office, I thought I would explain exactly what a virtual law office is and how it operates with the VLOTech, Web 2.0 application which is what I use to operate Kimbro Legal Services.

    The definition of virtual practice has evolved with the technology we have available to us and will continue to do so. VLOTech clients either have a law office website in place or VLOTech refers them to Grant Griffiths at G2WebMedia.com whose services may set up a virtual law office website with blog functionality. The VLOTech application is then integrated into the attorney’s vlo website. Unlike packaged software that you have to install on your PC, VLOTech is a hosted system. Read up on Web 2.0 apps or SaaS for more details. The VLOTech website also has more information about the product and faqs.

    By the basic definition, a completely virtual law office (VLO) is a professional law practice that exists online through a secure portal and is accessible to the client and the attorney anywhere the parties may access the Internet. A VLO provides attorneys and clients with the ability to securely discuss matters online, download and upload documents for review and handle other business transactions in a secure digital environment. With a VLO, an attorney’s clients benefit from the convenience and accessibility and the attorney benefits from the flexibility of a virtual law practice, an online client and revenue generating software, and lower overhead associated with setup and maintenance of a nontraditional law office.

    It is important to distinguish a professional VLO from the many online websites selling legal documents and from rented “virtual,” physical offices. A VLO provides direct and personal communication between an attorney and a client rather than “form generated,” unbundled legal documents for sale and purchase by the public. Communication by email does not constitute a virtual law practice even if sent through a law firm’s website. Email is limited as a method of transacting business and is typically unencrypted, and therefore, not a secure method of handling sensitive attorney/client data.

    Physical office space rented out to an attorney to meeting with clients when scheduled for a monthly fee is also often referred to as a “virtual” law office. While this arrangement allows the attorney to work from a home office and meet with clients in a shared office space, the program does not use technology to operate the functions of a law office or provide an online interface to obtain and work with clients.

    Previous hesitation by legal professionals regarding “elawyering” or the practice of law online centered around technology that was limited in both protecting the security of sensitive attorney/client data and in allowing for adequate communication between the attorney and his or her client. As Web 2.0 and web-based applications continue to evolve, the definition of a virtual law practice will need to adapt at the same pace. While the software applications & technology used to create a VLO may update continuously, the public demand for online access to legal services will sustain the VLO method of practicing law. However, it will remain the responsibility of the individual virtual law practitioner to stay current with the security concerns related to the technology used for the VLO and to maintain strong ethics and professional conduct when practicing law online.

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