Virtual Law Practice

Delivering legal services online

Confidentiality

Death, Succession Planning & the Virtual Law Office

By | | Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, eLawyering, Ethics, Practice Management, SaaS, Technology, Virtual practice | 1 Comment

Death.  The issue recently crept up in a presentation I gave about virtual law practice.  Then, the question that most of us like to avoid came up again on a personal level when in December I needed open surgery myself and in preparation started questioning what would happen to my virtual law office if I weren’t around to […] ...READ MORE

CA Ethics Opinion: Duty of Confidentiality & Use of Wireless

By | | Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Practice Management, SaaS, Technology, Virtual practice | 1 Comment

The California State Bar has published its newest ethics opinion, FEO 2010-179, related to the use of technology in law practice, specifically addressing the attorney’s duty of confidentiality to clients when using technology that may be accessed by a third-party.  Given the wording of the opinion, this could include everything from an attorney using wireless to connect […] ...READ MORE

Legal Cloud Computing Association Forms, Responds to ABA 20/20 Ethics Commission

By | | Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, Educational, eLawyering, Ethics, Practice Management, SaaS, Technology | Leave a Comment

I’m excited to announce the formation of the Legal Cloud Computing Association (LCCA).  See the formal press release below my comments.  About two years ago when I was owner of VLOTech, Larry Port of Rocket Matter reached out to me, Jack Newton (Clio) and Richard Granat (DirectLaw) about forming a group to address the concerns […] ...READ MORE

Update: Alabama Ethics Opinion Permits Use of Cloud Computing For Client Data

By | | Book, Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Practice Management, Technology | Leave a Comment

Alabama State Bar Ethics Opinion 2010-02, “Retention, Storage, Ownership, Production and Destruction of Client Files” This opinion addresses the following issues: 1) file retention policies; 2) how long a file should be retained; 3) what constitutes a client’s file; 4) what parts of the file can be destroyed; 5) the ethical considerations related to electronic […] ...READ MORE

Adapt or Get out of the Way: Standards to Protect Client Property/Confidentiality Change

By | | ABA, Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Practice Management, SaaS, Technology, Virtual practice | Leave a Comment

Last week during a guest lecture on virtual law practice at the University of Dayton School of Law, the subject of protecting client property and confidentiality of client data in electronic communications came up again.   My prediction (perhaps overly optimistic) is that in the next few years the state bars will recognize that unencrypted email communication between attorney […] ...READ MORE

Review of PA Ethics Opinion on Virtual Law Offices

By | | Book, Confidentiality, Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Practice Management, Technology, Unbundling - Limited Scope, UPL, Virtual practice | 2 Comments

Entitled “Ethical Obligations on Maintaining a Virtual Office for the Practice of Law in Pennsylvania”, the PA Bar Association Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility published its FEO 2010-200 this month.  The opinion is in stark contrast to the out-dated thinking in the ethics opinion discussing virtual law offices published this past spring by its neighboring state of […] ...READ MORE

New ABA Ethics Opinion on Websites

By | | ABA, Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Practice Management, SaaS, Technology, Virtual practice | Leave a Comment

The ABA has published a short description of its efforts to examine the impact of technology, including cloud computing & SaaS, social media and websites, and has released a new ethics opinion related to attorney websites.   Last week I wrote a post about the Commission’s call for comments related to cloud computing and protecting client confidences.  On October 14th, […] ...READ MORE

Call for Comments – ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission Reviews Cloud Computing and Client Confidentiality

By | | ABA, Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, Delivering Legal Services Online, Ethics, SaaS, Technology | 3 Comments

This afternoon the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 sent an email through the listserv announcing a public hearing in mid-October in Chicago.  The Commission is looking for comments on two topics: 1) “Client Confidentiality and Lawyers’ Use of Technology” and 2)  “Lawyers’ Use of Internet Based Client Development Tools.”  I’ve uploaded the first of these […] ...READ MORE

Ethics Considerations: Guest Post on Mass. LOMAP Blog

By | | Clickwrap Agreements, Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, Delivering Legal Services Online, Educational, eLawyering, Ethics, Practice Management, Residency Requirements, SaaS, Technology, Unbundling - Limited Scope, UPL, Virtual practice | Leave a Comment

The final guest post in my three-part series for the Massachusett’s Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) has posted on the blog.  This final post covers ethics considerations in virtual law practice including both the attorney’s responsibility to thoroughly research their software provider as well as best practices for the ethical management of a virtual […] ...READ MORE

Does the Internet Make You Feel Risky?

By | | ABA, Cloud Computing, Confidentiality, Educational, Ethics, Practice Management, SaaS, Technology | 3 Comments

Oh, yet another excuse to not take responsibility for individual action and blame it on the technology instead.  *sigh*  Seriously, this article just annoyed me to no end.  The National Law Journal published an article entitled “Lawyers’ Ethical Stumbles Increase Online” and then proceeded to give the most outrageous example of an incredibly irresponsible attorney using email to share […] ...READ MORE
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