UPL
Adopted Amendments to NJ Supreme Court Rule 1:21-1 will be effective February 1 of this year. This is the “bona fide office” rule that I’ve written about on here before.
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Choice of Law in Cross-Border Practice
Below is the comment I submitted this morning to the ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission Working Group on Uniformity, Choice of Law, and Conflicts of Interest in response to their request for feedback on the issues paper on Choice of Law in Cross-Border Practice. One of the fact patterns in the issues paper specifically referrred to a virtual law office and […]
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Practicing Law Without An Office Address: Law Review Article Published
Below is a law review article I wrote recently for the University of Dayton Law Review, Volume 36:1, entitled “Practicing Law Without an Office Address: How the Bona Fide Office Requirement Affects Virtual Law Practice.” PRACTICING LAW WITHOUT AN OFFICE – From the law review article (see citations in full version above): This Article will […]
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WebJD: Online Self-Diagnosis of Legal Ailments?
I’ll confess that I use WebMD’s symptom checker way more than I should. Sometime it’s to reassure myself that the situation does not warrant a trip to the doctor’s office. I like the user interface – the fact that I don’t have to come up with a multitude of keywords for symptoms, but can just scroll […]
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Review of PA Ethics Opinion on Virtual Law Offices
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 […]
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No Substitute for an Attorney
During yesterday’s ABA ELawyering Task Force call, we discussed the recent settlement agreement entered into by LegalZoom and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. In an Assurance of Discontinuation, the online legal services company must not state in advertising to the public that its services are less expensive than those of a law firm without […]
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Ethics Considerations: Guest Post on Mass. LOMAP Blog
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 […]
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Reminders for Avoiding Malpractice in Virtual Law Practice
This past Friday I attended a Law Practice Management Section Council meeting at the NCBA Bar Center. This is the first meeting I’ve attended in person. Usually I am on conference call and booming my thoughts to the group via voice box. Thanks to the Chair, Lee Rosen, these meetings are about the least boring […]
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Avoiding the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) in other Jurisdictions with a Virtual Law Office (Part Two)
Part I of this post on the unauthorized practice of law in other jurisdictions addressed the following questions: How does a virtual law practice avoid UPL in other jurisdictions? and If a website is accessible internationally, then how can a VLO be limited to provide legal services only in the state(s) in which the attorney is […]
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Avoiding the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) in other Jurisdictions with a Virtual Law Office (Part One)
Frequently I am asked about the unauthorized practice of law in other jurisdictions and how a virtual law practice can avoid this malpractice risk. In a two-part post, I’ll address some of these ethics questions. As more VLOs open and collaboration among attorneys creates VLOs operated by attorneys licensed in multiple states, the issue grows […]
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