Happy New Year! I reviewed many of the virtual law practice news from 2009 in my last post. In this post I want to look forward to the year ahead by providing some news about my own virtual law office and upcoming speaking/sharing engagements.
2010 will mark year four of owning my own solo, virtual law practice. I opened Kimbro Legal Services in the winter of 2006 right around the time that I welcomed my daughter to the world. I remember being so excited about taking the leap into my own solo practice but also trying to ignore the negative comments that other attorneys had shared with me regarding the idea of making the practice completely web-based. And four years later, virtual law practice is something that is being embraced by the legal profession and expanding in innovation and technology way beyond what I had imagined back in ’06. I’m so grateful to be able to share my experiences with other attorneys and to assist them in setting up their own virtual law offices.
Looking forward to 2010, there will be several opportunities to share information about virtual law practices with others in the legal community. (more…)
This year has brought the legal profession closer to the acceptance of virtual law practice as a method of delivering legal services through the use of technology. Virtual law practices are improving access to and affordability of legal services to the general public. For legal professionals, practicing law online provides the flexibility to create innovative and unique law practices that provide improved work/life balance in addition to professional success.
In this post I wanted to review some of the online articles related to virtual law practice that came out in 2009. As more virtual law firms launch in 2010, expect to see the tone of these articles change to include more detailed discussions about technology and ethics issues involved in the delivery of legal services online as well as discussions about different structures of virtual law practices that are now in the planning stages. This might include multi-jurisdictional virtual law firms with interesting fee and management structures, using a virtual law office as a non-profit to provide pro bono legal services, “cost-co” type firms with registration fees, and other unique ways that legal professionals are envisioning the use of the technology to collaborate with attorneys and clients online.
I work mostly with other solos and small firms who are opening virtual law practices, but I have spoken with many other attorneys who envision collaboration with others to expand their practices beyond the solo or small firm realm. More legal SaaS products are also entering the market, each with a different focus and concept about what virtual law practice can be. It will be interesting to see what develops in 2010 not only in terms of what structures individual attorneys come up with, but what new features and functionalities the technology will bring. There are also major changes in the legal profession happening in the UK and abroad that may serve as an influence here in the States.
Along with many others, I see great potential for virtual law practice to even the playing field for access to justice in our country. Of all of the benefits, I think this may be the most important goal for the profession to keep in mind as it moves forward in defining and supporting the use of technology to deliver legal services.
That said, here is a list of virtual law practice in the news in 2009. I’m going to limit myself to mostly North American news here to keep the list manageable, but be aware that similar articles are popping up within other countries’ legal professions. I’m also posting both the negative and the positive articles on the topic and they are in no particular order.
Delivering legal services online is a growing method of law practice management as both attorneys and clients find ways to benefit from the use of the technology. However, a virtual law office (VLO) is not only for attorneys wanting to operate a completely web-based practice; it can integrated into a traditional, brick-and-mortar law practice, too.