Virtual Law Practice

Month: September 2010

  • New ABA Ethics Opinion on Websites

    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, they will hold a public hearing to gather information from interested individuals and entities on the subject.  

    The ABA’s review of technology in law practice management is being conducted through the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 created in 2009 by then ABA President Carolyn Lamm.  One goal of the commission is to review the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct to see if revisions are needed given the changes that technology has brought to the practice of law.  Part of this review also involves an examination of the regulation of attorneys in our country and how the current system may or may not be working well given the increase in globalization of law firms, outsourcing trends and the use of technology to facilitate these practices.   

    More recently, the ABA has released a new ethics opinion pertaining to attorney websites.  The opinion was issued on August 5 of this year, but has only now been posted online.  Formal Opinion 10-457 covers the use of a website by an attorney as a way to communicate with prospective clients.  (more…)

  • 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 also explaining that its services are not a substitute for an attorney.   With the far-reaching and well-funded advertising campaigns of the company, it is easy to see how the message may be misleading to members of the public, many of whom may have never retained the services of a licensed attorney and who may only have the price points and t.v. ads with which to make a judgement.

    One of the statements in Assurance of Discontinuation pertains to the unauthorized practice of law in the state of Washington – a claim we have seen issued against the company in N.C. and Missouri.  While LegalZoom does not admit to UPL in this document, it does agree not to engage in UPL with regards to providing personalized legal guidance that is state-specific within the legal self-help forms.  

    Other concerns that myself and others have brought up in the past related to the practices of online legal service companies are also covered in the agreement.  It will be interesting to see if other state attorney generals will take notice of this and implement similar actions. 

    Here is the  Assurance of Discontinuation:

    WA & LegalZoom Assurance of Discontinuation

  • Social Media for the Legal Professional

    This past weekend I presented a CLE session for the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys (NCAWA) annual meeting on the topic of social media for legal professionals. Anyone involved in virtual law practice needs to understand social media and how it can be used to market a virtual law office, but also about how online clients might attempt to contact the virtual lawyer using these methods and how to tactfully handle that.

    I’ve had online clients attempt to “friend” me on Facebook or chat on Twitter, but I’ve created a policy for my solo virtual law practice not to “friend” or “follow” clients and to let them know up-front that I won’t use unencyrpted or non-secure methods of communicating with them. Most of the relationships I have within the legal professional are for the most part created and conducted completely online using whatever social media app is trending at the time. It’s an invaluable part of my professional networking so I enjoyed the opportunity to share some of my methods and recommendations at the NCAWA Annual Meeting.

    This presentation covered the basics of social media how-tos with a healthy dose of “watch out for x” and “monitor y”. I also provided suggestions for creating consistent online reputations for law firms using social media and discussed how attorneys might implement social media policies for their firm and educate firm members and even clients about procedures the firm has adopted for the use of social media.

    Here are the slides from the presentation. The final slide has a list of recommended resources for further reading up on the topic.

    Social Media and the Legal Profe

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

    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 issues papers which you can review here: 


    ABA Ethics Commission 20/20: For Comment: Issues Paper Concerning Client Confidentiality and Lawyers’ Use of Technology

    Most of the issues discussed in this paper have some impact on virtual law practice.  One of the Commission’s suggested options for action is to “propose amendments to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, such as Model Rules 1.1 (competency), 1.6 (duty of confidentiality), 1.15 (safeguarding client property), or the comments to those Rules.”  

    Therefore, it’s important that those of us interested in the delivery of legal service online take the time to read this paper, and if there is a perspective that is missing, to submit a comment before the deadline of December 15, 2010.   I contributed Chapter Three of my book and may submit a comment as well after I’ve had time to review and digest the two issues papers again.

  • Volunteer Work Easier With Virtual Law Practice

    For an upcoming Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP) webinar, an executive round table discussion, I’m going to discuss some ideas that legal aid organizations can implement that would make it easier for private practice attorneys to volunteer their services. 

    As a solo practitioner, I know the main barrier for me is time and convenience.  I provide fixed fees so it’s not a question of keeping up with a certain annual number of billable hour requirements.  It comes down to these two roadblocks: 1) I may not have the necessary experience in the practice areas that see the most need for pro bono assistance or if I do, I can only provide a portion of the work needed and not full-representation, and 2) in order to initiate the work, my local legal services division wants to refer the prospective client to a physical law office. 

    I know I’m not alone in having these barriers.  Even if you do have a physical law office, you may not have the time to meet face to face with prospective pro bono clients but could still potentially provide useful services to them remotely.   So how can legal aid services help us private practitioners to get around these issues so that we can volunteer more? (more…)

  • Technology eReport Features ELawyering

    The September issue of the Technology eReport from the ABA GP, Solo and Small Firm Division has a feature article on elawyering written by virtual lawyering pioneer, Richard Granat.  The article is entitled “Doing Law on the Web: eLawyering for Competitive Advantage” and provides an introduction to elawyering or virtual lawyering, but also goes into a great description of web-enabled document automation and how this can be used to deliver legal services to clients online.

    Also cited in the article is the evidence of growing demand by the public for online legal services.  Granat writes,

    A recent survey of more than 2,000 online users revealed that a majority of consumers expect good law firms to offer their services online in the next couple of years. The online poll revealed that nearly half (47%) of consumers would be more likely to choose a law firm that offered the convenience of online access to legal services and documents over one that had no online service capability. Some 56 percent said they expected good law firms to give customers the ability to use their services online in the next couple of years. Over two-fifths (43%) agreed that they would change law firms if an alternative firm offered a reduced fee in return for the consumer providing initial details about their matter online.

    This is good news for those of us with a virtual law office who have seen the demand from our online clients, but have not seen any report published to confirm this.

  • Landlord/Tenant Requests for Online Legal Services

    I’ve noticed an interesting increase in the number of landlord/tenant-related legal issues that are coming into my virtual law office.  Most of the requests have been from landlords who are having issues with collecting rent.  Others are requesting new lease agreements. 

    Landlord/tenant law is one area in which I have not set up my virtual law office to automate some of the process.  It’s not a practice area that I handle regularly, but I do have some prior experience drafting agreements and handling collection issues for landlords.    

    I have been reading in the WSJ and my local paper that because the real estate market is so slow moving, many individuals are opting to put their properties up for rent rather than have them sit on the market indefinitely until the economy rebounds.  That would make a record for first-time landlords, many of whom may not have any knowledge of their state’s landlord/tenant laws.  Recently my local bar association requested volunteer attorneys to provide pro bono guidance on several areas of law and landlord/tenant law was one of them.   (more…)

  • A Legal Rebel

    The ABA Journal has turned its attention to solo practitioners for this year’s group of “Legal Rebels.”   I am pleased to announce that the Journal has bestowed this title upon me for my virtual law office.  The article written by Stephanie Ward for my profile gets to the heart of why I started my virtual law office several years ago.  I’m honored to be on this year’s list with fellow solos, Carolyn Elefant and Bruce Cameron, both of whom I have gotten to know online over the past few years through our common concerns as busy solo practitioners. 

    I wasn’t intending to rebel against anything when I started my virtual law office – it was more a matter of necessity being the mother of invention.  As I realized the potential of virtual law practice to be one solution to the lack of access to justice in our country as well as a more family friendly legal career path, I became more determined to spread the concept to the legal profession and to study ways in which the technology could be used ethically to serve the public and legal profession.  But I’m just getting going…..

  • Video: Leverage the Internet to Serve Your Clients and Grow Your Practice

    At the ABA Annual Meeting last month I participated in the ABA Journal’s Legal Rebel‘s program, “10 Ways to Build Your Perfect Practice & Career” hosted by Matt Homann. The presentation requirement was that I cover 20 slides in 6 minutes. I had a lot of fun preparing for this one. It’s not as easy as you might think to get all of your ideas out in 6 minutes as the slides progress whether you are ready to move on or not.

    Here is the video of my presentation:

  • Book Release — Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online

    I’m pleased to announce the publication of my book Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online through the ABA LPM Publishing.  The book was written to be a practical, how-to manual for attorneys who want to deliver legal services online by creating a virtual law office. It addresses virtual law practice that is either completely web-based or where a firm has integrated a virtual law office into a traditional practice management structure.   

    The goal of the book is to guide anyone interested in the concept of virtual law practice through the different management structures, technology options, ethics and malpractice issues, marketing methods, daily management, and really serves as a how-to guide for practical implementation.  The book is full of case studies from attorneys engaged in virtual law practice and elawyering as well as advice from practice management advisors, IT & security professionals, and marketing and business professionals among others.  The book includes an glossary of terms related to virtual law practice and an appendix of state-by-state ethics rules and opinions and other resources related to virtual law practice.  Because the technology involved in creating and maintaining a virtual law office changes so frequently, I intend to update the information in the book on this blog as necessary. 

    Please check out the book at the ABA Bookstore and check back here for updates on the topic. Thanks to everyone who supported me in this endeavor, and my gratitude especially goes out to those attorneys who took the risk in forging ahead with virtual law practice in its various forms over the years!

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