Virtual Law Practice

Tag: ABA

  • New ABA Ethics Opinion on Electronic Communication

    The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Prof. Responsibility has published a new ethics opinion, Formal Opinion 11-459 “Duty to Protect the Confidentiality  of E-mail Communications with One’s Client”. I didn’t see this one coming, but I think it’s a move in the right direction.

    The situation described in the opinion relates to when an attorney has reason to believe that his or her client  is sending the attorney or anyone else confidential information via email and the client’s employer has keystroke logging on their system or some other way of monitoring the employee’s activities where there is a risk that the employer  could access that confidential information.

    However, the opinion is worded broadly and might expand to more than just email and to more than just these workplace situations. Check out the last paragraph of the opinion: (more…)

  • No New Restrictions On Use of Tech & Client Development

    The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 has published for comment its draft proposals on Lawyer’s Use of Technology and Client Development.   Proposed changes relate to Model Rules 1.18 (duty to prospective clients), 7.2 (advertising) and 7.3 (direct contact with prospective clients).

    Overall, the Commission concludes that no new restrictions need to be added to a lawyer’s use of technology for client development.  The proposed changes adequately reflect two major impacts of the Internet on our profession: 1) public accessibility to lawyers online, and 2) the immediacy of communication with prospective and future clients over the Internet.  Below is a brief look at each rule’s proposed changes.

    “Communicating” with Prospective Clients Online

    Proposed changes to this rule include switching out the word “discusses” with “communicates.”  “Communicate” is a much broader term and is probably something we do online with prospective clients far more than actually “discussing” a potential attorney/client relationship.  Communicating could be anything from having them fill out a “contact us” form to sending you a tweet asking if your firm handles their specific legal need.  Something as simple as “Liking” your law firm’s Facebook page is a bit of a stretch because it’s not specifically “about the possibility of forming a client-lawyer relationship.”

    This would be a dangerous rewording if not for other new lines added to clarify the definition of a prospective client: “A person who discusses communicates with a lawyer about the possibility of forming a client-lawyer relationship and has a reasonable expectation that the lawyer is willing to consider forming a client-lawyer relationship with respect to a matter is a prospective client.” [proposed additions in italics] (more…)

  • Legal Tech Geeks Convene

    This week I’m attending the ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago. I’m looking forward to learning from the many legal tech geeks that show up to this event every year and to see what new products or services are being launched that might facilitate the online delivery of legal services.  I’m also expecting some challenging questions from the attendees which should make it fun.  Here’s where I’ll be:

    – April 11, 10:30-11:30am, “Expanding Your Practice with an Online Office”, co-presented with Catherine Sanders Reach

    –  1:30, keynote to hear Laurence Lessig speak.  (I’m a big fan, but never have been in same geographic location.  Super excited! Probably can’t top live talks I’ve seen by Richard Stallman or Larry Wall since we’ll be in a room full of lawyers and not programmers.  I’ll let you guess which one gave his presentation barefoot while eating a footlong sub. But hey, I’ll take inspiration wherever I can get it.)

    –   2:30-4:30pm, will attempt to make myself useful by standing at the concierge booth

    – April 12, 8:00- 9:00am, Meet the Author, “Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online”

    –   10:00 – 11:00am, “Popular Cloud Services for Lawyers”, co-presented with Tom Mighell

    –   luncheon, eLawyering Task Force will give out the 2011 James Keane Award to Legal Genie

    – 7:00pm, Hosting Taste of Techshow Dinner with an “elawyering theme”

    If you are attending and want to chat about virtual law practice or delivering legal services online, please feel free to come find me.

  • 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 several of the other fact patterns might also apply to a multijurisdictional virtual law firm.

    Virtual Law Practice and Choice of Law in Cross-Border Practice

  • ABA Ethics 20/20 Addresses Choice of Law Issue in Virtual Law Practice

    Virtual lawyers and multijurisdictional virtual law firms take note: The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 has released yet another issues paper proposing changes to ethics rules that could affect the delivery of legal services online.  This newest paper comes from the Working Group on Uniformity, Choice of Law, and Conflicts of Interest and is entitled “Choice of Law in Cross-Border Practice.”  It even includes a sample scenario for the virtual law practice which I’ve posted below.

    With lawyers and clients more frequently not located in the same geographic location and many of them communicating and receiving legal services online, this raises the question of which jurisdiction’s ethics laws apply.  The Commission recognizes the need for guidance and greater clarity for a growing number of lawyer and law firms faced with questions about choice of ethics law. (more…)

  • Potential New Regulation of Online Advertising Will Negatively Impact Solo and Small Firm Virtual Law Offices

    There are two weeks left to submit comments to the ABA Ethics Commission 20/20 regarding its two issues papers related to cloud computing and online marketing.  I wrote about the cloud computing issues paper here, but as several fellow virtual law practitioners have pointed out to me, it is the second issues paper on the use of Internet-based client development tools that we need to be more concerned with. 

    I use most of the web-based “tools” that the paper addresses, including blogging, websites, and social and professional networking services.  I do not use pay-per-click advertising for my virtual law office.  I tried Google AdWords early on and found that I did not have the advertising budget to make it work effectively for my practice.  But without these other methods, I’m sure I would not have a virtual law office today.  At this point in my practice development, I use most of these methods to network with other legal professionals more than as a client development tool, but at what point does building a reputation for your practice turn into client development? 

    How could the virtual law practitioner possibly compete without using online marketing methods?  It would not be possible.  BigLaw firms setting up a virtual law office would have the financial resources to accomplish this, but certainly not a solo, small or even mid-sized firm.   LegalZoom, USLegal Forms and other online legal service companies are allowed to drop millions on aggressive, direct online advertising to the public.  Yet, online networking by attorneys is the big public threat?

    As a small business owner it seems absolutely ridiculous to me that I would be not be able to use the most current and effect methods of marketing my services.  I have been and always will be aware of and in compliance with my state bar’s rules and regulations regarding attorney advertising.  They are necessary, and I’m glad there are there because these rules set a high standard for advertising for professionals by ensuring that unscrupulous attorneys do not mislead or take advantage of the public.  It’s part of what sets us apart as a profession with a responsibility to the public we serve.  (more…)

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

    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 and client is not the highest standard.  The state bars will look at the newer data privacy laws in Nevada and Massachusetts and  reconsider why attorneys should be using unencrypted email in our profession while other business professionals are required to encrypt personal client data. 

    The standard that the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and most state bars take is encapsulated in Rule 1.6 (a) of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct.  This rule states “[a] lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation.…”  Specifically comment 17 to this rule provides that lawyers must take “reasonable precautions” to safeguard confidential information and prevent it from going to unintended recipients during the transmission.   The ABA Formal Opinion No. 99-413 added in March 10, 1999 specifically allows for the use of unencrypted email. 

    “Reasonable precautions.”  What qualifies as “reasonable” should change as technology to communicate with our clients and other professionals develops and security risks in those electronic methods are exposed.  (more…)

  • Accepting Nominations for the ABA Keane Award for Excellence in ELawyering

    If you are an attorney or law firm that uses technology in innovative ways to deliver legal services to your clients, please consider filling out a nomination form for the ABA’s Keane Award for Excellence in ELawyering.  Or if you are aware of an attorney or law firm that deserves recognition for the innovative use of technology to deliver legal services, please consider nominating them. 

    From the Task Force website:

    The purpose of this Award is to give recognition to law offices that have developed legal service innovations that are delivered over the Internet. The focus of the Award is on 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.

    More information about the Award and the nomination criteria is here.  The Award is given out by the eLawyering Task Force at the ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago usually following the keynote speaker (and I’m thrilled to say this year that speaker is Professor Larry Lessig!)  Nomination forms are due January 14, 2010.

  • ELawyering and the Future of Legal Work CLE

    The ABA eLawyering Task Force will be presenting a CLE at American University Washington College of Law on October 21, 2010 from noon – 1:20pm, entitled “ELawyering and the Future of Legal Work“.  I will be joining co-panelists Blair Janis, Marc Lauritsen and Ronald Staudt in a discussion of elawyering and its impact on the future of law practice.  The program is free and open to law students and practicing attorneys (it costs a little if you need the CLE credit).  If you are in the D.C. area, please join us.  The question and answer sessions at the end of these presentations are always fun and a great opportunity to hear from local attorneys about how they may be using virtual law practice and other elawyering methods to deliver legal services.

  • 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…)

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