Virtual Law Practice

Tag: ABA

  • Clearing Up the Terminology Before TECHSHOW

    TECHSHOW is here.  Some of the buzz this year is related to cloud computing, SaaS and web-based technologies that take aspects of law practice management online.  There are a lot of terms thrown around when discussing these topics.  One of them is “virtual law practice”.  We are bound to hear this phrase several times during TECHSHOW in various contexts.  Other terms, including VLOs, VLPs, virtual law offices, virtual law firms, online law offices, web-based or web-enabled law offices, are used to describe different methods of elawyering. However, when they are used, they are often not used to mean the actual delivery of legal services online to clients. 

    Elawyering is defined by Marc Lauritsen, the co-chair of the ABA’s eLawyering Task Force as

    all the ways in which lawyers can do their work using the Web and associated technologies.  These include new ways to communicate and collaborate with clients, prospective clients and other lawyers, produce documents, settle disputes and manage legal knowledge.  Think of a lawyering verb — interview, investigate, counsel, draft, advocate, analyze, negotiate, manage and so forth — and there are corresponding electronic tools and techniques.

    Check out the eLawyering Task Force’s website for more white papers and links to info about different elawyering methods. 

    When you ask attorneys to explain in detail what they mean when they say they have a “virtual law firm,” they may describe different combinations of elawyering.  However, from firm to firm there is usually a great deal of difference in the web-based technology they are using and each firm’s purpose for that technology in the scheme of their law practice management.

    So why try to limit the definition?  After all, when we try to cage something in there is the risk that this discourages future innovation and development of new forms of elawyering.  The key is whether the attorney is actually delivering legal services online to clients.  It should matter greatly in our profession for malpractice and ethics concerns.  If they are, the standards for daily use of web-based technology will be higher than if the technology is not being used to handle sensitive attorney/client data.  In other words, it should matter to their clients and their state bars whether they are delivering legal services online to clients using unencrypted methods of delivery and software products without the benefit of user agreements developed for the needs of legal professionals. 

    A virtual law practice involves the delivery of legal services to clients securely over the Internet by way of a client portal — whether the virtual law practice is completely web-based or integrated into a brick & mortar law office where the attorneys see in-person clients as well as their online clients.  Regardless of what web-based technology is used, the law firm is working with the client from the beginning of the legal representation through to the payment and rendering of legal services.   

    When discussing these issues, let’s be clear about what is meant by a “virtual law firm.”  It may be a paper(less) law office and the technology may be used for aspects of law practice management, but it is not virtual law practice.  When the practice of delivering legal services online to our clients is commonplace, as it will become in the near future, these distinctions will seem ridiculous.  But for the time being, they are important to keep us all on the same page.

  • Upcoming Events in March Related to Virtual Law Practice

    The South Carolina Bar Association is hosting a session entitled “The Virtual Law Office: Making It Work for You”, Friday, March 12 at 9:00am.  This session, taught by yours truly, will be a live webcast or if you are in Columbia, South Carolina, please join us at the Bar Center. In this three hour session, I’ll be covering how to start-up a virtual law office including both the practical how-tos as well as the ethical issues related to using technology to deliver legal services online.

    Martindale Hubbell Connected is hosting a two week event on virtual law practice.  If you are a member of Connected (a free social/professional networking site), join up with the groups Virtual Attorneys or Virtual Law Firm.  If you are not a Connected member, then join us for the Twitter discussion.  Here is a list of the scheduled events and participants:

    Special Postings — guest blog posts by Bradley Clark, Donna Seyle, Alan Wernick, Carolyn Elefant, Stephanie Kimbro, and Richard Granat.

    Live Twitter Discussion “Value Tweet” — hosted by Larry Bodine on March 16, 2010 at 12pm EST this discussion will explore the value that virtual firms provide to buyers of legal services

    Webinar — starring Carolyn Elefant, Stephanie Kimbro, Alan Wernick, and Richard Granat on March 31 at 12pm EST.

    ABA TECHSHOW, March 25-27th in Chicago, has several sessions on the paperless practice and practicing law in the cloud.  Be sure to check out “Going Virtual with Web Applications: New Forms of Practice” presented by Will Hornsby and Marc Lauritsen.   I’ll be attending the show this year if anyone wants to meet up.  Send a note to @StephKimbro to connect.

    The next Virtual LegalTech will be on March 18th from 9-5am EST.  It’s a unique way to network online with other attorneys, attend educational sessions and check out the exhibitors. One session that might be of interest to the attorney with a virtual law practice: “Developing a Comprehensive and Legally Sound Social Media Policy.”  You can hop in and out of this event throughout the day which makes it really convenient.

    Know of any other upcoming events that might be related to virtual law practice?

  • Virtual Law Practice Teleconference and Live Audio Webcast

    This upcoming Thursday, December 17 at 1pm EST, Richard Granat, Marc Lauritsen and myself will be co-presenting a CLE teleconference and live audio webcast entitled “The Virtual Law Firm: Benefits, Costs and Ethical Pitfalls to Avoid.”  It is sponsored by the American Bar Association LPM Section and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education.

    From the program description, the topics that will be covered include:

    • What is a “virtual law firm”
    • The benefits of delivering legal services online
    • The web architecture for a virtual law firm
    • Online applications, such as web-enabled document automation
    • Ethical issues in the delivery of online legal services, including confidentiality, security, unauthorized practice of law, client identification, conflict of interest checking and client authentication procedures
    • Criteria of vendor selection
    • The costs associated with setting up a virtual law practice
    • Marketing your brand and virtual law practice online

    If  you are interested in virtual law practice or are operating a virtual law firm, please consider joining us for this session.  In addition to some really practical advice on this form of delivering legal services using technology, the session will also provide 1.5 hours of CLE credit in most states.  Have any specific questions you would like answered during the conference?  Please drop a line in the comments section below or email me.

    UPDATE: The teleconference had a really nice turnout and we received great questions from the audience both on the phone and online. I believe the recording of the CLE and materials will now be available for purchase from the ABA at some point.

  • Technology eReport: Setting Up a Web-Based Virtual Law Office

    Check out my article in the November issue of the ABA GP/Solo & Small Firm Technology eReport: Setting Up a Web-based Virtual Law Office.  From the article:

    Consumers are actively seeking more affordable and convenient access to legal services over the Internet. Due to the cost of traditional legal services, they are turning to cutting and pasting together sample online legal documents or purchasing cheap legal forms online without the benefit of attorney review. The economic recession has further hastened this trend. To address consumer demand, more attorneys are opening web-based virtual law offices (VLOs) or adding a VLO to an existing traditional law firm structure to deliver legal services to clients online.

    There are different ways to define and structure a virtual law practice. Simply put, a virtual law practice is a professional law practice where an attorney is able to work with clients over the Internet through a secure portal from the establishment of the attorney/client relationship through to the payment of and final rendering of legal services. The technology used to create and maintain a VLO is a software as a service (SaaS) hosted system, often referred to as practicing law “in the cloud.” To set up a virtual law practice, an attorney should be aware of a number of practical and ethical considerations discussed below.

  • Minimum Requirements for Delivering Legal Services Online

    Co-chairs of the ABA eLawyering Task Force, Marc Lauritsen and Richard Granat, have submitted a draft set of minimum requirements for delivering legal services online which was published in this month’s Law Practice Today.  As a member of the Task Force, we have discussed these minimum requirements as a set of guidelines that attorneys will be able to turn to when they are interested in forming a virtual law practice .  Once approved by the ABA’s LPM, these requirements may be used by different state bars as a way to guide attorneys in their states who are forming virtual law practices.  You may check out the minimum requirements posted in the article and the Task Force welcomes comments and reactions to the document through their listserv. 

    Keep in mind when reading these minimum requirements that the idea behind them is to provide guidance, but not to be too specific in ways that might stifle future innovation in the delivery of legal service.  The topics covered include website architecture, ethics issues, statement of terms and conditions, retainer agreement acceptance, online payment of legal fees, protecting client confidences, and security certification.

  • Keane Award Nomination Info Available

    The updated materials for the ABA Jim Keane Award for Excellence in ELawyering have been posted on the ABA website for the 2010 Techshow and on the ELawyering Task Force website.  Requirements to be considered for the award are listed as well as an online nomination form.   Please also read my previous post about the award.

  • Excellence in eLawyering: ABA Keane Award Nominations

    It’s that time of year again to consider sending in your nominations for the ABA’s James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering. The Award is presented by the Law Practice Management Section’s eLawyering Task Force at the ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago at the end of March.  My virtual law office, Kimbro Legal Services, was the recipient of the 2009 Keane Award and it was a great opportunity to share my VLO with the legal profession.    

    If you are or know of an attorney operating a virtual law practice and using technology to deliver legal services to clients, consider submitting a nomination for the 2010 Keane Award.  More detailed submission information will be made available on the LPM site shortly. 

    From the LPM website:

    The James I. Keane Memorial Award gives recognition to law offices or legal organizations that have developed legal service innovations delivered over the Internet. Thus, the focus of the award is 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.

  • Spring Virtual Law Office Update

    By now the word has circulated that the ABA Techshow website has posted the audio file from Richard Susskind’s keynote presentation at the ABA Techshow in Chicago earlier this month.  I wasn’t able to attend the event and accept the Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in Elawyering.  However, my husband, the programmer who designed my virtual law office software, attended to accept the award on my behalf.  The presentation came with a lovely plaque that I will hang in my home office.  Of course none of my online clients will get to see it, but I will have to find a way to “decorate” my VLO with some mention of the award.

    Thanks to all of the Twitterers in the audience, I followed the presentation from home and got a good overview of the speech from tweets.  Today I finally had time to listen to the ABA audio file of Susskind’s speech.  He’s a very dynamic speaker which is something that you just can’t get from following a speaker on Twitter.  I was also happy to hear that at the end they included the ABA Task Force’s presentation of the award to my VLO and my husband’s acceptance speech.  Since I wasn’t there to accept it in person, it was nice to hear how it went.

    In other news, my VLO received the Family Favorite Attorney Award for the third year in a row from the Wilmington Parent Magazine, a local parenting publication that many of my online clients read.  This award means a lot of me because it comes from some of the individuals and families that I work with online.  It has helped each year to build my confidence in my virtual elawyering skills and to generate additional client referrals.  A couple articles were also published about my VLO in the NC Lawyer’s Weekly and other law-related publications.  Hopefully all the attention will generate additional interest in virtual law practice and the delivery of legal services using technology.

    Aside from my own virtual law practice, my company, VLOTech, received the 2009 Coastal Entrepreneur Award and was invited to meet with a panel of business experts to discuss the company.  It was a great opportunity to learn from other entrepreneurs who have taken their dreams, accepted the risks and made it happen.

    This spring has been a busy one both personally and professionally.  My goal is to return to blogging more about actual virtual law practice in the summer months as things settle down a bit.

  • Recipient of the ABA James Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in ELawyering

    I’m excited and honored to announce that I have received the 2009 ABA James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering.  From the ABA’s Law Practice Management website:

    “The James I. Keane Memorial Award gives recognition to law offices or legal organizations that have developed legal service innovations delivered over the Internet. Thus, the focus of the award is 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.” 

    The James I. Keane Memorial Award will be presented during the annual ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago following the keynote presentation by author Richard Susskind.  A description of my virtual law practice will also appear in the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine and other ABA Law Practice Management Publications. 

    For the past three years, I have operated my web-based virtual law office (VLO), Kimbro Legal Services, LLC, in North Carolina providing estate planning and small business assistance online to clients state-wide.  The Keane Award is recognition for this work, and I can’t express how grateful I am to be this year’s recipient.  I hope that my VLO encourages other attorneys to consider virtual law practice either as a completely web-based system or to add some component of technology to their law practices that will allow them to provide more accessible and affordable legal services to the public.

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