Virtual Law Practice

Tag: attorney web technology

  • Technology at Techshow to Enable Online Delivery of Legal Services

    Exhibitor Hall at this year’s ABA Techshow has a number of different web-based technologies that allow  for attorneys to take all or portions of their practice online.  Most of them seem to be practice management applications, and not so much geared towards working online securely with clients. However, there are a few new developments that assist virtual law practice that warrant mention.  

    DirectLaw and VLOTech are again this year the two products intended for the online delivery of legal services. (By way of disclaimer, and as most of my readers know, my husband and I co-founded VLOTech which was acquired by Total Attorneys this past fall).  Both products are SaaS, but with different features and focuses so they will appeal to different types of law practices.  Both products facilitate the unbundling of legal services online and from my exploration of the exhibitors’ booths there are not any other products at the show this year that focus on unbundling legal services for online clients.  DirectLaw has recently launched a new site for members of the public to locate a virtual law firm, MyLawyer.com.  If you operate a virtual law practice, you should see about getting a listing in their directory.  (more…)

  • Online Law Office Receives Local Press

    The Wilmington Star News ran an article in the Business Section regarding my online law practice and the VLO software. (You may have to register to view the article.) The article neglected to mention all of the ABA or North Carolina Bar resources supporting virtual law offices. So, I’m posting that information below just to supplement the article.

    “The highest leadership of the ABA knows we need a catalyst for lawyers to adapt and flourish in the new technology-driven economic order. The Internet presents us with unparalleled opportunities and powerful new tools to provide legal services. Innovative law firms and web-based companies (many run by lawyers) have already cast off — successfully — into these uncharted waters. They have set up web sites that go far beyond a list of partners, practice areas and a map to the law firm.”

    —American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section: E-Lawyering Task Force

    According to the American Bar Association’s E-Lawyering Task Force,

    “[l]awyers… are exploring the new Internet landscape. These lawyers have the vision to see a wholly new market of un-met legal needs.”

    —American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section: E-Lawyering Task Force

    A 2003 American Bar Association’s Report of the Modest Means Task Force stated that

    One method by which attorneys may improve the fairness of the American legal system is to provide limited legal services “to people who cannot afford ‘full-service’ representation.” The North Carolina Bar Association and other state bars, including Maine, California, New Mexico and Maryland, support attorneys who provide “unbundled” legal services.

    —Handbook on Limited Scope Legal Assistance, A Report of the Modest Means Task Force, American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, 2003 and “Unbundled – A New Way to Practice,” North Carolina Bar Association, CLE Manuscript, May 24, 2002, featuring Alice Neece Mine, Assistant Executive Director of the North Carolina Bar Association responsible for Professional Responsibility and Ethics matters.

    As detailed in the findings of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee for the Delivery of Legal Services:

    “The unmet legal needs of consumers are well documented and dramatic.”

    —“Improving the Delivery of Affordable Legal Services Through the Internet: A Blueprint for the Shift to a Digital Paradigm”, Hornsby, William, American Bar Association’s Standing Committee for the Delivery of Legal Services, November 30, 2006

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