Virtual Law Practice

Tag: ethics issues

  • 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.

  • Interest in Virtual Law Practice Spreading Across the States

    Over the past month, I’ve heard from several attorneys who will be opening their own web-based virtual law practices.  The following states are on board now: SC, IL, VA, AK, GA, TX, MD, TN and KY.  Some attorneys are still in the process of speaking with their state bars about providing unbundled legal services.  One solo practitioner is working with a law professor to write a manuscript that addresses the benefits and potential ethics issues that may arise in operating a VLO.

    I’m excited about the growing number of VLOs, not only because I run a company that provides the web-based technology, but because most of the attorneys that I have spoken really see the value to the public of offering online unbundled legal services.  While many in the public can turn to Nololaw and Legalzoom for legal document drafting, these options do not provide the public with direct and personal communication with a licensed attorney.  A web-based VLO can provide this service and still keep the costs affordable for individuals who otherwise may not have been able to seek out an attorney. 

    Aside from generating additional online client revenue, the one thing I hear over and over again about why an attorney wants to open a VLO is because they are tired of spending more time working than living.  Sometimes the comment is coming from a law partner who is fed up after putting in years at one firm and missing out on his or her children growing up.  Or it’s from a newly graduated law student who does not want to end up like their overworked parents and wants to start out with flexibility from day one.  There are different stories, but the underlying tone is that these professionals love practicing law and want to find a way to stay in the legal profession without sacrificing their personal lives. 

    I’ve said before that I don’t think virtual law practice is for everyone, and the risk is no different than hanging your own shingle as a solo on a brick & mortar law office.  But if you really commit to the concept and the work that it takes to market it and to set up good practice standards for VLO management, then I believe virtual law practice can provide wonderful work/life balance for an attorney. 

    As for my own virtual law practice, this summer I am busy enjoying the benefits of running my own solo practice from home.  The third year of solo VLO practice has brought more referrals and returning small business clients my way.  It’s a sign that I must be doing something right.  I’ve also honed down the advertising and marketing techniques that work best with my VLO which I hope to share with VLOTech clients when they hang their virtual shingles. 

    I will be co-presenting another CLE session for the NC Bar Association at the end of September.  The session will be similar to the ABA TechShow’s popular “60 Websites in 60 Minutes.”  Some of the websites I am presenting would be useful to the virtual law practitioner so I will be sure to post those links and info. after the CLE presentation. 

    As always, this blog is for discussing virtual law practice, especially ethics and a technology issues in operating a VLO.  I welcome any questions or stories about virtual law practice that anyone wants to ask or share.

  • Clickwrap Agreements in a Virtual Law Practice

    I’ve been doing more blogging for the VLOTech website. A lot of my material is coming from the CLE manuscript that I’m drafting for a presentation this summer on security/ethics issues with virtual law practices. The legality and enforceability of clickwrap agreements in a vlo is a question I’ve gotten from other attorneys.

    In my virtual practice, I don’t soley rely on the clickwrap agreement that my clients are required to accept before registering for their own homepage. I more specifically define the scope of legal representation (or non-representation as the case may be) with each individual client that registers. That is handled on each client’s secure homepage and depends on the legal work they are seeking. As more attorneys go online with their law practices, the use of the clickwrap agreement will probably be standard on the vlo, but I suspect each individual solo or small firm practitioner will want to use an additional retainer agreement or other contracting method with clients after registration.

    Here’s my post from the VLOTech website on this subject:

    Solo and small firm practitioners operating a VLO require that their online clients accept a clickwrap agreement before registering for a homepage on the virtual law office. This agreement contains the terms and conditions of the attorney’s representation to the client, explains the nature of unbundled legal services, defines the scope of representation and may contain other provisions tailored to the attorney’s virtual law practice.

    While retainer fees, payment arrangements and further definition of the scope of legal representation is communicated with the client through the client’s secure homepage on a case by case basis, the standard clickwrap agreement for the VLO serves as the legal contract between the attorney and his or her online client. Some attorneys may chose to require that their clients download and sign a separate written agreement following registration similar to a traditional retainer agreement. The business method depends on the individual virtual law practice. However, an online agreement during client registration with the terms and conditions for use of the VLO is standard.

    The ABA Committee on Cyberspace Law during a panel discussion at the ABA’s Annual Meeting last year provided a practical reminder of the steps to follow when creating an online agreement. Blogger, Jason Haislmaier, in his blog ThinkingOpen, provides a great blog post regarding the drafting of enforceable online agreements and the Cyberspace Law Committee’s recommendations.

    Haislmaier writes,

    “In particular, the panel indicated that the working group had identified four “bottom line” steps for forming legally binding online agreements:

    1. The user must have adequate notice that the proposed terms exist;

    2. The user must have a meaningful opportunity to review the terms;

    3. The user must have adequate notice that taking a specified, optional action manifests assent to the terms; and

    4. The user must, in fact, take that action.

    Among these four steps, adequate notice of the existence of the proposed terms is among the most important.”

    VLOTech attorneys draft their own terms and conditions for use with their virtual law offices. The ABA Cyberspace Law website has a searchable archive for members which contains many good resources to assist attorneys in researching this topic and drafting their VLO online agreements.

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