Virtual Law Practice

Tag: Grant Griffiths

  • How to Get Online Clients – Marketing A Virtual Law Practice

    I’ve been working closely with attorneys who are launching web-based virtual law practices powered by VLOTech.  I provide them with marketing suggestions and tips based on my own virtual law practice experience and share lessons I’ve learned from such wise attorneys as Lisa Solomon, Susan Cartier Liebel, Grant Griffiths, and others who have been generous in sharing their time and marketing wisdom with me. 

    One of the most frequent questions I receive from attorneys considering opening a VLO is “How can I be sure that I will get online clients once I set up a VLO?”  I thought I’d share my response here for the benefit of others who are interested in learning how to obtain online clients for a web-based virtual law practice.

    How do I get paying, online clients to my VLO?

    The goal of a VLO is to provide legal services to the public online.  From the attorney’s prospective, the primary goal of a web-based virtual law office is to generate online client revenue for his or her law practice. My VLO is my law office.   I handle everything through the web-based system.  It is the sole place where I retain, meet with and work with my clients.  Some attorneys are combining VLOs with traditional law practices, so they will do a combination of meeting with clients online and in a physical law office.  Others are taking their VLOs completely web-based. 

    So how do I get prospective clients in the virtual door?   I use many of the same marketing techniques that any attorney would use after hanging his or her own shingle, except I market my VLO website address rather than a physical law office address. Most of the advertising I use for my VLO is free.  Instead, I pay with my time and dedicated energy.  

    I’ll use my own virtual law practice as an example of how I began pulling in paying online clients.  Right after my VLO launch, I emailed simple press releases to local papers and then to the technology, legal and news editors at the papers in larger cities in my state announcing the opening of my VLO.  There are media lists that you can purchase online that will tell exactly who to email the press releases to, but you can do the footwork yourself which is what I did.  I announced in my release that I was opening a virtual law office and explained why this was beneficial for the public, their readers.  Editors realized that this was useful information for the public and helped spread the word.  Once you get one article or even a blurb written about you, that article has the potential to be picked up by other media outlets.  This is what happened in my case and the press spread from there. 

    The press releases are just one example.  Each publication that came out regarding my VLO resulted in about two weeks of new online client activity.  I also used and continue to use a lot of free online postings that direct people to my VLO.  Of course I am careful about my wording in these posts so that I comply my state bar’s rules for advertising and avoid the unauthorized practice of law in other jurisdictions. 

    Some Early Mistakes

    Initially I made the mistake of entering into a contract with Lawyers.com for a $2,000 a year listing that came with a tacky splash page to my VLO.  Because I didn’t have the advertising budget of BigLaw or even a smaller established firm, I couldn’t pay them enough to get a “top” listing under any practice area categories and was limited to listings in the city where I am physically located only.  The result was a total cost of $2,000 for one paying client the entire year from that service.  Today I have the free listing with them which is satisfactory.  I also have a free listing with FindLaw.  These companies will try to scare you by saying that without a listing clients will never find you online in any search engines.  Not true.  You can build your own web presence if you stay dedicated to your marketing strategy.

    Today I boost my search engine ratings for my VLO by blogging about my practice, by using free listings and by sharing my legal knowledge with others through forums, listservs and other social networking sites.  Recently, Grant Griffiths wrote a blog post over at Home Office Lawyer about using blogs to pull clients into a home office which you might want to check out.  I also donate estate planning packages or small business counseling sessions to silent auctions or raffles for organizations, such as MOPs, SBCs or other groups that might be interested in estate planning or small business assistance.  This leads to referrals, but often not for several months after I’ve donated the legal work.  Again, these methods take time, but they are free and have resulted in a growing client base that’s built on referrals from other attorneys and existing clients.

    Ongoing VLO Client Development

    Just as with any solo practice, I have to make an effort every week towards client development.  What I do this month may not pay off with online clients until three months from now, but as long as I keep it up I have a steady client base.  I think that’s pretty typical of most small businesses whether law-related or not.

    Currently, the only traditional advertising that I commit to is for a local parenting magazine ad for $190/month.  It has consistently and easily paid for itself so I keep it.  Other than this local publication, the rest of my marketing is conducted online on a regular basis and is geared towards the entire state since my potential client base extends outside of the town where I reside.  

    I have created an online client development to-do list.  At the end of every other week, I commit to going through each of the steps to maintain a steady client base in the future.

    How Long Will It Take To Build A VLO Client Base?

    To be honest, a VLO is not much different than hanging a shingle on a traditional law practice.  It will probably take six months or longer of marketing the virtual law practice before there will be a steady online client base.  However, it depends on what state the virtual law practice is located in and how dedicated the attorney is to his or her online marketing plan. 

    The clients are not going to magically waltz into the VLO just because you set up a website or blog and add the web-based VLO.  It takes time and significant effort.  However, in my experience, it is worth it.  After three years of practicing law online from my home office, I find that most of my new clients come from referrals from other online clients.  I can stay busy now working with clients on the VLO and be less aggressive with my marketing strategies.  That said, I still keep and revise a business plan and marketing strategy, and stick with my client development to-do list to ensure that my practice will keep growing. 

    VLO Marketing Strategies

    As I mentioned above, I provide VLOTech clients with more detailed information and tips for how to specifically market a VLO using online methods.  I ask others attorneys practicing with a web-based VLO to provide me with the strategies that they have found work best with pulling in paying online clients to their VLO.  Then I compile these tips to share with all of the VLOTech attorneys.  

    In addition to these tips, there are a great number of marketing resources online for attorneys to learn from.  Many of these resources are geared towards the traditional solo practitioner, but they can easily be modified to apply to marketing a VLO.  My next post will provide a list of these blogs/websites and resources.

  • Setting Up a Virtual Law Practice

    I asked my readers in a recent post to let me know what their top questions were regarding virtual law practice.

    One reader writes:

    “Is there a software solution that can be installed out of the box that would work well for a virtual practice, or does someone have to find someone with programming expertise to set up the website? What software do you use for your virtual practice?”

    Since I don’t know of any “out of the box” products that can create a completely virtual law office, I thought I would explain exactly what a virtual law office is and how it operates with the VLOTech, Web 2.0 application which is what I use to operate Kimbro Legal Services.

    The definition of virtual practice has evolved with the technology we have available to us and will continue to do so. VLOTech clients either have a law office website in place or VLOTech refers them to Grant Griffiths at G2WebMedia.com whose services may set up a virtual law office website with blog functionality. The VLOTech application is then integrated into the attorney’s vlo website. Unlike packaged software that you have to install on your PC, VLOTech is a hosted system. Read up on Web 2.0 apps or SaaS for more details. The VLOTech website also has more information about the product and faqs.

    By the basic definition, a completely virtual law office (VLO) is a professional law practice that exists online through a secure portal and is accessible to the client and the attorney anywhere the parties may access the Internet. A VLO provides attorneys and clients with the ability to securely discuss matters online, download and upload documents for review and handle other business transactions in a secure digital environment. With a VLO, an attorney’s clients benefit from the convenience and accessibility and the attorney benefits from the flexibility of a virtual law practice, an online client and revenue generating software, and lower overhead associated with setup and maintenance of a nontraditional law office.

    It is important to distinguish a professional VLO from the many online websites selling legal documents and from rented “virtual,” physical offices. A VLO provides direct and personal communication between an attorney and a client rather than “form generated,” unbundled legal documents for sale and purchase by the public. Communication by email does not constitute a virtual law practice even if sent through a law firm’s website. Email is limited as a method of transacting business and is typically unencrypted, and therefore, not a secure method of handling sensitive attorney/client data.

    Physical office space rented out to an attorney to meeting with clients when scheduled for a monthly fee is also often referred to as a “virtual” law office. While this arrangement allows the attorney to work from a home office and meet with clients in a shared office space, the program does not use technology to operate the functions of a law office or provide an online interface to obtain and work with clients.

    Previous hesitation by legal professionals regarding “elawyering” or the practice of law online centered around technology that was limited in both protecting the security of sensitive attorney/client data and in allowing for adequate communication between the attorney and his or her client. As Web 2.0 and web-based applications continue to evolve, the definition of a virtual law practice will need to adapt at the same pace. While the software applications & technology used to create a VLO may update continuously, the public demand for online access to legal services will sustain the VLO method of practicing law. However, it will remain the responsibility of the individual virtual law practitioner to stay current with the security concerns related to the technology used for the VLO and to maintain strong ethics and professional conduct when practicing law online.

  • March Update on VLOTech and my Virtual Law Practice

    Sheryl Sisk Schelin, author of The Inspired Solo, invited me to write a guest post for her blog this week. Thank you to Sheryl for the opportunity to share my virtual practice with her readers!

    In other news, VLOTech is having its website professionally designed by G2 Web Media which is owned by Grant Griffiths of Home Office Lawyer fame. The website/blog should be up and running by the end of the month. The VLOTech company website will be a blog so that company updates and software progress can be posted quickly and archived in one spot. We’re also planning on having a faqs section which will address head-on the questions that we predict prospective clients and the public may have about SaaS, web-based applications and vlos in general.

    The Greater Wilmington Business Journal recently published an article about VLOTech and how the company is attracting attention across the nation from attorneys who are interested in setting up Virtual Law Offices.

    I’ve been asked to teach a CLE session at the GP/Solo/Small Firm CLE for the NC Bar Association this summer. My working title is “Virtual Law Practice: Technology and Ethics Considerations.” I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share my experience practicing law online and hopefully encourage more solo and small firm practitioners to look into the different technology options available that can enable them to create vlos or to take their practices remote.

  • KLS Virtual Law Office Fall Update

    This fall I’ve connected with several other attorneys across the nation who have similar goals of using the most current technology to better serve clients and facilitate collaboration between attorneys. Roger Glovsky (The Virtual Lawyer) has a great website, Lexpertise, with the goal of linking attorneys nationwide. Grant Griffiths is an attorney who also runs a home based law practice and is the author of two blogs: Home Office Warrior and Home Office Lawyer. Both of these websites have a wealth of information for anyone wanting to find better ways to strike a better work/life balance.

    With a virtual law office, I sometimes have people who reside in states other than North Carolina who will contact me asking for referrals to attorneys who are licensed to practice law in their state. So, these networks are an important way of serving people who visit my website. Over the past year or so, I’ve built up a decent referral bank for visitors to my website whom I am not able to assist and I’m hoping that will continue to grow.

    As many others have written, the legal profession is quickly changing thanks to the available technology. The most successful practices of the future will be those that have embraced these changes and kept up with the technology. An attorney doesn’t have to be a software programmer or computer expert anymore in order to use and maintain software applications that make his or her law practice run more efficiently.

    I am anxious to introduce the vlotech software to the legal profession. It will not happen overnight, but expect it to happen and expect an impact. The public is ready for something different than prepaid legal plans or fill-in-the form legal document websites like legalzoom. (And for the hundredth time, the virtual law office is not anything like legalzoom or nololaw or prepaid legal. It is my law office with all the administrative, management, accounting, etc. functions right there for me and my clients. All online. No lack of parking spaces, no secretary, no appointments necessary. It sometimes baffles me that the public gets this more easily than some attorneys. Give it less than five years and it will be a different story.)

    As for professional development, I attended the annual Estate Planning and Probate Practice CLE in Greensboro this past October so I feel up to date in this area of the law. I was hoping one of the speakers would go into more details about the recent N.C. law changes to the statutory form Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will. From what I have learned from speaking with other estate planning practitioners, many of their offices are still using the older versions of the documents because they feel that the newer versions are too complicated and wordy for their clients. Many want to wait and see the application of the changes in practice before switching over. Personally, I find the new Living Will statute to be clearer than the old. It would be interesting to know what medical practitioners think about the application of both revised documents.

    Aside from the home based, online practice, I’ve been asked to speak to several mothers’ groups locally about estate planning. I am also posting an educational thread about estate planning on an online forum for mothers. The material and dialogue online between myself and the other women will be the same as my in-person talks, but the forum will most likely reach a larger number of people and be more accessible for many of them. I’m grateful to have these opportunities.

    What strikes me the most after these talks and the question/answer sessions that follow is that a lot of people do not have any estate planning in place for their young families and many do not understand how it can be important to them at this stage in their lives. Yet, most of them have insurance policies in place for the “what ifs” in life. There is still this strongly held presumption among people in their 30s and 40s that estate planning is only for individuals at the end of their lives and only if they have sizable fortunes. I enjoy sharing what I have learned with these groups, and if nothing else, hopefully it helps them start a productive dialogue with their families.

    Also interesting to report, some skeptical people suggested to me that I would only be able to attract clients to the vlo who were in their 20s and 30s because that demographic is most comfortable with obtaining services online. I’m happy to report that I see a wide mix of clients in their 40s and 50s who use their vlo homepages, download and upload drafts and documents for review and pay me online. I even have had a couple clients in their late 60s this past year. This should say something for the ease of the website. That, and North Carolina has a large number of people who retire down here and need their estate planning updated from another state.

    Adding to the content of my virtual law office and this blog are on the top of my priority list for the upcoming new year so please check back. I’m looking forward to a productive and prosperous new year. I wish anyone reading this the same.

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