Virtual Law Practice

Tag: Kimbro Law

  • The Future of the Legal Profession is Client-Centric

    This past week the ABA LPM Section held its spring conference in Las Vegas. Of the many topics covered in the sessions and CLEs, the one recurring theme was that the changes in our profession are being driven by the clients. Some of these changes include increased customer service, response time, alternative billing, online access and use of technology by the firm to cut costs and make legal services more easily obtainable and affordable. This client-centric focus on law practice management is important because once these changes have been made by the attorney, there is little room for going back.

    Imagine telling the client who has enjoyed online access to the status and files of his case that he must now make in-person appointments in your office and will receive the invoice in the mail in 7-10 business days. Or imagine telling your clients who you provided flat fees for legal services that you will now be charging them by the billable hour rate and instead of a number they can budget, giving them a guestimated range they will owe you upon services rendered. (more…)

  • Family Favorite Award Winner for the 4th Year in a Row

    I’m excited to announce that my virtual law office has won the Wilmington Parent Family Favorite Award under the category of “attorney” for the fourth year in a row!  (more…)

  • Article Notes Rise in Virtual Law Firms

    Today’s Legal Technology section over at Law.com has an article about the increasing number of solo practitioners who are profiting from going virtual.  As I’ve blogged about in the fall of last year, operating a virtual law office is a great way for a solo or small law firm to compete in this difficult economy.  The general public, our clients, are seeking more affordable legal services and they want the convenience of using technology to acquire those services.  After all, being able to take care of your legal needs at 1am without having to take time off of work or arrange for child care saves money as much as a reduced legal fee.

    I have noticed an increase in my virtual law practice since last October and many of my online clients are forthright about why they decided to come to my VLO instead of going to a traditional law firm.  My clients are scattered across the state so at the same time that I am helping my clients, I am also helping my law practice by being able to expand my client base and compete with traditional solo practices in my state.

    Working with VLOTech to set up other attorneys with virtual law practices and seeing the increase in interest in the web-based technology assures me this is a trend that is not going anywhere anytime soon.  Check out some of the newest VLOs in my links to the right.

    The Law.com article talks about virtual law practices that communicate through email (usually unencrypted and not secure), phone and Internet but does not really give us the details on what technologies these virtual law practices are using.  The focus is also on collaboration virtually between attorneys rather than online attorney and client communication.  Let’s hope data security is a primary concern for these practices with whatever technologies they are using to deliver legal services.  Expect to see future articles that focus more on attorney/client online communication to deliver legal services online.

  • Twitter and the Virtual Law Office

    I’ve been using Twitter on almost a daily basis since last summer as @StephKimbro.  I started using it out of curiosity and am at over 1400 updates.  I have met many new people both in the legal profession and in other industries through Twitter.  Like anything else online, it requires savvy filtering skills.  I use TweetDeck to help search and filter tweets. 

    Many blog posts have gone up about attorneys using Twitter for networking, marketing and client development.  I’ll list a few below for reference.  Since my virtual law office clients are online and more likely to be using Twitter themselves I wanted to give the application more time before blogging about it to see how it could have an impact on a virtual law practice.

    So far, no new online clients as a direct result of using Twitter.  The difficulty is in narrowing in on my online client base here in North Carolina.  My Twitter network knows no jurisdictional boundaries which I am held to by my law license.  While I have a good number of North Carolina followers, the number of Twitter users is still not touching the general public enough that my posts about my law practice are reaching potential consumers of the online legal services that I provide.  Of course, I am not directly advertising my services through tweets, just posting about what I am working on at the time on my VLO.  I use other forms of online advertising that are targeted more towards my NC client base, but Twitter is just not able to tap into that base as easily— not yet.  

    That said, if I were able to connect with a prospective client through Twitter, I would immediately have to send them to my VLO to continue online communication.  Even the use of direct messages through Twitter conveys via unencrypted email and would not be a secure method of conveying sensitive attorney/client communications.  I would worry that a less sophisticated client might send a tweet with confidential information to me and the rest of the online world before I would have the chance to warn them.  I know other attorneys have written about these concerns and some refuse to use Twitter at all for that reason, but I still think the benefits for the legal professional outweigh any risks.  I’m keeping my eye out for a state bar ethics or advisory opinion to specifically discuss the use of Twitter.  Clue me in if you’ve read one.

    The value of Twitter for the virtual law practice is obvious — connecting with a network of other legal professionals on a closer level.  I have gotten to know many attorneys, virtual assistants, legal software providers and law practice management advisers through Twitter. Sure, I have a LinkedIn, Facebook and other social and legal networking accounts, but Twitter lets me get a glimpse into the daily lives of these people and likewise, they occasionally see tweets about my family and my daily musings.  Tweets help to humanize the online networking process.  

    For some attorneys operating a virtual law practice may seem isolating if they are working from a home office or other remote location on their VLO.  Twitter helps them stay connected to legal news and the opinions of other legal professionals across the world.  I have asked my Twitter followers for general advice on law practice management in the past and received useful insights.  Likewise, I have been able to share tips about VLOs and virtual law practice with others. 

    The network of virtual attorneys and virtual law firms on Twitter is growing which is helping to spread the word about VLOs and the delivery of legal services online.  Here are some VLOs on Twitter:

    @Olea_LLP

    @TimFerraris

    @FrameLegal

    @PattiSpencer

    @Debrina

    In conclusion, I don’t think using Twitter has much of a benefit of pulling in clients directly to a VLO.  However, it is a great tool to use for networking and learning from other legal professionals and a way to continue to grow the online presence of a virtual law practice.  As more of the general public joins Twitter, it is possible that the general advertising of a VLO website and services through tweets will over time help an attorney to grow his or her online client base.  

    Here are a list of some popular blog posts that have gone up about the use of Twitter by legal professionals:

    Twitter 101 For Lawyers, Nicole Black (@nikiblack)

    145 Lawyers (and Legal Professionals) to Follow on Twitter, Adrian Lurssen (@jdtwitt)

    Lawyer Marketing with Twitter, Steve Mathews (@stevematthews)

    Lawyer Marketing with Twitter has Arrived, Kevin O’Keefe (@kevinokeefe)

    How to Use Twitter as a Lawyer, Grant Griffiths (@grantgriffiths)

  • 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.

  • Virtual Law Office Listed as a “Law Firm Website That Works”

    The April edition of the ABA Journal published an article entitled Law Firm Websites That Work.  Under the category “Virtuality”, my virtual law practice is described along with illinoisdivorce.com.

    The article consulted a list of panelists to provide suggestions for law firm websites that are productive in the categories of branding, solo, innovation, virtuality, all business, and youth appeal.  Take a look at these websites and the marketing techniques and services they offer their clients.  There may be ways to integrate aspects of several into your own ideas for a virtual law practice website.

  • Looking forward to Pro Bono project

    An update: Check out the changes I made to the virtual law office (VLO) website. It is less text-heavy now and has more graphics to make it more “user friendly.” Business is good. NC Lawyer’s Weekly published a front page article on the VLO. I spoke with the reporter on the phone a couple weeks earlier and we had a very casual conversation so I was not really expecting that my practice would be the focal point of the article. I would link to it but it’s in the NC Lawyer’s Weekly website’s archive and you have to register to view it.

    In other news, I’m going to do some pro bono work for the Cape Fear Community College Small Business Center for a few hours a month. I went to their center for counseling regarding my business plan for the VLO. They offer free small business counseling and other services to the community. I’m hoping to counsel small business owners on various legal matters concerning starting up and maintaining their small businesses. I’m looking forward to the opportunity because not only will it be a great chance to meet other small business owners in the community, but it will require me to really brush up on all aspects of the NC Corporations statutes and other business related matters so that I can be well prepared to answer any questions that the Small Business Center’s clients might have for me.

  • Kimbrolaw website in the news

    This has been a great week for introducing the website to the public. The Wilmington Star-News ran a short article on the virtual law office and then the daily N.C. Lawyer’s Weekly, which is emailed out to a large number of attorneys statewide, published a short mention on the virtual law office and linked to the Star-News article. The Greater Wilmington Business Magazine also ran an announcement of the practice this week.

    I am pleased to report that the response from website visitors has been very positive. I keep reading the phrase “it’s about time” from people registering on the site. I’ve been productive all week as a result of the press and really enjoying every minute of being busy.

  • Kimbrolaw.com is live!

    The website went completely live last night. This means that anyone interested can register for their own account and have access to the “ask a lawyer” function. As with any new site, there are sure to be some things in the layout and usability which might need improvement. I’m looking forward to receiving such critiques from potential clients and working to improve the site. My next step is to get the word out to people who might benefit from having access to an affordable, online law office.

  • Creating a Virtual Law Practice

    As an attorney, I believe that quality legal services should be available to all citizens regardless of their income levels. Many times clients are unable or unwilling to pay hundreds of dollars per billable hour to meet with an attorney in person when they have only general legal questions or need basic legal guidance. I created Kimbro Legal Services, LLC at www.kimbrolaw.com as a way to provide North Carolina citizens with affordable, limited legal services. I believe that kimbrolaw.com may be the first completely virtual law firm in North Carolina. A NC Bar Ethics Opinion passed in January, 2006 allowing virtual law practices, but I have been developing the concept for this website and firm for a couple years now.

    Why create a virtual law firm?

    First, the number of pro se litigants has been rising and courts are increasingly faced with the challenges and strains this increase creates both legally and administratively on the court systems. Many pro se litigants exist because they cannot afford to retain an attorney. A 2003 American Bar Association’s Report of the Modest Means Task Force stated that one method by which attorneys can improve the fairness of the American legal system is to provide limited legal services “to people who cannot afford ‘full-service’ representation.” Handbook on Limited Scope Legal Assistance, A Report of the Modest Means Task Force, American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, 2003.

    Second, without the high overhead costs of a physical law office, Kimbro Legal Services provides clients with limited legal counseling and assistance in civil matters, including the preparation of basic legal documents, such as Partnership and Operating Agreements for small businesses, Residential and Commercial Lease Agreements, Estate Planning materials, Estate Administration forms, and other contracts and agreements prepared in accordance with North Carolina Law. I am just beginning to build the law firm’s business, but I am highly optimistic that it will be a productive method of providing cost-effective and efficient legal services for people who have questions about North Carolina law.

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