Virtual Law Practice

Delivering legal services online

Consumer Law Revolution Ebook

By | | Book, Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Marketing, Online Marketing, Practice Management, Technology, Virtual practice | 3 Comments

I’ve created a new page on this blog for my new ebook: Consumer Law Revolution. This ebook is the precursor to my full book that should be published by the ABA LPM sometime later this year. The ebook provides an introduction to the concept of branded networks and online marketing tools for lawyers. I researched almost all of the legal tech startups and branded networks from both the lawyer and consumer perspective. These case studies are in the full book as are all of the important ethics issues surrounding lawyer’s collaboration with these companies to engage with and provide legal services to the public. ...READ MORE

Progress on New Book – Online Marketing Tools

By | | Book, Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Marketing, Online Marketing, Practice Management, Technology | Leave a Comment

I wanted to provide a quick update of what I’ve been working on and what I will hopefully be sharing more of on this blog in the near future. I have been finishing up a new book on the topic of online marketing tools for lawyers. In the course of researching for this project, I’ve studied and registered for accounts with companies that provide online legal services to the public and seek to collaborate with lawyers. This process has only increased my excitement and optimism about the future of online delivery of services. ...READ MORE

Virginia Disciplinary Case on Misleading Lawyer Advertising

By | | Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Marketing, Online Marketing, Practice Management, Virtual practice | 1 Comment

A recent disciplinary case out of Virginia addresses the issue of a lawyer’s use of misleading online advertising and references “virtual” law offices. In fact, the objectionable actions taken by the lawyer are those that could apply to any lawyer or law firm that has a website or any online presence. It is not in fact related to the online delivery of legal services, but to lawyer advertising in general. ...READ MORE

NC Proposed Ethics Opinion – Use of Leased Time-Shared Office Address

By | | Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Marketing, Online Marketing, Practice Management, Residency Requirements, Technology, Virtual practice | Leave a Comment

There is a proposed North Carolina ethics opinion that may affect virtual practitioners who use leased time-shared offices or PO Boxes as addresses because they work from home or only need to meet with clients infrequently. ...READ MORE

Launch of Unbundling Book at ABA Techshow

By | | ABA, Book, Ethics, Practice Management, Unbundling - Limited Scope | 5 Comments

Last week at the ABA Techshow in Chicago, I was pleased to launch the publication of my new book on unbundling. Writing a book on limited scope services seemed like a logical next step in the process of reevaluating how the legal profession can adapt to the changes it faces as a result of disruptive technology, economic recession, Internet empowered consumers and other factors. ...READ MORE

Update on the Ethics of Performance-Based Marketing

By | | Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Ethics, Marketing, Online Marketing, Practice Management, Technology, Virtual practice | 1 Comment

Most lawyers who have researched ethics opinions related to online advertising are familiar with the Total Attorneys ethics matter, which began in April, 2009 when a single Connecticut lawyer filed an ethics complaint with the state bar disciplinary counsel in 47 states. The complaints targeted not just the company, but also more than 500 of its bankruptcy law firm customers. Here’s the final update on how this played out along with my thoughts on the significance of this process. ...READ MORE

Standing Committee Recommends Deletion of Problematic Advertising Rule

By | | ABA, Ethics, Marketing, Online Marketing, Practice Management, Technology, Virtual practice | Leave a Comment

The ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services has written a letter to the Commission on Ethics 20/20 providing its recommendations regarding lawyer advertising rules. In an interesting move, the Committee has recommended the deletion of Model Rule 7.2(b). For those of us in virtual practices who depend on online advertising methods perhaps moreso than traditional law firms, this would be a potentially revolutionary change to the rules. ...READ MORE

Updating the Marketing Strategy for a Virtual Law Practice

By | | Delivering Legal Services Online, eLawyering, Marketing, Online Marketing, Virtual practice | Leave a Comment

  This Saturday I’m giving a live lecture focused on virtual law practice marketing strategy for my students in Concord Law School’s Small Business LLM program. I’m having the students slowly add in components of a business plan with each assignment so that by the end of the semester they have a complete and ready-to-implement business plan for […] ...READ MORE

Online “Daily Deals” on Legal Services

By | | Delivering Legal Services Online, Ethics, Online Marketing, Practice Management | 4 Comments

South Carolina has published a new Formal Ethics Opinion 11-05 about attorney’s using services, such as Groupon, to offer discounts and deals on their legal services. To my knowledge, the ethics opinion is the first from a state bar that is specifically related to this topic. The question posed in the opinion is: Does a […] ...READ MORE

Online Bidding for Clients

By | | Delivering Legal Services Online, Ethics, Marketing, Practice Management | Leave a Comment

Today’s Wall Street Journal published an article on Shpoonkle, an online auction site similar to eBay where lawyers can bid on clients.  Both Susan Cartier Liebel and Scott Greenfield had blogged about this site in the past month.  Robert Ambrogi even chimed in that the concept is old news and will hopefully fall to its demise sooner rather […] ...READ MORE
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