Virtual Law Practice

Tag: Practice Management

  • Contributing to the Lawyerist

    I’m happy to announce that I will be a contributor to the Lawyerist.com blog. Here’s my intro post. An article on unbundling legal services with a virtual law practice should post sometime next week. If anyone has requests for topics related to virtual law practice that they would like for me to cover on this blog or as a contributor to Lawyerist, please drop me a line.

  • Recent AZ Bar Ethics Opinion Discusses eLawyering Methods

    The Arizona State Bar has published Ethics Opinion 09-04 “Confidentiality; Maintaining Client Files; Electronic Storage; Internet” in December 2009.  This opinion will apply to attorneys operating virtual law practices within the AZ Bar jurisdiction and is similar to the NC Bar 2008 Formal Ethics Opinion 5, Web-based Management of Client Records published July 2008.  In fact the NC Formal Ethics Opinion 5 is cited in this new AZ opinion.

    AZ Opinion 09-04 addresses the ability of an attorney to work with clients and deliver legal services online.  The question presented in the opinion lays out the method that the inquiring attorney would use to securely deliver the documents to his or her clients online.  In this case, the documents would be converted to “password-protected PDF format,” and the client would access those files for review over a secure site which uses “encryption and three layers of unique randomly generated alpha-numeric folder names and passwords.”

    The AZ Bar pointed to the two related, existing rules of professional conduct which are the same rules that we have seen applied in other opinions related to virtual law practice: Competence and Confidentiality of Information.  A previous AZ Bar ethics opinion has permitted electronic storage of law office data, including clients’ files (Az Ethics Op.05-04). 

    Here is what I love about this opinion.  They allow for the proposed method of delivering legal services online to the client, but they recognize that this is not where it ends. From the Opinion:

    However, the Committee also recognizes that technology advances may make certain protective measures obsolete over time.  Therefore, the Committee does not suggest that the protective measures at issue in Ethics Op. 05-04 or in this opinion necessarily satisfy ER 1.6’s requirements indefinitely.  Instead, whether a particular system provides reasonable protective measures must be “informed by the technology reasonably available at the time to secure data against unintentional disclosure.” N.J. Ethics Op. 701.  As technology advances occur, lawyers should periodically review security measures in place to ensure that they still reasonably protect the security and confidentiality of the clients’ documents and information. (emphasis added)

    This is clearly the best way that the state bars can address virtual law practice without preventing or discouraging innovation.   The attorney practicing law online has the responsibility to stay current on the security issues involved in using the technology. If they are not able to do so for themselves, then they need to trust an IT professional or their SaaS provider to keep their system up to date and protected.

  • Happy New Year – Going on Year 4

    Happy New Year!   I reviewed many of the virtual law practice news from 2009 in my last post.  In this post I want to look forward to the year ahead by providing some news about my own virtual law office and upcoming speaking/sharing engagements.

    2010 will mark year four of owning my own solo, virtual law practice.  I opened Kimbro Legal Services in the winter of 2006 right around the time that I welcomed my daughter to the world.  I remember being so excited about taking the leap into my own solo practice but also trying to ignore the negative comments that other attorneys had shared with me regarding the idea of making the practice completely web-based.  And four years later, virtual law practice is something that is being embraced by the legal profession and expanding in innovation and technology way beyond what I had imagined back in ’06.  I’m so grateful to be able to share my experiences with other attorneys and to assist them in setting up their own virtual law offices.

    Looking forward to 2010, there will be several opportunities to share information about virtual law practices with others in the legal community.  (more…)

  • 2009 Recap of Virtual Law Practice

    This year has brought the legal profession closer to the acceptance of virtual law practice as a method of delivering legal services through the use of technology.  Virtual law practices are improving access to and affordability of legal services to the general public.  For legal professionals, practicing law online provides the flexibility to create innovative and unique law practices that provide improved work/life balance in addition to professional success. 

    In this post I wanted to review some of the online articles related to virtual law practice that came out in 2009.  As more virtual law firms launch in 2010, expect to see the tone of these articles change to include more detailed discussions about technology and ethics issues involved in the delivery of legal services online as well as discussions about different structures of virtual law practices that are now in the planning stages.  This might include multi-jurisdictional virtual law firms with interesting fee and management structures, using a virtual law office as a non-profit to provide pro bono legal services, “cost-co” type firms with registration fees, and other unique ways that legal professionals are envisioning the use of the technology to collaborate with attorneys and clients online.   

    I work mostly with other solos and small firms who are opening virtual law practices, but I have spoken with many other attorneys who envision collaboration with others to expand their practices beyond the solo or small firm realm.  More legal SaaS products are also entering the market, each with a different focus and concept about what virtual law practice can be.   It will be interesting to see what develops in 2010 not only in terms of what structures individual attorneys come up with, but what new features and functionalities the technology will bring.  There are also major changes in the legal profession happening in the UK and abroad that may serve as an influence here in the States.

    Along with many others, I see great potential for virtual law practice to even the playing field for access to justice in our country.   Of all of the benefits, I think this may be the most important goal for the profession to keep in mind as it moves forward in defining and supporting the use of technology to deliver legal services. 

    That said, here is a list of virtual law practice in the news in 2009.  I’m going to limit myself to mostly North American news here to keep the list manageable, but be aware that similar articles are popping up within other countries’ legal professions.  I’m also posting both the negative and the positive articles on the topic and they are in no particular order. 

    Know of any more?  Feel free to pass them along.

    Mid-Year Review of Virtual Law Practice in the News — a round-up post from January 2009 – July 2009 with links to articles

    ABA eLawyering Task Force publishes Draft Minimum Guidelines for Virtual Law Practice

    The Firms of the Future, Jordan Furlong, Law21

    An Office Can be Virtual, but Client Service Can’t, Edward Poll, Canadian Bar Association, National Magazine

    Virtually Legal:  Bricks and borders place no restrictions on the growing wave of virtual lawyers, Alison Arnot, Canadian Bar Association, National Magazine

    The Virtual Paralegal Podcast, The Paralegal Voice, Lynne DeVenny and Vicki Voisin

    4 Steps to Starting a Virtual Law Office, Jay Fleischman, The Untethered Lawyer

    Legal Implications of Cloud Computing — Part One, David Navetta, Information Law Group (not so much related to attorneys practicing law online, but a good explanation of “cloud computing”)

    The Virtual Law Office — Not Your Father’s Cloud, Donna Seyle, Freelance Law Firm

    Virtual Law Firm Rimon Law Group Welcomes Four New Partners, Dec., 2009

    Does the Future Belong to Virtual Law Firms?, Francesca Heintz, EDD Blog Online

    Unbundled Legal Services Or Self-Represented Consumers? You Decide., Jay Fleischman, The Untethered Lawyer

    Setting up a Web-based Virtual Law Office, Stephanie Kimbro, ABA GP/Solo & Small Firm Division Technology eReport

    SaaS Security: Can you Trust your Data in the Cloud, Jack Newton, ABA GP/Solo & Small Firm Division Technology eReport

    Disaster Ahead for Lawyers Unwilling to Change, Richard Susskind, ABA Journal Legal Rebels Blog

    lawtechTalk Episode #5: Cloud Computing and Your Law Practice, Nicole Black, lawtechTalk

    Adding a Virtual Law Office to your Practice, Stephanie Kimbro, Lawyerist

  • Virtual Law Practice Teleconference and Live Audio Webcast

    This upcoming Thursday, December 17 at 1pm EST, Richard Granat, Marc Lauritsen and myself will be co-presenting a CLE teleconference and live audio webcast entitled “The Virtual Law Firm: Benefits, Costs and Ethical Pitfalls to Avoid.”  It is sponsored by the American Bar Association LPM Section and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education.

    From the program description, the topics that will be covered include:

    • What is a “virtual law firm”
    • The benefits of delivering legal services online
    • The web architecture for a virtual law firm
    • Online applications, such as web-enabled document automation
    • Ethical issues in the delivery of online legal services, including confidentiality, security, unauthorized practice of law, client identification, conflict of interest checking and client authentication procedures
    • Criteria of vendor selection
    • The costs associated with setting up a virtual law practice
    • Marketing your brand and virtual law practice online

    If  you are interested in virtual law practice or are operating a virtual law firm, please consider joining us for this session.  In addition to some really practical advice on this form of delivering legal services using technology, the session will also provide 1.5 hours of CLE credit in most states.  Have any specific questions you would like answered during the conference?  Please drop a line in the comments section below or email me.

    UPDATE: The teleconference had a really nice turnout and we received great questions from the audience both on the phone and online. I believe the recording of the CLE and materials will now be available for purchase from the ABA at some point.

  • Technology eReport: Setting Up a Web-Based Virtual Law Office

    Check out my article in the November issue of the ABA GP/Solo & Small Firm Technology eReport: Setting Up a Web-based Virtual Law Office.  From the article:

    Consumers are actively seeking more affordable and convenient access to legal services over the Internet. Due to the cost of traditional legal services, they are turning to cutting and pasting together sample online legal documents or purchasing cheap legal forms online without the benefit of attorney review. The economic recession has further hastened this trend. To address consumer demand, more attorneys are opening web-based virtual law offices (VLOs) or adding a VLO to an existing traditional law firm structure to deliver legal services to clients online.

    There are different ways to define and structure a virtual law practice. Simply put, a virtual law practice is a professional law practice where an attorney is able to work with clients over the Internet through a secure portal from the establishment of the attorney/client relationship through to the payment of and final rendering of legal services. The technology used to create and maintain a VLO is a software as a service (SaaS) hosted system, often referred to as practicing law “in the cloud.” To set up a virtual law practice, an attorney should be aware of a number of practical and ethical considerations discussed below.

  • 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.

  • Does Your Virtual Law Practice Need a Phone Number?

    When I first opened my virtual law office almost four years ago, I wanted to handle every aspect of my practice online.  With most of my client base, this worked fine and was what they preferred as well.  I have an estate planning and small business setup practice and the majority of my clients are in their late twenties through late forties.  However, I have a large number of clients over the age of 50, many of whom are retirees or who are interested for a variety of reasons in getting their estate planning in order for an affordable price and in a way that is convenient for them.  (more…)

  • Response to “Ethical Pitfalls of Virtual Law Practice”

    This past week an article came out in Lawyers USA Online entitled, “Ethical pitfalls of virtual law practice.”  The article discusses some of the ethics risks that exist in this form of law practice.  However, there are a number of safeguards and smart practices that an attorney may engage in to avoid these “ethical pitfalls.”  While the article quotes a handful of solutions, it does not cover all of the different options and resources that are available to attorneys who are concerned about these risks.  (more…)

  • “In the Meantime…” — Temporary Operation of a Virtual Law Office

    Over the past year I’ve spoken with attorneys who have been laid off from Biglaw firms and are seeking new positions or attorneys who have just passed the bar and are having trouble finding a position to launch their legal careers.  Both groups of individuals are working hard to establish or reinvent themselves within the legal profession and are seeking my advice about using a virtual law practice as a way to do this. They want to operate a solo virtual law practice “in the meantime.”

    Solo virtual law practice is not for everyone, and while I love the independence that it provides me, I recognize that other attorneys have different goals for their legal careers. Therefore, I try to give useful advice that would apply to the attorney’s individual goals and circumstances.

    Can a virtual law practice be used effectively in between phases in an attorney’s career — from firm to firm?  Will the attorney be able to take the virtual law practice with him or her when that dream legal job comes along?  Will it pay the bills if the attorney is only going to be delivering legal services online on a temporary basis?  If the attorney is a newly graduated attorney can he or she work online and learn an entirely new practice area of law without having worked in an actual law office? 

    These are difficult, but critical questions for attorneys in such situations to ask before embarking on a virtual law practice. I’ve combined some of my responses to these questions below. (more…)

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