Virtual Law Practice

Tag: practicing law online

  • BigLaw Attorneys Taking to Virtual Law Practice

    The ABA Journal published an online article today about the progress that Virtual Law Partners (VLP) has made in recruiting attorneys from large law firms.  One of the reasons for the growth is the downturn in the economy and large law firm layoffs.  The beneficial reasons cited for the move to a virtual law firm by the former BigLaw attorney include having to put in fewer billable hours for the same return in client revenue and he was able to take with him the majority of his clients and continue to work with them remotely.

    VLP has an interesting structure for a virtual law practice because each attorney in the virtual firm works independently, but all of the attorneys pool resources as a single network.  I’m not clear on the actual technology and security they use to work remotely with each other or with their clients.  However, it will be interesting to see how their network holds up as it continues to grow and add attorneys.

    From their example, solos and small firms can see the benefits of practicing law online and how this option can be available for an attorney who may never have been interested in working for a large large firm.  It does not take the infrastructure of a brick and mortar law office with a huge staff and a fortune in marketing and advertising to be able to provide quality legal services to the public online.  As the way of the future, virtual law practice will allow the solo practitioner and small firm to really compete on the same level and to form the same online and social networks as attorneys who formerly worked for BigLaw.  It’s already happening on a small level and will continue to grow as the technology remains affordable and allows for increased attorney collaboration.  The playing field is leveling off.

  • Free eBook on Practicing Law Online: Creating A Web-Based Virtual Law Office

    I am pleased to announce that I have published an eBook entitled “Practicing Law Online: Creating a Web-Based Law Office.”  The book covers technology and ethics considerations in virtual law practice and provides best practice tips for providing online legal services.  The eBook is available for free here.  I welcome any comments and feedback.

  • ABA to Review the Delivery of Legal Services Through Technology

    Yesterday I received an email from a member of the ABA Division for Legal Services regarding the upcoming hearings to be held by the Standing Committee on The Delivery of Legal Services.  The Committee plans to examine the use of technology to deliver legal services online and will listen to presentations by technology providers and attorneys regarding the technologies used and any policies that governs its use. The Committee will then determine from the hearings whether the creation of policies is needed to assist practitioners in providing online legal services. 

    It’s during opportunities such as these when I sincerely wish I had a gift for public speaking and at least an ounce of charisma with which to transmit my ideas in front of a live group of people.  Unfortunately, I am a writer and more comfortable with a keyboard than a video camera and microphone.  I am going to submit to the committee my ebook which I have just finished entitled “Practicing Law Online: Creating a Web-Based Virtual Law Office.”  The ebook discusses the Web 2.0 technology used to practice law online and also looks at ethics considerations and malpractice risks while making best practice recommendations for operating a virtual law office.  

    I wish there were a way to share with the Committee the positive responses that I have received over the past two and half years from my online VLO clients and from the public in general to the delivery of legal services online.  I have formed close relationships with my clients and all of our communications were conducted through my VLO, never face to face. 

    If you can please allow a moment of bragging, recently, a first-time client of mine was so pleased with the online services I provided that she emailed a referral to her 100+ person mother’s group recommending my services and providing all of my online VLO information.  I have small business clients that come back repeatedly and refer their other small business friends.  They tell me that my online services are efficient, fairly priced and most important to them, convenient for the entrepreneur starting a new business who is often working a 9-5 job while getting off the ground.  They enjoy the ability to pay online, set up payment plans through the system and check on their legal matters 24/7 whenever it best suits them. 

    I hope that whatever policies the Committee comes up with will respect the fact that each individual virtual attorney may operate his or her VLO using different technologies and combinations of technology.  It should be the responsbility of the virtual attorney, as I have written in previous posts, to make sure that they understand the security and technology used by the VLO hosting company.  As with traditional law practices, I believe it is the resonsibility of the individual virtual attorney to create policies and standards for their virtual law practice that compy with his or her state bar’s rules and regulations for ethics and professional conduct. 

    My fear is that the delivery of legal services online may be restricted through any policies created by the Committee due to a lack of understanding regarding the security of the technology.  They may not be aware of the ability of features to be created within the VLO system that can provide safe and ethical communications between attorneys and the public, such as the conflict of interest checks, establishing the attorney/client relationship, jurisdiction checks, notice of unbundled services, etc. 

    VLOTech is a small, family-owned company.  We are growing quickly and forming new relationships with other attorneys interested in virtual law practice every day.  It’s an exciting time.  It’s clear to us from the responses we receive that a revolution is quietly happening in the area of the delivery of online legal services.  It’s driven primarily by the public’s desire for these services and secondarily by attorneys, largely solos and small firm practitioners, who want to use the flexibility of the technology to practice law for a variety of reasons.  There is no way VLOTech can pull together for a presentation in two weeks all of the research and positive feedback that we have assembled over the past three years and about which we are so excited to share with VLOTech attorneys and their clients. 

    Instead, I will be submitting my ebook which covers a lot of our research and hopefully this will be accepted for consideration by the Committee.   If you would like a free copy of my ebook, please feel free to contact me at skimbro@vlotech.net.  I will also write a post about the hearings following the presentations and let my readers know what happens as far as any statements or policies issued by the Committee that may affect virtual law practice.   If you would like to view the online hearing, details about the presenters and schedule will be posted on The Standing Committee on The Delivery of Legal Services’ website.

  • Avoiding the Unauthorized Practice of Law in Other Jurisdictions When Practicing Law Online

    Practicing law from a web-based virtual law office brings the risk of unwittingly establishing an attorney/client relationship regarding a legal matter that the virtual attorney is not licensed to handle. The unauthorized practice of law in other jurisdictions can be avoided by following some simple practice methods.

    First, the virtual law practitioner has the responsibility to provide clear notice throughout the VLO website that he or she is only licensed to practice law in the states in which the attorney holds an active bar license. This information should show up at every turn — from the terms and conditions for the website to the registration and clickwrap agreement allowing access to the online client’s homepage.

    Second, the virtual law office website should contain contact information and the name of the attorney running the VLO. For some state bar associations, such as North Carolina, the requirement extends to providing a physical mailing address for the prospective client. This information should be located in a section that is easily found by the online client, such as an “About Us” section or at the start of the website’s disclaimer. By providing adequate notice throughout the VLO, the attorney should not be found to be soliciting clients from a state where he or she is not able to practice law.

    In addition, a well-designed VLO should contain a jurisdiction check for the benefit of the client and the attorney. This safe-guard was built into the VLOTech software for this purpose.

    VLOTech jurisdiction check

    When the client registers on the attorney’s VLO website, a simple check for the zip code notifies the attorney that the client is a resident outside his or her jurisdiction. A note would appear to the client which states that the attorney may only be retained to answer legal questions and handle legal work related to the laws of the state for which the attorney has an active law license. The jurisdiction check should not prevent the client from continuing with the registration process, but serves the purpose of providing more than adequate notice of the attorney’s jurisdiction. Through this process, the attorney is provided with a red flag on the backend of the law office to let him or her know that the client resides in a different state and may not have a legal matter that the attorney is permitted to handle.

    With the combination of adequate contact information and notice to any prospective clients regarding jurisdictional limitations, the virtual practitioner should be able to safely avoid crossing the line into unauthorized practice of law.

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