Virtual Law Practice

Tag: pro se litigant

  • Ethics Reminder for Unbundling Legal Services Online

    If you are providing unbundled legal services online — whether you are providing pro bono unbundled assistance or charging a fee for your services, you might want to read through this opinion (Thigpen v. Banas) that was issued in the Northern District of Illinios in February.

    The case is related to ghostwriting/unbundling of legal services.  Mr. Thigpen, a pro se litigant, filed a proposed second amended complaint which appeared to be drafted by an attorney and upon inquiry the plaintiff admitted that it was.  However, the attorney had not signed his or her name to the document or made an appearance before the court.  The opinion discusses the dangers of ghostwriting to both parties in the case and discusses the rules of professional responsibility that the attorney who drafted the document breached by not making an appearance before the court. 

    This opinion provides a good reminder for those of us unbundling legal services online that we need to 1) determine from the beginning of our contact with the prospective client if the matter may be unbundled or needs full-service representation and 2) that we are clear when we intiate any online representation what services we will provide for the client and which services we will not provide.  In the above opinion, the attorney who drafted this proposed second amended complaint should not have jumped into the middle of a matter where full-service, in-person representation was required without making appearance before the court.  (more…)

  • Assisting a Pro Se Litigant Online – Proposed NC State Bar 2008 Formal Ethics Op. 3

    The winter issue of the North Carolina State Bar’s Journal came out this week.  Of interest to attorneys practicing online with a virtual law practice, the Journal published the Proposed 2008 Formal Ethics Opinion 3, Assisting a Pro Se Litigant.  The proposed opinion had come out earlier this year but was only recently printed in the state bar’s publication.

    The Bar’s summarized its ethics decision:

    Proposed opinion rules a lawyer may assist a pro se litigant by drafting pleadings and giving advice without making an appearance in the proceeding and without disclosing or ensuring the disclosure of his assistance to the court unless required to do so by law or court order.

    How does this relate to a virtual law practice?

    Several virtual law office owners that I have worked with are planning on providing pro se litigants with unbundled legal services.  This would help to lessen the burden on the court systems in their state that are swamped with pro se litigants and at the same time allow the attorneys to tap into a different client base with a large need for legal services. 

    The technology of a web-based virtual law office would allow these attorneys to efficiently assist a large number of pro set litigants in any number of areas of law.  They could charge fees for legal services that are perhaps less than their traditional billable hour rates, but which make economic sense because the client is doing all of the footwork and the technology streamlines the process. 

    Of interest in this NC ethics opinion, the state bar specifically recognizes the public’s need for legal services to be delivered in less traditional ways. The ethics opinion references the NC 2005 Formal Ethics Opinion 10 which permits an internet based law practice to offer to work with and provide clients with online legal services, including providing services to pro se litigants. 

    The key to this new proposed ethics opinion is similar to the NC 2005 FEO Opinion 10 because it requires that the online client provide “informed consent” to the limited online representation.  Through a VLO, the client is given adequate notice of the terms and scope of the online representation multiple times and is asked to accept these terms through two separate clickwrap agreements. 

    The ethics opinion also requires that the attorney make the independent judgment as to whether the services he or she offers can be competently provided to the client based on that client’s unique legal needs.  This is similar to the process any attorney should go through in a traditional law practice and is not different with a virtual law office.

    To summarize, this opinion is another nod from another state bar that a virtual law practice may provide services to pro se litigants, provided that the virtual law practice is handled properly by the attorney practicing law online.

  • 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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