Virtual Law Practice

Tag: Technology

  • No Substitute for an Attorney

    During yesterday’s ABA ELawyering Task Force call, we discussed the recent settlement agreement entered into by LegalZoom and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

    In an Assurance of Discontinuation, the online legal services company must not state in advertising to the public that its services are less expensive than those of a law firm without also explaining that its services are not a substitute for an attorney.   With the far-reaching and well-funded advertising campaigns of the company, it is easy to see how the message may be misleading to members of the public, many of whom may have never retained the services of a licensed attorney and who may only have the price points and t.v. ads with which to make a judgement.

    One of the statements in Assurance of Discontinuation pertains to the unauthorized practice of law in the state of Washington – a claim we have seen issued against the company in N.C. and Missouri.  While LegalZoom does not admit to UPL in this document, it does agree not to engage in UPL with regards to providing personalized legal guidance that is state-specific within the legal self-help forms.  

    Other concerns that myself and others have brought up in the past related to the practices of online legal service companies are also covered in the agreement.  It will be interesting to see if other state attorney generals will take notice of this and implement similar actions. 

    Here is the  Assurance of Discontinuation:

    WA & LegalZoom Assurance of Discontinuation

  • Book Release — Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online

    I’m pleased to announce the publication of my book Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online through the ABA LPM Publishing.  The book was written to be a practical, how-to manual for attorneys who want to deliver legal services online by creating a virtual law office. It addresses virtual law practice that is either completely web-based or where a firm has integrated a virtual law office into a traditional practice management structure.   

    The goal of the book is to guide anyone interested in the concept of virtual law practice through the different management structures, technology options, ethics and malpractice issues, marketing methods, daily management, and really serves as a how-to guide for practical implementation.  The book is full of case studies from attorneys engaged in virtual law practice and elawyering as well as advice from practice management advisors, IT & security professionals, and marketing and business professionals among others.  The book includes an glossary of terms related to virtual law practice and an appendix of state-by-state ethics rules and opinions and other resources related to virtual law practice.  Because the technology involved in creating and maintaining a virtual law office changes so frequently, I intend to update the information in the book on this blog as necessary. 

    Please check out the book at the ABA Bookstore and check back here for updates on the topic. Thanks to everyone who supported me in this endeavor, and my gratitude especially goes out to those attorneys who took the risk in forging ahead with virtual law practice in its various forms over the years!

  • Secure Client Portals to Deliver Legal Services Online

    The delivery of legal services online depends on the use of a secure client portal where the attorney and client can interact. This is the key feature of a virtual law practice and what distinguishes it from other online legal services and law firms that claim to be “virtual” by using unencrypted email.

    I’ve noticed in the past year that several new versions of the secure client portal have been introduced. Some of these are even developed specifically for legal professionals and most are designed for use by solos and small firms interested in delivering legal services online. If you are considering opening a virtual law practice, you might want to take a look at these different applications. Some of them have free trials and are still in beta.

    As fast as the technology for virtual law practice changes, it’s worth keeping an eye on what’s coming down the pipeline in client/attorney online communication.  The features that allow you to communicate with your clients online varies.  So far, no one is keen on having their online clients choose avatars or going beyond realtime chat and video communication.  As usual, my imagination fueled by reading too much sci-fi tends to exceed our current capabilities in terms of practical and cost-effective implementation of current technology for law practice management.

    With all of these below, check out the level of security each provides.  Look for end-to-end encyption of the transmission of any sensitive law office data.  You will want the basics — written online communication in some fashion that is recorded with date and time (for ED and CYA of the attorney), online files or other methods of organizing documents, calendaring or the ability to schedule communications with the attorney, uploading and downloading documents, limited client management features to protect them from themselves, etc.  Some client portals are going to work better for unbundling legal services online for many clients and others are more suited to larger online projects with a single client or two.  Keep in mind the chosen structure of your virtual law practice and the needs of your online client base when you are reviewing the products.

    Here are a few new client portal products I’ve run across, along with some that have been around for a few years now.  Know of any other technologies that create secure client portals?  Drop me a note in the comments.

    MyCase Client Manager
    Wizilegal
    DirectLaw
    VLOTech
    Advologix (client portal is not the focus and costs extra)
    HoudiniEsq (was announcing client access this summer, still in beta)
    BaseCamp  (not developed for legal professionals, may not have certain malpractice checks in place)
    ZohoProjects  (not developed for legal professionals, but if your clients are attorneys or other professionals, perhaps a way to collaborate online on a project.  Not sure about the security of this and also there are probably not the same malpractice checks in place)

  • Online Legal Services for “Digital Natives”

    I’m contributing to a public policy paper regarding the risks and benefits to the public from the use of cloud computing in law practice management.   The process has encouraged me to think in-depth about how the general public reaches out to the legal profession for help.  At the same time, I just finished reading Born Digital, by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser.  This has prompted me to add to my analysis how the age-range of clients and their methods of communicating with us change over the course of a law practice.

    Born Digital discusses the generation among us that has known only a digital world – “Digital Natives.”  They were the first generation to write papers in high school using online research engines and Wikipedia entries.  They are able to multitask in ways that the generations preceding them cannot understand.   They form complex online social networks and share information and unique online personalities that create digital records of the different phases of their lives from infancy on. (more…)

  • Excellence in eLawyering: ABA Keane Award Nominations

    It’s that time of year again to consider sending in your nominations for the ABA’s James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering. The Award is presented by the Law Practice Management Section’s eLawyering Task Force at the ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago at the end of March.  My virtual law office, Kimbro Legal Services, was the recipient of the 2009 Keane Award and it was a great opportunity to share my VLO with the legal profession.    

    If you are or know of an attorney operating a virtual law practice and using technology to deliver legal services to clients, consider submitting a nomination for the 2010 Keane Award.  More detailed submission information will be made available on the LPM site shortly. 

    From the LPM website:

    The James I. Keane Memorial Award gives recognition to law offices or legal organizations that have developed legal service innovations delivered over the Internet. Thus, the focus of the award is the innovative delivery of personal legal services, with special attention given to firms and entities that serve both moderate income individuals and the broad middle class.

  • 20 of the 60 Tips in 60 Minutes

    The NC Bar Association held its Law Tech Expo this past week.  Erik Mazzone, the Director for the Center of Practice Management at the Bar, did a great job of reviving the Expo.  I look forward to this being an annual event for our Bar Association and anticipate its growth considering the important role that technology plays in the legal profession today.  It was a pleasure to meet such well-known speakers as Sharon Nelson, John Simek and Britt Lorish Knuttgen at the event.  VLOTech also had a booth in the hall alongside other exhibitors and we were excited to introduce our SaaS product for virtual law practice to the attendees.

    At the Law Tech Expo, I sat in on a panel discussion on practicing law in the cloud and co-presented the 60 Tips in 60 Minutes session with Erik Mazzone and Lee Rosen.

    This would be an amusing story if it weren’t so frustrating at the time:  I protect my netbook by using Truecrypt so that if it were ever stolen, no one would be able to access my law office data.  One of the sites I was presenting was Truecrypt.  Right before our presentation, we all connected our computers out so that the video will show up on the auditorium screen.  The Truecrypt screen comes up asking for the password, but won’t even let me enter it.  Fortunately, I also travel with the portable CD drive and restore CD so it wasn’t a problem once I got back to the hotel.  However, I had to jump over to the Bar Center’s podium computer to present my 20 sites rather than using my netbook.  It’s the perfect example of how one of my 20 tips can be used to protect your law office data — although not exactly the way I had wanted to demonstrate it.

    Snafu aside, the presentation was fun and the audience responsive.  I’m looking forward to presenting another 20 of the 60 Websites in 60 Minutes for the Practical Skills CLE in a couple weeks.

    Here are the 20 tips that I presented from our session with summaries of the sites.

    PrimoPDF:  A free PDF creator allows you to create PDF files from 300+ file types.  For example, turn a Word doc into a PDF and secure with passwords for digital storage, sending to clients, etc.

    Portable Hard Drive:  Easy to use for backup of law office data. Run nightly backups with Truecrypt and Sycntoy for security.  When traveling, it’s easy to take your law practice along with you.

    Truecrypt: Free open source encryption software. Works with PCs & Macs. Multiple uses for this software, especially for the mobile attorney.  Ex.: Encrypt files on your USB key or portable hard drive.

    Zamzar:  Free online file conversion.  Convert files to doc, image, video and music formats.  Useful for working w/clients, other attorneys using different programs to share data.

    ZOHO Projects: Creates a project management space for collaboration that is based on social networking.  Map out projects with a team, assign tasks, schedule meetings, work on documents, hold forum discussions and more.

    Pipes:  A tool that aggregates and mashups up content from around the web to create a customized feed.  Use simple commands combined together to create more useful, powerful feeds.

    Google Voice: Create a Google phone number and route calls to your home, business, or mobile devices.  A useful tool for blocking and screening calls with other features, such as voicemail transcripts, storing, sending and receiving text messages from one device or online to other devices. Rather than calling multiple numbers to reach you, your clients dial one number and it tracks you down to the phone you can answer or takes the call to voice mail.

    Meebo: Communicate in real-time with your contacts across platforms including IM and other social networking apps.  This tool lets you combine all of your contact lists in different apps into one.

    Thunderbird 2:  Thunderbird 2 email application has superior security and privacy features, including phishing protection, industry leading junk mail filters, and support for user privacy and remote image protection.

    Open Office:  Free open source version of Microsoft Office, includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and other applications.  It runs on PCs and Macs, has great compatibility with other programs and you don’t have to buy a new version to install each time it has an update.

    Billeo:  A secure tool to manage online transactions, such as payments, passwords, and receipts.  Works in your browser to allow for one-click access.

    Penzu:  This program is for the attorney who enjoys writing but doesn’t want the world to read it. Does your law firm prohibit or discourage you for writing in a public blog?  Start a free, private online journal and keep writing.

    Scribefire:  This is an extension to your Firefox browser that lets you post easily into your blog.  Click and drag, drop formatted text from pages and post it on your blog.

    Glance:  Easy tool for desktop sharing with audio conferencing.  Use for web presentations, conferences, training, or general communicating.  Allows others to take control of your mouse as well as view your desktop.

    iContact: Send clients newsletters and email blasts about your practice and changes in the law without being blacklisted. Use it in conjunction with your blog or website to transfer subscribers to your email updates.

    Skype:  Free skype-to-skype calls with video, text message from Skype; forward calls to your mobile device, etc.  Multiple uses for online communication.

    Iceberg:  A web-based tool to develop your own custom workflow based app for your law practice or for individual projects.  Provides customizable applications to build on.  No code writing experience necessary.

    Virtual Paralegals:  For an attorney practicing law remotely or online, virtual paralegals are a useful resource for transcription, legal research, legal document preparation or other administrative activities.  There are virtual paralegal companies, independent virtual paralegals and virtual assistants that may work in different arrangements, such as on a regular basis for a solo or small firm or as added support on a project basis for a larger firm.

    Firefox Add-ons:  Download these add-ons for extra security for your Firefox browser.  Use no-scripts for safest web-browsing.

    Bing:  Microsoft’s version of the search engine.  Keep an eye on how it will compete with Google because it does use a different formula for ranking sites.  Attorneys should monitor their personal and professional online presence on a regular basis and this is one more search engine to check.

  • NC State Bar Journal Covers the Online Legal Professional

    Attorneys practicing law online and licensed in North Carolina may be interested in checking out the fall issue of the North Carolina State Bar Journal.  Several of the articles in the issue cover topics related to attorneys creating online presences, including avoiding ethical risks for law firm websites and using social networking, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging. 

    As with most state bar publications covering topics related to technology, at least one of the articles comes with a stern reminder to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct and advises attorneys to consult with the ethics counsel at the State Bar before attempting to use any social networking as a marketing tool.  Wise advice.  I’ll freely admit that I took advantage of the ability to call the ethics hotline a few times both while working at a small firm and when I first went out as a solo with a virtual law practice.  The service is anonymous and a great way to get the reassurance and confidence you might need before taking any action.  There are more formal methods of getting written ethics advisory opinions, but being able to make a quick phone call for small matters, many of which may just be affirmation of good common sense, is a valuable service from the Bar. 

    With the lines between the personal and professional being so thin with many popular forms of online social networking, it’s good to know you can check with someone from the Bar who handles ethics issues on a daily basis.  It’s a “measure twice, cut once” philosophy and serves well for any professional placed in a position of trust by members of  the general public.

  • New Toy for the Virtual Law Practice

    Last week I purchased a notebook, the Eee PC 1000H, for my virtual law practice and I want to recommend it for those attorneys taking their practices online.  Since my law office is completely web-based, I have a number of different computers, including a PC and MacBook, which I switch out depending on where I will be working that day and what other programs I have installed on each.

    I decided on the Eee PC because I’m not that fast at typing on a smartphone, and my laptop and MacBook, while not that heavy are still too big to comfortably sit in my lap while I work.  The Eee PC is just the right size for me.

    After I migrated over most of the data I wanted on the machine, I added TrueCrypt and set up the backup to an external harddrive.  Basically, I stick in the Alltel wireless card and I’m good to go.  Given that it is easily portable and I can type just as fast on it, I think it was well worth the under $400 that I paid. 

    Some of the drawbacks have included the need to attach an external cd drive in order to install software.  The right side shift key is also a little off that of a traditional-sized keyboard so that has taken some adjusting to.  Otherwise, I think it will be a valuable tool for my VLO.

    Another benefit of this notebook is that I now have a backup Internet connection for my VLO.  For anyone practicing with a virtual law practice, I recommend some form of secondary Internet connection if you do not trust what you currently use.  Should the connection in my house become unreliable, I have the wireless card in my Eee PC as a backup and can just access all of my law office data and VLO that way.  The wireless card is not as fast as the DSL at times, but it hasn’t been that noticeable so far when I’ve been using it around town.

    Anyone considering going online with their law practice should check out these notebooks as an affordable mobile device.  Have any other new hardware recommendations for the virtual law practice?

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