Estate Planning

Blogging, Virtual Law Offices and ... Fly Fishing?

By Hull & Hull LLP

Hard as I tried, I was unable to find any noteworthy connection between these things!  But as I cast my fishing rod yesterday out in my favorite Bay in Prince Edward Island (I've been working from my summer cottage the past couple of weeks), I marveled at how accessible technology has made working away from what we've all come to define as the traditional "office".  This was nicely summed up last year by lawyer Rob Hyndman on his blog entitled "Silence of the Clams" (a favorite of mine).

While I'm on the issue of working from home, a recent article published in law.com covers the story of lawyer and entrepreneur Craig Johnson, who recently founded a virtual law office in California.  The new firm is named Virtual Law Partners.  As the headline of the article states; "no offices, no associates, no really".  The move away from the traditional "bricks and mortar" law office model hopes to offer more life/work balance, the reduction of overhead fees, and more competitive fees for the client.

But is this really a new direction for law firms, and will it ever replace the concept of the traditional law firm?  Comments in the article suggest that while the Virtual Law Partners model may work in certain cases (i.e. smaller firms and fewer lawyers), it is not the next "new" thing.  Larger law firms may still require the heavier infrastructure of the traditional office structure and, in my view, still no technology can improve on the benefit of a face to face meeting with a client in certain critical situations.

However, the flexibility that advancements in technology and these new business models can offer to lawyers juggling the demands of practice with families and other life priorities cannot be underestimated.  Clients can be served more efficiently, and lawyers can maintain more control over how and when they choose to work.  Looks like that sums up my blogs for this week - the fish are jumping and its time to grab my fishing rod.  Wish me luck!

Sarah Hyndman Fitzpatrick

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on August 01, 2008 (boomark / email).