Practice Management

Online Helicopter Parents Hit My Virtual Law Office

Posted on April 07, 2009
Over the past couple months I’ve noticed an increase in the number of parents who are registering as clients on my VLO and requesting legal services on behalf of their adult children.  A fellow attorney on  Twitter commented that this must be the newest form of helicopter parenting...

Virtual Law Office Listed as a ?Law Firm Website That Works?

Posted on March 25, 2009
The April edition of the ABA Journal published an article entitled Law Firm Websites That Work.  Under the category “Virtuality”, my virtual law practice is described along with illinoisdivorce.com. The article consulted a list of panelists to provide suggestions for law firm websites that are productive in the categories of branding, solo, innovation, virtuality, all business, [...

Guest Post - The Rural Lawyer?s Technology Choices

Posted on March 25, 2009
In this guest post, I asked Bruce Cameron, Esq., author of The Rural Lawyer, to share how he uses technology in his law practice.  He makes a great point that the type of technology we choose as attorneys should depend on what will work best to serve our clients...

Metadata - NC Bar Proposed Ethics Opinion

Posted on March 16, 2009
A proposed ethics opinion by the NC State Bar covers the review and use of metadata.  The proposed opinion dated January 22, 2009 states the following conclusion, …a lawyer must use reasonable care to prevent the disclosure of confidential client information hidden in metadata when transmitting an electronic communication and a lawyer who receives an electronic [...

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BigLaw Attorneys Taking to Virtual Law Practice

Posted on March 09, 2009
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 [...

Recipient of the ABA James Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in ELawyering

Posted on February 25, 2009
  I’m excited and honored to announce that I have received the 2009 ABA James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering.  From the ABA?s Law Practice Management 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...

Tech Review - Keeping in Touch with Clients Outside the VLO

Posted on February 19, 2009
  Check out my tech review of iContact that came out in the Law Practice Today Webzine this week.   I handle all confidential communications and transactions between myself and my clients through my virtual law office.  However, iContact is a service that I’ve used to send newsletters and updates to clients regarding specific areas of law or [...

New Toy for the Virtual Law Practice

Posted on February 11, 2009
  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 [...

Three Years into My Virtual Law Practice

Posted on February 02, 2009
  I’ve been preparing materials to teach a course on virtual law practice for Solo Practice University (SPU).  Lawyers USA just published an article about SPU here.  I hope some of my blog readers will join me for the virtual law practice course...

Congrats to the Virtual Courthouse

Posted on January 28, 2009
Congratulations goes out to the Virtual Courthouse for receiving the 2009 ABA Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access.   Each year the ABA gives out the Brown Award to recognize projects or programs that have addressed the need for legal services to members of the public who are in the middle class or of moderate [...

Update to Virtual Law Practice EBook

Posted on January 19, 2009
  Please check out the latest, updated version of my free eBook, Practicing Law Online: Creating a Web-based Virtual Law Office.  Because the technology behind virtual law practice is changing at a rapid rate and because new state bar advisory opinions on the topic are starting to emerge, I plan on updating the eBook at least [...

Setting Guidelines for Virtual Law Best Practices

Posted on January 14, 2009
  A small group of companies providing software as a service (SaaS) products to legal professionals will begin meeting to discuss the use of SaaS technology in law practice management.  The group also hopes to discuss among other things a set of minimum security requirements for SaaS products used by attorneys...

Podcast Interview about Virtual Law Offices

Posted on January 10, 2009
  Check out the podcast interview of me that was recorded recently by Ed Poll of the LawBiz Blog.  Ed is an expert in law practice management, and his blog is a wealth of useful knowledge and resources.  On the podcast, he and I discussed virtual law practice, VLOs, and how attorneys are using the technology to deliver legal services [...

Top Ten 2008 Developments in Virtual Law Practice

Posted on January 01, 2009
Happy New Year!  The following is my list of the top ten developments in the delivery of legal services using technology that have happened in the past year.  Please feel free to expand on this list in the comments.  I’m also including at the end my predictions for virtual law practice in the new year...

ABA Elawyering Task Force Conference Call

Posted on December 30, 2008
  The ABA’s Elawyering Task Force will hold a conference call next week on January 9th at 10:00am Eastern time.  The website has an incorrect date on it as the meeting had to be rescheduled for the first of the new year.  If anyone is interested in discussing the delivery of legal services using technology, you [...

Attorneys Discuss Virtual Law Practice

Posted on December 20, 2008
Check out two blog posts discussing virtual law practice from Chuck Newton and Jay Fleischman, both attorneys who use technology to practice law outside a traditional law office.  Newton’s post Is Virtual Virtually Impossible? prompted Fleischman’s post An Open Response to ‘Is Virtual Virtually Impossible?’ As I commented on Newton?s blog, I believe there is [...

How Does a Virtual Law Office Close Shop for the Holidays?

Posted on December 17, 2008
  For the past couple of years, I have kept my VLO open through the holidays.  I can log in remotely and check the case queue while traveling or on vacation so it?s not a problem to keep up with my self-imposed response policy.  The VLO sends a notice to let me know when there is [...

Avoiding the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) in other Jurisdictions with a Virtual Law Office (Part Two)

Posted on December 15, 2008
Part I of this post on the unauthorized practice of law in other jurisdictions addressed the following questions:  How does a virtual law practice avoid UPL in other jurisdictions? and If a website is accessible internationally, then how can a VLO be limited to provide legal services only in the state(s) in which the attorney is [...

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

Posted on December 11, 2008
  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 [...

Avoiding the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) in other Jurisdictions with a Virtual Law Office (Part One)

Posted on December 08, 2008
  Frequently I am asked about the unauthorized practice of law in other jurisdictions and how a virtual law practice can avoid this malpractice risk.   In a two-part post, I’ll address some of these ethics questions.  As more VLOs open and collaboration among attorneys creates VLOs operated by attorneys licensed in multiple states, the issue grows [...

State Bar Regulation of Online Lawyer Communication

Posted on December 03, 2008
  I have been fielding questions lately about the recent lawsuit filed in Louisiana regarding the Louisiana State Bar’s new proposed Rules of Professional Conduct and how they may affect blogging and other online social networking.  Attorneys operating virtual law practices tend to use blogging and other online communities in their daily law practice for the purpose [...

Unbundling Legal Services in a Virtual Law Practice Benefits the Public

Posted on December 01, 2008
  More middle income Americans are choosing to handle their legal matters themselves because they cannot afford to hire a traditional attorney.  The International Herald Tribune reported this growing trend in an article last week.  The downturn of the economy has made the cost of traditional full-service law firms unavailable for many Americans...

List of Sites Containing Tips to Market a Virtual Law Office

Posted on November 14, 2008
  In a recent blog post, I discussed how an attorney with a VLO can attract paying, online clients to a VLO.  As promised, below is a list of websites and blogs that provide useful marketing tips and resources for solo and small firm practitioners.  This list only includes sites that provide marketing resources and tips...

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