US Legal, Inc. – Spring 2008 Newsletter

Summer 2008 Issue

Best Practice Tips for eLawyering

Over the past decade, advances in technology have changed the way many lawyers offer their services and the way legal services are delivered. ELawyering is concept which involves utilizing the Internet and related technologies to drive a law practice. More recently, the legal profession has begun to use the terms virtual law office and virtual law firms to describe the shift to a Web-based practice.

To learn more about eLawyering, USLegal PR Director Carrie Criado interviewed Richard S. Granat, Esq., a leading industry expert. Granat is Co-Chair of the ELawyering Task Force, ABA Law Practice Management Section and also Managing Partner of Granat Legal Services, P.C., online at http://www.mdfamilylawyer.com. Granat is also President of DirectLaw, Inc., a virtual law firm service for solos and small law firms which can be found at http://www.directlaw.com.

USLegal Q: What is eLawyering and when did lawyers first start to deliver services via the Internet?

Granat: Law firms first began to experiment in delivering legal services over the Internet around 1998. In January 2000, William Paul, then president of the American Bar Association, convened a task force on eLawyering and an associated conference – "Lawyers Serving Society Through Technology" – held in March of that year. The focus was on how lawyers can use Internet technology to serve moderate income individuals and families more effectively.

In short, "eLawyering" encompasses all the ways in which lawyers can do their work using the Web and associated technologies. These include new ways to: communicate and collaborate with clients and prospective clients, do legal research, coordinate and collaborate with other lawyers, both within the law firm and in other law firms, assemble legal documents, settle disputes, and manage legal knowledge. Think of a lawyering "verb" – interview, investigate, counsel, draft, advocate, analyze, negotiate, manage, … - and there are corresponding electronic tools and techniques.

While admittedly just a subset of the vast legal technology world, eLawyering and its lawyer-less analogs present fundamental challenges for our profession. President Paul's vision was to stimulate solos and small law firms to engage Internet technology in a way that would lead to greater access to the legal system for moderate income individuals and families.

USLegal Q: What is biggest opportunity that eLawyering offers and what difference is it making in the legal profession?

Granat: The next generation of clients –the Facebook and MySpace generation- will want to relate to their law firms over the Internet. Elawyering offers an opportunity to connect and capture these new clients as well as to relate to existing clients more effectively. Unless solos and small law firms are able to offer the broad middle class online legal services that are low in cost, the legal profession will lose out to non-lawyer Internet providers such as LegalZoom. The Internet is having a disruptive impact on the legal profession in the sense that the average consumer can get legal information for free and purchase legal forms at very low cost. Prior to the Internet, the legal profession had a monopoly on the distribution of legal information and was in a position to charge high fees for access to legal information. This is no longer the case and the lawyer's monopoly over legal information is fast disappearing. Lawyers need to learn how to adapt to these changed circumstances and change in industry structure.

USLegal Q: How are virtual law firms most beneficial to clients?

Granat: Law firms that can connect with their clients over the Internet find that clients are more satisfied with a more convenient, efficient, and often lower cost service.

USLegal Q: Most beneficial to attorneys?

Granat: The lawyer's work is also being restructured by the Internet, enabling anywhere, anytime lawyering. Law firms can increase their reach within a state by delivering legal services over the Internet. By "delivering legal services" I don't mean just having a web site that is like a "Yellow Page" ad, but a web site portal that incorporates interactive functions such as web-based document automation, web advisors, communication and scheduling tools, web-based case management tools, and digital applications that help a consumer solve a legal problem.

A law firm that offers legal services in the traditional way, but simply doesn't have a physical office, may call themselves a "virtual law firm," but we would not consider this to be eLawyering.

USLegal Q: What are biggest ethical concerns when it comes to eLawyering?

Granat: Confidentiality and security and making sure that a lawyer-client relationship exists before actually delivering legal services online. A secondary issue is making sure that online law firms only serve clients within the state where the firm has members of the bar of that state.

USLegal Q: Are there are major hurdles to eLawyering such as obtaining malpractice insurance?

Granat: I don't see malpractice insurance as a major hurdle, although some firms have running into conflicts with their malpractice carriers. The malpractice carriers will adapt to these new forms of practice. More important obstacles for solos and small law firms is gaining access to Internet-based digital applications at low cost in order to create a true online experience, and the knowledge of how to market to online prospects and clients. Lack of capital to create a truly interactive web site and lack of marketing and management know-how are larger obstacles to eLawyering than the malpractice carriers.

USLegal Q: What are some eLawyer best practice tips?

Granat:

Always make sure that the lawyer-client relationship has been established before delivering legal services by requiring that the client accept an online retainer agreement. Best practice requires that the client affirmatively accept an online written agreement.
Make sure the web site indicates the scope of the law firm's practice and the state that the firm serves as it would be unauthorized practice of law, for a virtual law firm to provide services to clients who are located in a state in which an attorney is not a member of the bar.
A disclaimer about the currency and accuracy of any legal information that appears on the website is useful. Where possible the source and the date of legal information published to the website should be disclosed.
All online communications with clients through the website should be communicated through a secure website that uses the https protocol, which means the communications between the client and the lawyer through the website will be encrypted.

USLegal Q: Where do you see eLawyering headed in future?

Granat: Both small and large law firms will continue to embrace the idea of delivering legal services online to clients. Within the solo and small law firm sector, many common legal problems such as no-fault divorce, name changes, simpler wills, powers of attorney, living wills, incorporations, etc., will be able to be resolved over the Internet. Solos and small law firms will continue to feel the competition from non-lawyer providers online which offer legal forms, but no legal advice. Law firms will develop models of operation where they will be able to offer legal forms bundled with legal advice and at a price which is competitive with non-lawyer companies. Solos and small law firms will begin to respond to the threat of non-lawyer providers on the Net by incorporating Internet technologies in their business models and offering superior service at the same price point. Many solos and small law firms don't embrace these approaches and stick to having primarily a traditional office-based practice, charging by the billable hour. They will have a tough time surviving in this new environment which will be dominated by the Internet.

To learn more about eLawyering, visit the ABA Law Practice Management Section website at:
http://www.abanet.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=EP024500.

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