Practice Management

Adding to the Virtual Law Practice Debate

Posted on August 24, 2010
Lee Rosen set off a series of blog posts written by other attorneys related to virtual law practice last Friday.  I’ve posted some comments on the different posts, starting with Lee’s.  So rather than re-hash the debate, I’m going to link to the different posts below in the order they were written...

Videos: Ethics and the Virtual Law Office

Posted on August 23, 2010
Below are two videos taken at ABA Annual a couple weeks ago that were just published on the Legal Currents blog.  I’m talking about virtual law practice, where I see it going in the future and about some of the key ethics issues for attorneys to be aware of before adding a virtual law office to their practice management.

Update on Proposed NC Ethics Opinion on Cloud Computing

Posted on August 19, 2010
I was notified this past week that the NC Bar Ethics Committee met at the end of July and decided to send the proposed ethics opinion, 2010 FEO 7 “Subscribing to Software as a Service While Fulfilling Confidentiality and Preservation of Client Property” to a subcommittee for further study...

Ethics Considerations: Guest Post on Mass. LOMAP Blog

Posted on August 10, 2010
The final guest post in my three-part series for the Massachusett’s Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) has posted on the blog.  This final post covers ethics considerations in virtual law practice including both the attorney’s responsibility to thoroughly research their software provider as well as best practices for the ethical management of a virtual [...

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Virtual Lawyering Promoted at ABA Annual

Posted on August 09, 2010
There was a lot of coverage related to virtual law practice and the delivery of online legal services at this year’s ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  Compared with even a year ago, this topic is fully on the radar of attorneys and bar officials concerned with virtual law practice for both solo and small firms...

Revising Ethics Rules to Facilitate Virtual Law Practice

Posted on August 05, 2010
I’m on a panel discussion this morning at the ABA Annual Meeting about the impact of technology and globalization on ethics for the 21st century lawyer.  One of the questions that I expect will come up will be about the need for ethics rules to be revised to reflect the changes in practice management that [...

Virtual Law Practice at Legal Rebels Kickoff

Posted on August 02, 2010
The ABA Journal’s Legal Rebels is kicking off the 2010 tour with a presentation during the upcoming American Bar Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  I’ll be presenting 20 slides in 6 minutes related to innovation in the delivery of legal services online and how it can be used to grow your law practice...

Virtual Lawyering In the News & Upcoming Presentations

Posted on July 22, 2010
Online posts and podcast: Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson have published a new podcast on The Digital Edge entitled “Virtual Lawyering Goes Mainstream.”   Calloway and Nelson discuss ways that virtual lawyering is starting to take off within the legal profession...

Following the Virtual Lawyer Mindset

Posted on July 21, 2010
Jay Fleischman has a thought-provoking post up on his blog entitled “Being a Virtual Lawyer is all Mindset, Not Technology.”  You can read my comment below the post. Jay writes that regardless of the form of technology you use to operate a virtual law office, the key is having the right attitude to go with it...

Secure Client Portals to Deliver Legal Services Online

Posted on July 16, 2010
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...

Pop-Up Disclaimers on Florida Attorney Websites?

Posted on July 09, 2010
Take a look at the new Florida State Bar rule on attorney online advertising, 4-7.6 “Computer Accessed Communications.”  In particular take a look at page 10 of the PDF. The ABA Journal also ran an article this week on the rule. Fortunately, the State Bar is holding off on the rule enactment until August 16th [...

Marketing a Virtual Law Office ? Guest Post for Mass. LOMAP

Posted on July 08, 2010
The second post in my three-part series on virtual law practice has been published on the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) blog.  This post discusses how to market a virtual law office while complying with state bar rules and regulations regarding law practice marketing and advertising...

Lawyerist Guest Post: Marketing Unbundled Legal Services in a DIY Economy

Posted on July 07, 2010
Here is a link to a recent guest post I wrote for the Lawyerist blog about marketing unbundled legal services. It has basic advice for the virtual law practice providing unbundled legal services to clients online.  From the post: How do you market a law firm as a provider of unbundled legal services? As with [...

Online Legal Services for ?Digital Natives?

Posted on June 23, 2010
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...

Virtual Law Practice in the News

Posted on June 18, 2010
It’s time again for another post where I compile many of the interesting news articles and blog posts that have surfaced in the past six months about virtual law practice.  When I started doing this a couple years ago it took a lot longer to find things to list than it will this year...

Massachusetts LOMAP Blog: Intro to Virtual Law Practice & Unbundling Legal Services Online

Posted on June 15, 2010
  I’ve written the first in a three-part series of guest posts for the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program (Mass LOMAP). The series covers a basic introduction to virtual law practice and delivering unbundled legal services online...

Upcoming Webinar/CLE ? How to Operate a Virtual Law Office and Deliver Legal Services Online

Posted on June 10, 2010
  On July 13th and 14th, I will be presenting a two-part webinar with CLE  credit for the North Carolina Bar Association on the topic of creating a virtual law office and delivering legal services online.  The first part will be a basic introduction to virtual law practice and how it is used by both completely [...

Delivering Unbundled Legal Services in Michigan ? New Ethics Opinion

Posted on June 08, 2010
  A new ethics opinion has been published by the State Bar of Michigan on the topic of unbundling legal services.  This is another example of a State Bar recognizing the need for unbundled legal services as a means of access to justice for the public...

Another Opinion Related to Residency Requirements

Posted on June 01, 2010
  If you are keeping up with developments in the bona fide office rules or residency requirements of state bars that govern the practice of law, you might want to read through this recent opinion: In the Matter of the APPLICATION OF CARLTON, No. 10-mc-160 U...

Another Opinion Related to Residency Requirements

Posted on June 01, 2010
  If you are keeping up with developments in the bona fide office rules or residency requirements of state bars that govern the practice of law, you might want to read through this recent opinion: In the Matter of the APPLICATION OF CARLTON, No. 10-mc-160 U...

Podcast: Exploring Virtual Law Practice

Posted on May 13, 2010
  Last week I had the honor of being interviewed by Jared Correia, Law Practice Management Advisor with Mass. LOMAP, for The Legal Toolkit podcast.  We discussed virtual law practice, the technology and security that is involved in operating a virtual law firm, the benefits of delivering legal services online for the public and attorneys, and about the place [...

Does the Internet Make You Feel Risky?

Posted on May 12, 2010
  Oh, yet another excuse to not take responsibility for individual action and blame it on the technology instead.  *sigh*  Seriously, this article just annoyed me to no end.  The National Law Journal published an article entitled “Lawyers’ Ethical Stumbles Increase Online” and then proceeded to give the most outrageous example of an incredibly irresponsible attorney using email to [...

Does the Internet Make You Feel Risky?

Posted on May 12, 2010
  Oh, yet another excuse to not take responsibility for individual action and blame it on the technology instead.  *sigh*  Seriously, this article just annoyed me to no end.  The National Law Journal published an article entitled “Lawyers’ Ethical Stumbles Increase Online” and then proceeded to give the most outrageous example of an incredibly irresponsible attorney using email to share pictures [...

Ethics Reminder for Unbundling Legal Services Online

Posted on May 10, 2010
  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...

Twitter Debate about Virtual Law Practice

Posted on May 06, 2010
  Please join me and Brian Tennebaum as we debate virtual law practice  on Twitter this Friday at 2pm EST.  The hastag to follow is #22TwDb.  Richard Granat, a mentor and fellow leader in the field of virtual law practice has already published an entertaining blog post  in preparation of the debate...

Twitter Debate about Virtual Law Practice

Posted on May 06, 2010
  UPDATE: The transcript from the Twitter debate is posted on the ABA Journal.  Overall, the feedback I received from others regarding the event was positive.  A lot of valuable information and opinions shared on both sides with some fun side debates, including one started by @LisaSolomon...

The Future of the Legal Profession is Client-Centric

Posted on May 04, 2010
  This past week the ABA LPM Section held its spring conference in Las Vegas. Of the many topics covered in the sessions and CLEs, the one recurring theme was that the changes in our profession are being driven by the clients. Some of these changes include increased customer service, response time, alternative billing, online access [...

Update on Ethics Inquiry into Cloud Computing

Posted on April 23, 2010
  Here is a brief update from the NCBA LPM Council this morning regarding the status of the cloud computing inquiry.  The NC Ethics Committee met on April 15th and discussed whether attorneys could use SaaS and still observe the duty of confidentiality owed to clients and the duty to preserve client data...

NC Bar Ethics Committee Reviews Cloud Computing Inquiry

Posted on April 08, 2010
For some reason, a firm here in my home state decided it was in their best interest to ask permission of the NC State Bar before using a SaaS product.  *really big sigh*  So now those of us who have been using SaaS applications for years for everything from email, tasks and calendaring to delivering legal [...

NJ Bona Fide Office Rule and Virtual Law Offices

Posted on April 05, 2010
New Jersey?s Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics and the Committee on Attorney Advertising released a joint opinion dated March 25 that states that even when an attorney hires a virtual assistant or receptionist or shares a rented office space for conferences to attempt to create an office presence in the state, this does not create [...

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