Looking forward to Pro Bono project

An update: Check out the changes I made to the virtual law office (VLO) website. It is less text-heavy now and has more graphics to make it more "user friendly." Business is good. NC Lawyer's Weekly published a front page article on the VLO. I spoke with the reporter on the phone a couple weeks earlier and we had a very casual conversation so I was not really expecting that my practice would be the focal point of the article. I would link to it but it's in the NC Lawyer's Weekly website's archive and you have to register to view it.

In other news, I'm going to do some pro bono work for the Cape Fear Community College Small Business Center for a few hours a month. I went to their center for counseling regarding my business plan for the VLO. They offer free small business counseling and other services to the community. I'm hoping to counsel small business owners on various legal matters concerning starting up and maintaining their small businesses. I'm looking forward to the opportunity because not only will it be a great chance to meet other small business owners in the community, but it will require me to really brush up on all aspects of the NC Corporations statutes and other business related matters so that I can be well prepared to answer any questions that the Small Business Center's clients might have for me.

Kimbrolaw website in the news

This has been a great week for introducing the website to the public. The Wilmington Star-News ran a short article on the virtual law office and then the daily N.C. Lawyer's Weekly , which is emailed out to a large number of attorneys statewide, published a short mention on the virtual law office and linked to the Star-News Article. The Greater Wilmington Business Magazine also ran an announcement of the practice this week.

I am pleased to report that the response from website visitors has been very positive. I keep reading the phrase "it's about time" from people registering on the site. I've been productive all week as a result of the press and really enjoying every minute of being busy.

When Client Service a Priority - The Rest Will Follow

This is from a post on Wired GC, a well written blog run by a business and tech savy attorney in the midwest. He's commenting on a British law firm's use of technology to make their clients' lives easier. I will have to agree with his statement. I'm finding that clients also believe that the level of service that comes from retaining legal services through an online law office, while not as personal in the traditional sense perhaps, is more affordable and convenient for certain transactions.

"I can see enlightened law firms offering more of these online options for
clients. They could be priced on a per-use basis (good), offered on flat-fee
basis (better), or even free for clients on a retainer scheme for more complex
work (perhaps best).

If one of the law firms I use sent me a link to an online solution that could deliver quality work quicker at a lower cost, I would fall out of my chair. Why? Because it would mean this firm is thinking about solving my problems and not just about raising revenues. With a bit more focus on the former, the latter may be more likely." [emphasis added]

Legal Aid of North Carolina - Going Tech...slowly

I just volunteered to do some pro bono work for Legal Aid of N.C. via their Wilmington branch. I filled out the volunteer form online which was an option newly available on their website. When I spoke with the very friendly PAI coordinator about my website and how I was able to offer services at a lower price because of no overhead costs and how that could benefit clients that Legal Aid could take, she said that the attorneys in their office were "traditionalists" and believed it was important to meet with the client face to face.

I had a feeling that was the case. And sure, if I didn't have mountains and mountains of student loan debt and I had a nice savings or trust fund, I might could afford my own physical law office and would enjoy counseling clients face-to-face. However, I still stand behind my virtual law practice as a great alternative way to provide legal services. When it comes to money versus a nice, friendly in person conversation, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that most middle to lower income folks (myself included) are thinking about the money and not the friendly face-to-face chatting. If we can get the same legal service and it costs less, then I'm all for that.

I think it is a generational difference. Also, the PAI coordinator mentioned that most of their clients did not have access to the internet and therefore, the website office wouldn't be of use to them. Again, there is so much resistance before the idea is even really introduced to the public. So I mentioned that the public library and law library offer free internet to the public. Plus, personally, I have been in some of the lower income neighborhoods in town and you would be surprised how many of the younger generations living there are decently current in their use of technology. Almost every kid you see has a cellphone and I find it very hard to believe that for many of them someone in their family doesn't have access to a computer and the internet somewhere.

Again, I just think that if it's between no legal assistance because Legal Aid can't help you and affordable legal services, they would prefer the help however it comes. For example, I just finished working with a client this morning. Never met her in person. Only talked to her on the phone. Did my research and work on her matter online and through the cell phone to assist her. Got back with her by phone and that was all she needed. Before she had contacted me for help, she had gone to Legal Aid and they had not been able to take her case due the nature of the matter and their funding restrictions. If I hadn't offered an alternative way to get legal services, she would have had to go back to looking up random attorneys in the phone book and listening to the brush-off from many of them as she had before she was referred to me.

So, I sincerely hope that the more traditional attorneys don't immediately disregard what I am trying to do with the virtual law practice and at least take the time to consider it as an alternative way of practicing the law that can be of service to the citizens of our state and local community.

Defining a Virtual Law Firm

While researching the feasibility of creating a completely virtual law firm, I kept reading articles that viewed a "virtual law firm" in the same way that Dennis Kennedy defines it as "an affiliated group of lawyers connected by technology rather than co-existing in common physical locations." Here is Kennedy's article which I have read several times.

In other words, a group of lawyers working at Biglaw could all be on the same practicing network with other lawyers at Biglaw's ally and they would be considered to have a "virtual law practice." What I want to read about is not how practicing online affects the attorneys personally or makes their firm more productive. I want to read about how communicating and serving clients through the internet and how using technology to make it more affordable can affect the public. I know, with the burgeoning law school loans, I should be thinking more about myself and building a big career. But I get the biggest kick out of helping folks and making the law understandable for the lay person. I steered a lady and future entrepreneur in the right direction today. Didn't get paid a cent for my time and probably won't ever see anything tangible come out of it except maybe a referral. It felt right though and it reminded me of why the legal profession appealed to me in the first place.

Maybe that is why I define a virtual law office practice from a more client-oriented perspective rather than as a lawyer to lawyer tool. I feel like I'm going out on a limb every time I post or comment or share the concept of practicing completely online. But I strongly believe there is something to this. It's going to take patience and staying power, probably until someone "bigger" than me picks up on it and brings it into public awareness.