]]> http://www.vlotech.com/blog/transitioning-with-a-virtual-law-practice/feed/ 0 http://www.vlotech.com/blog/vlotech-wins-coastal-entrepreneur-award/ http://www.vlotech.com/blog/vlotech-wins-coastal-entrepreneur-award/#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:02:13 +0000 Stephanie Kimbro http://www.vlotech.com/?p=371 VLOTech has won the Coastal Entrepreneur Award sponsored by the Greater Wilmington Business Journal and the UNCW Cameron School of Business.  The award acknowledges entrepreneurs who are based in the Cape Fear region.  The award allowed the co-founders of the company the opportunity to meet with a panel of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders to share and discuss virtual law practice and the continued success of the company.

Washington State attorneys Katy Sheehan Esq. of Olympia, Washington and Charlene Quincey Esq. of Toronto, Canada are thrilled to launch Washington State’s first virtual law office: Olea LLP Attorneys at Law.

Olea reinvents the practice of law by using Internet technologies to improve accessibility, affordability, and environmental impact. Created out of a commitment to socially conscious lawyering, Olea offers not only traditional un-bundled legal services but also aims to empower and educate non-lawyers through their bLAWg.

Olea LLP offers their online clients many legal services including, but not limited to; estate planning, wills, small business set-up, contract review, legal research and family law services including; parenting plans, separation agreements, divorces and name changes. In order to keep their services affordable however, and what makes Olea LLP unique, is that once the legal work has been undertaken by an Olea attorney, clients are solely responsible for filing any drafted forms or documents with the necessary entities in accordance with Washington State Law. By allowing clients to file their own forms and documents, Olea saves them hundreds of dollars and encourages clients to become their own advocates. Furthermore, thanks to advanced technology, accessing legal services through www.olealawyers.com is as secure as online banking. By providing clients with their own secure web page they can safely and conveniently contact Olea attorneys using any computer with Internet or similarly, any web enabled hand held device such as an iPhone or Blackberry.

In keeping with Olea’s mission, clients are further encouraged to educate themselves by reading and engaging with our bLAWg which is geared towards non-lawyers and is intended to provide useful information about navigating the legal world.

Olea LLP thanks you for welcoming us in Washington State and appreciates your support and feedback! To fully appreciate Olea LLP’s wide range of services please visit our website at: www.olealawyers.com

Contact:
Charlene Quincey Esq.
Katy Sheehan Esq.
Olea LLP Attorneys at Law
206-279-8312
info@olealawyers.com
www.olealawyers.com
twitter.com/OLEA_LLP

My VLO is easy to use, even for someone right on the cusp being too old to deal with technology . . . hey, I learned to type about the time those typewriters with eraser tape came on the market!

The range of ethical coverage built into the software is fantastic!

- No more searching through a million computer (or worse, paper) file lists to do a conflict check. You don’t even have to switch programs or keep unnecessary applications open. Once you have your database built, you just add to it as needed. And the software (and its developers, Ben and Stephanie) will help you import any existing software lists or database files you may already have.

- The security my VLO offers clients is stellar. No more accidentally forwarded emails to the wrong person (come on, admit it, we’ve all done it at least once). No risk of social networking applications “accidentally” finding your entire list of email addresses and sending them offers to join some ridiculous thing with YOUR name attached as the sender. And of course, no risk that some 12-year old will hack your email account and send out unsolicited requests for money (under YOUR name, of course). As technology gets better, so does the knowledge base of people who can breach security. The bar associations can’t possibly keep up with it. Even Bill and Steve can’t do it.

Everything is in one place. Did I mention you can keep your entire client file on each client’s personal homepage? Talk about a paperless office! Think what that can do for your file retention costs, not to mention the headache of ensuring clients have copies of their file when a case closes or a client migrates to another lawyer.

The best thing about my VLO is the personal and prompt service I get from the creators of the application. Ben and Stephanie have gone out of their way to answer questions, be available for telephone and computer conferences, and anything else that you need.

Given the current economic crisis the United States faces, all of us who practice law must find a new way to practice that offers the most cost-effective, secure, and sensible way to offer our services. dawn-bowie-logo VLOTech is the wave of the future for legal practice and I heartily endorse it.

Dawn Elaine Bowie, Esq.

The Law Offices of Dawn Elaine Bowie, P.C.

t/a Maryland Family Law Firm

This week VLOTech published an update newsletter regarding the opening of new VLOs, releases of new product features, recent press and other announcements.   The text of this newsletter is republished below.   If you would like to be included in our email update list, please contact us at launch@vlotech.com.

Maryland Family Law Firm Virtual Law Office is the first family law firm in Maryland offering online assistance to unrepresented or pro se litigants involved in divorce.  The practice is operated by The Law Offices of Dawn Elaine Bowie, P.C.   Bowie will provide limited engagement services online to clients who cannot afford full-service representation.  Bowie authors the popular blog, Maryland Father’s Rights, and has written the Father’s Bill of Rights.  You may read more about Bowie and her law practice on her law office website.

Texas Estates & Trusts Law, owned by Aaron R. Johnston, an attorney located in Frisco, Texas, will provide unbundled online legal services related to estate and trust planning. Johnston’s virtual law practice will also provide clients with limited legal counseling and assistance in civil matters, including the preparation of basic legal documents, such as partnership and operating agreements for small businesses, residential and commercial lease agreements, estate planning materials, estate administration forms, and other contracts and agreements prepared in accordance with Texas Law.  You may read more about Johnston and his law practice on his law office website.

Announcement

Pfeifer will be offering a variety of legal services through his VLO, including appeals, estate planning, business services, divorce and child custody matters, and providing criminal defense advice and consultation.

In addition to his virtual law office, Pfeifer runs a traditional brick & mortar law practice, Pfeifer Law Offices, P.C.  From his VLO website, Pfeifer states that he has represented individuals and small businesses on a variety of matters since 1993, with experience in civil, criminal, and domestic relations trials.  He has published two books and numerous articles on legal issues.

The session introduced the concept of virtual law practice to attending attorneys and provided best practice tips for the virtual law practitioner to avoid ethical and malpractice risks when providing online legal services.

We are providing the CLE manuscript with virtual law practice tips to VLOTech attorneys and will be adding more informative blog posts based on the topics from this CLE session. Several slides from the CLE presentation are posted below.

After the presentation, Stephanie had the pleasure of meeting several attorneys who are interested in adding virtual law practices to their solo or small firms. Two of these attorneys are located in the remote mountain region of North Carolina. Their clients are spread out over a large geographic area where it is not always practical to meet with clients in person. Right now they are relying primarily on email communication.

Using a VLO to connect with their clients across the region would not only benefit their law practices but help to provide legal services to lower and middle income individuals in their communities who otherwise might not have access. We look forward to speaking more with these attorneys to learn how VLOTech may be able to assist them in providing online legal services.

If you have questions about how a VLOTech virtual law office would benefit your solo or small firm practice, please contact us at launch@vlotech.com.

Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC © 2008

Ms. Craze is a magna cum laude graduate of James Madison University and the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams School of Law. Prior to opening Craze Law, Cassie served as a Law Clerk in Chesterfield Circuit Court and as a practicing attorney at a Virginia law firm. She has also volunteered as a legal advocate for children with disabilities and with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Ms. Craze states on her VLO website that she opened her VLO in part “to address the frustration that [she] saw in clients of traditional law firms. [Her] goal is to communicate with clients better, cost them less, and to provide prompt quality legal services at a price that is agreed upon before any services are rendered.”

Please see the Craze Law website for more detailed information.

We have test sites available for both the attorney and client side of the software. For attorneys interested in opening a VLOTech VLO who would like to use the test site to try out the software, please contact us at launch@vlotech.com.

Please note that on the top left hand corner of the client’s homepage where the Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC logo is located in the manual, this would contain the attorney’s individual VLO logo. The color scheme for the VLO would be customized to match the VLO website used by the attorney. Because each VLO design will differ, the manual shows the VLOTech logo and website color scheme.

UPDATE: Due to the fact that the software is updated approximately every two weeks with new features, we have removed the manual from the blog.  The full manual is embedded in the software and is contextually aware, meaning that when an attorney or his or her clients click on the manual, it will automatically take them to the page in the manual explaining the feature that they are working in.  The full manual is available to the attorneys and clients online.

© 2008 Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC

The definition of virtual law practice has changed dramatically over the past couple years and will continue to develop as the legal profession rises to meet the growing demand of the public for quality online legal services. Because many virtual law practices will offer unbundled or limited legal services to clients, some of these resources discuss this topic as well as the practice of virtual law.

• American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section: E-Lawyering Task Force

• Improving the Delivery of Affordable Legal Services Through the Internet: A Blueprint for the Shift to a Digital Paradigm, by William Hornsby, updated 11/30/2006

• Handbook on Limited Scope Legal Assistance: A Report of the Modest Means Task Force
  American Bar Association, Section of Litigation
  

• ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, Pro Se/Unbundled Resources Center

• Law Practice Today, “Building a Virtual Law Firm: Changes and Opportunities”, by Joe Kashi, January 2004

• ABA TechShow 2008, “Your Office: Don’t Leave Home without It”, by Brett Burney & Adriana Linares, November 2007

• Law Practice Today, “Vision for Virtual Law Firms–Questions You Should Be Asking”, by Dennis Kennedy, January 2004

• Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School, “New Skills, New Learning: Legal Education & the Promise of Technology”, 2007

• ABA Legal Technology Resource Center Survey Report, Web and Communication Technology Report, 2008
• Internet Bar Organization – “Seeks to promote and shape the emerging online justice community”