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

Rice Law, PLLC provides family and education law services and represents clients in North Carolina for family law and residential real estate and nationwide in education law.   With the addition of a VLO, the firm will be able to offer its clients secure, individual homepages and case files with 24/7  secure web-based access to the clients’ confidential documents, calendar of events, attorney-client discussions,  invoices for services, and online payment options, among other features.

Rice Law, PLLC is operated by Charles E. Rice, III and Mark Spencer Williams.  Charles E. Rice, III has more than 35 years of legal experience representing clients in family law cases and is a former Chief District Court Judge.

Mark Spencer Williams is a nationwide Education attorney and North Carolina Family and Real Property attorney.  He has fourteen years experience assisting colleges and universities administer billions in federal student aid throughout the nation and is also the former Director of Financial Aid & Veterans Services at a prominent North Carolina university.  You may read more about Rice Law, PLLC and its innovative approach to law practice on the website.

In addition to providing clients with legal services through her physical law office location, Collins’ web-based VLO will provide online, limited legal services pertaining to North Carolina Law, including but not limited to family law issues, such as domestic violence, divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, equitable distribution, and adoptions.

Shawna D. Collins is licensed to practice law in the states of North Carolina and South Carolina. She has been an attorney for over 12 years, and has litigated civil and criminal cases for the past 12 years. Collins is a member of the Estates and Trusts Section and the Family Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She received her undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston and law degree from the University of Florida, after spending her last year of law school at Wake Forest University.   You may read more about Collins and the Law Office of Shawna Collins on the website.

The Maryland Family Law Firm VLO 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.

Bowie’s innovative law practice emphasizes fathers who find themselves engaged in custody and/or divorce litigation.  Bowie is one of only a few female attorneys in the country dedicated to father’s rights.  As her VLO website explains, Bowie’s law practice uses the experiences of her clients as dedicated, engaged fathers, to offset gender bias that minimizes or trivializes the importance of good fathers.  She plans to use the VLO to provide legal services online to individuals, both men and women, who need the convenience and affordability of limited legal services delivered through her VLO.