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

The Online HTML Forms process allows the attorney to create a master form that can be attached to individual client cases in the virtual law office (VLO).  The form is sent to the client online through the secure VLO interface.   The attorney creating the form may include specific instructions and explanations for the client to guide them in filling out the information.   The attorney may store the master forms in the VLO Form Library for reuse with different online clients.

This process of attaching the form to the individual online client’s case file is similar to the File Library feature in the VLO software.  However, instead of downloading a form to be filled out and uploaded back into the system, the online HTML forms are filled out on the spot, and can be edited continuously and changed repeatedly by both the attorney and his or her client. Even better, as the forms change over time, for example, due to changes in the law, the copy attached to the case can be kept in its historical format or synchronized to reflect changes made to the master form.

The system will also assist the online clients in making sure that they have provided all of the information that the attorney flagged as required in the master form. Once a form has been linked to a case, the client will be alerted via a yellow sticky note on their homepage if there are incomplete forms that need attention. The case management system will also track and highlight any forms in the general form list that have required fields which are not yet filled out.

Additionally, the Online HTML Form feature has access to the underlying VLO control system which gives the attorney the ability to make sure that the data provided by his or her clients is properly formatted. For example, date fields can be tested for valid dates, and money fields can be tested for valid monetary values. Any problems will be reported to the clients while they are filling out the form before they move to the next page.

The goal for a future release of this feature will be to allow the attorney to upload an FDF form and have the system create the outline Online HTML form automatically which the attorney can then add instructions, labels and rules to.  The client will fill out the form online and then have the system merge the completed information provided by the client with the FDF form in order to produce a final PDF form.   The attorney could then file the final PDF form with the court or other entity requiring the specific original PDF format for filing.

If you would like more information about this feature or the VLOTech product, please contact us at launch@vlotech.com.