In the past two years, the legal profession has seen the introduction of several web-based law practice management tools. These web-based systems focus primarily on time and billing management for attorneys. Separate systems are devoted entirely to online case management. Many attorneys seeking to have “paperless” law offices are creatively combining different web-based applications with software products, such as Adobe, to create a more digital law practice.
VLOTech strongly supports this movement by the legal profession to use the most current technologies to provide better services to clients and to create more productivity and balance in the lives of legal professionals.
Where do completely virtual law offices fit into this trend?
To understand what VLOTech and it’s attorneys are envisioning and practicing, think one step beyond web-based practice management systems and tools. Look at the way other businesses successfully function in virtual reality worlds and how avatar-based forms of communication are breaking down the barriers of geographic location and economic limitations. Less extreme, think about how many people handle all of their banking and financial matters completely online without ever walking into a brick & mortar bank building to chat confidentially with a financial consultant. A virtual law office capitalizes on the secure web-based technology available to create the infrastructure of an attorney’s law office online. VLOTech provides the technology and each individual attorney or law practice uses it to design the virtual law practice that meets their needs.
By the basic definition, a completely virtual law office (VLO) is a professional law practice that exists online through a secure portal and is accessible to the client and the attorney anywhere the parties may access the Internet. A VLO provides attorneys and clients with the ability to securely discuss matters online, download and upload documents for review and handle other business transactions in a secure digital environment. With a VLO, an attorney’s clients benefit from the convenience and accessibility. The attorney benefits from the flexibility of a virtual law practice, an online client and revenue generating software, and lower overhead associated with setup and maintenance of a nontraditional law office.
More specifically, the technology used to create a VLOTech VLO is a secure, web-based, software as a service (SaaS) application. Software as a Service means that the technology used to create and maintain the VLO is a secure, hosted system. Some of the benefits of SaaS include the following: 1) data is encrypted and kept confidential through the use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) on the web browser, 2) regular software updates and new features added without disturbing the workflow, 3) no in-house software installations, 4) access to your data anywhere you may securely access the Internet, 5) regular backups of your data, and 6) less expensive than paying for software, storage and server hardware and having to run it internally with or without hiring an IT professional for the office. SaaS is becoming an increasingly popular business model as Web 2.0 companies have turned to its benefits to provide their professional clients with the latest technology available. SaaS is the ideal platform for the legal professional to establish a VLO because it allows the attorney to focus more on providing quality online legal services to the public without having to deal with time-consuming in-house software installation, maintenance and support.
What A Virtual Law Office Is Not
It is important to distinguish a professional VLO from the many online websites selling legal documents, from law office websites with email contact forms and from rented “virtual,” physical offices. A VLO provides direct and personal communication between an attorney and a client rather than “form generated,” unbundled legal documents for sale and purchase by the public.
Communication by email, such as “contact us” forms, does not constitute a virtual law practice even if sent through a law firm’s website. Email is limited as a method of transacting business and is typically unencrypted, and therefore, not a secure method of transmitting sensitive attorney/client data.
Physical office space rented out to an attorney for the purpose of meeting with clients when scheduled for a monthly fee is often also referred to as a “virtual” law office. While this arrangement allows the attorney to work from a home office and meet with clients in a shared, remote office space, the program does not use technology to operate the functions of a law office or provide an online interface to obtain and work with online clients. Likewise, a VLO is not an extranet set up by a law office to share documents or view the office computer remotely, such as with GoToPC. A VLO creates a secure law office environment for the attorney’s clients and for his or her colleagues and legal assistants.
Previous hesitation by legal professionals regarding “elawyering” or the practice of law online centered on technology that was limited in both protecting the security of sensitive attorney/client data and in allowing for adequate communication between the attorney and his or her clients. VLOTech provides a software as a service application that focuses on security rather than “flash.” Online clients and attorneys practicing online need security first and ease of use second. Please see our product section for more information or feel free to contact us with specific security questions.
Attorneys will continue to create innovative law practices using the latest technologies available and the public demand for online access to legal services will continue to grow. The legal profession is beginning to embrace the concept of web-based virtual law practice, and VLOTech is pleased to provide these innovative attorneys with the technology that builds virtual law offices.