By Daniel Casciato
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Two years ago, when Stephanie Kimbro, a lawyer in Wilmington, North Carolina, launched her virtual law office (VLO), some lawyers could not fathom someone would attempt such a radical idea.

“I’m in a small town where lawyers are traditional and believe you need to meet with clients in person,” says Kimbro, who founded Kimbro Legal Services, LLC. “My VLO also offers fixed fees, and there’s a hesitation with some lawyers to do anything but billable hours.”

Conversely, there were just as many lawyers who offered support. “They felt there was a need and this was a way to meet it,” she says. “Lower-income individuals need legal assistance. A VLO is a good platform for the public to get those services.”

Just what is a VLO? Kimbro describes it as “a professional law practice that exists online through a secure portal and is accessible to the client and the lawyer anywhere the parties may access the Internet.” The lawyer normally works from a home office and either hosts clients there or visits them in their homes, businesses or other locations.

VLOs provides lawyers and clients the ability to securely discuss matters online, download and upload documents for review, and handle other business transactions in a secure digital environment. For solo practitioners and small firms, they offer several advantages: expanding a client base, collaborating with other lawyers locally and across jurisdictions, reducing environmental costs, and achieving a better work/life balance.

Kimbro stresses that simply communicating with clients by e-mail does not make a law practice a VLO, nor does it make it secure. “My site is secure HTTP. The site has SSL, which encrypts all communications and anything my client and I upload and download through the site. E-mail is not encrypted, can be intercepted at any time and isn’t confidential; the VLO site is protected and encrypted.”

Karl Schieneman, founder of Pittsburgh-based 123 Law Group (www.makinglaweasy.com), a Web portal connecting clients to a network of 25 lawyers (many of whom have a VLO) in an array of practice areas, confirms that many people feel unsafe communicating online. But the Internet can actually offer more security than a typical law office.

“A lawyer can write a note, leave it on their desk, and someone can walk into their office and read it,” he says. “You could be on the phone and someone could overhear you. And that vision of safe confidentiality is impossible once you start recording. Online is more secure, because your documents are password-protected and kept in a place where they won’t be misplaced.”

Kimbro’s husband, a software developer, created software allowing her to run her VLO securely and safely. When other lawyers began approaching her for advice, they turned that software into a product they could sell.

That software made it easy for Virginia lawyer Cassie Craze to launch her VLO in May. Craze, a mother of two children under the age of two, enjoys the flexibility. “You’re not working fewer hours than a traditional practice, but at least you can do it on your own schedule,” says Craze, who specializes in estate planning, adoptions and special education.

Another benefit is low overhead, which is what persuaded Chicago lawyer Keith Jacobson to start his VLO, Jacobson & Schiefelbein, with another colleague last July. “In Chicago, rent can cost about $1,000 a month. With a VLO, physical space isn’t an issue,” says Jacobson. “Working virtually also frees you from collecting paper. Having primary files digital reduces overhead and streamlines your work.”

That leads to more affordable rates, says Craze. “We hear from people who are unhappy with how a traditional law firm operates and its high fees. They can’t afford their lawyer anymore. Some people may just need a question answered or a document drafted. My fees are half, if not lower, than a traditional law office.”

But VLOs aren’t restricted to solo or very small practices. In mid-July came word that Craig Johnson, a Silicon Valley lawyer and entrepreneur who founded the pioneering technology law practice Venture Law Group in 1993, had launched Virtual Law Partners, a “distributed, web-based law firm” of 15 lawyers.

VLP aims to provide clients with top-rank service at lower rates by saving on overhead and allowing lawyers to work from home and achieve better personal balance. Its website touts client benefits like better cost control, billing rates, technology, knowledge of the client’s business, and environmental friendliness.

For lawyers considering starting their own VLO, Kimbro recommends they decide on the nature of their practice and how they plan to structure it, hire a professional to design the site, and acquire an SSL certificate and ensure that the site is secure.

“In addition to people and legal skills, you need to develop technology skills,” Schieneman adds. “If you’re a sole practitioner ... you’re used to dealing with clients one-on-one. It’s a change in mindset, which I think many lawyers are still uncomfortable with, especially since you’re not making a million dollars right away.”

Still, Schieneman expects to see more VLOs in less than five years. “This whole field of virtual law is an evolutionary field. My premise is that we’ve made progress to VLO version 2.0, but we’re not at version 3.0, where things really will become interesting.”

Daniel Casciato is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh.

By Garry Wise Tag and save to del.icio.us

Branding is more than a current marketing catchphrase. It is the public personification of your firm, and it defines the image and personality you will project to the public and the profession.

Branding is one area where I recommend allocating a bit of budget for help from a professional marketer and graphic designer. A dignified, but impactful firm logo will engender respect for you and your firm from the outset.

First impressions will make a difference.

And whether that first impression comes from a logo on a brochure, business card, or letterhead received, it will be a big part of how you are sized up. While it is true that people will recognize that you are just starting out, they will be justifiably impressed because of your branding by how "together" you have it at such an early stage, and perceive you as a bit of an up-and-comer. That is where you want to be.

Develop an internet presence. Secure your intended internet domain name right away, whether or not you will be building an extended website at first. At the very least, get a starter website up using your logo and a clean and easily navigated layout. Provide a basic description of your firm, the services you offer, your relevant biography, contact information and a bit of public education about the areas of law in which you have knowledge. It is your online business card, and an absolute must.

As an even easier entry point to the internet, start a blog. There is no expense, and the publishing tools are easy to learn and master. My blog uses Google's “Blogger” service. Registration is easy.

Consider providing simple services such as notarizing documents at reasonable cost to supplement your major areas of practice. Publicize this service online and through direct contact with interpreters, immigration consultants, community organizations and paralegals. Work on developing this area to build cash flow and perhaps more importantly, an email list of potential, future clients with whom you can build rapport and maintain contact through newsletters and other information pieces. This works – a former tenant of ours had a veritable daily stream of such clients sustain and build his young practice through a well executed and thought-out internet strategy for notary services.

I have never seen the Yellow Pages as a worthwhile investment. Now that the internet and Google have arrived, they are even less so. Don't bother. You can get much better return on advertising investment elsewhere, unless you are planning to buy multiple, full-page spreads like certain well-known personal injury lawyers in this marketplace.

Finally, build your own list of personal contacts – family members, friends, professionals and lawyers in your personal circle who may be in position to steer referrals your way. And when your logo-adorned shingle - virtual or otherwise - gets hung, tell them all. Loudly. Repeatedly. Cheerfully. By email. By phone. By message in a bottle or airmail. But tell them.

Stay in touch with your clients once you have completed your work for them. Send birthday greetings. Do quarterly email newsletters. Help them to remember your firm and the various ways you may assist them and their contacts. Stay top-of-mind with your previous clients - they are your most likely clients of the future.

Give your business card out everywhere. Every clerk in every store you visit is a potential client. Say hello. Your charm will no doubt work for you every time (or at least once in a while).

Let people know what you are doing. And don't be shy about it.

Garry Wise is a litigation lawyer who practices with Wise Law Office,Toronto. He blogs on legal affairs in Canada and the U.S. at http://wiselaw.blogspot.com/ and regularly contributes to Bar-eX and other legal publications and media. The above is excerpted from the article "Starting a Law Firm,” which Wise blogged in February 2007. Reprinted with permission from the author.

By Debra Bruce
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Not long ago, I received a request for a lawyer referral. Three lawyers came to mind, so I prepared to pass on their contact information, including website addresses. To my surprise, one of the lawyers did not have a website. Without a website, I feared the lawyer would appear unsophisticated to the client. I calculated the extra effort necessary to describe his qualifications. In the end, I chose to save myself some time and avoid the risk of appearing to give low quality referrals. I passed on contact info for only two lawyers.

Referrals check you out on the web

Some lawyers say they don’t need a website because most of their business comes from referrals. According to Margot W. Teleki in the July 17, 2006 issue of the New Jersey Law Journal, “the first thing your referral will do is check out your firm's website before giving you a call to see who and what you are and how well you're suited to meet his needs.” Gerry Morris, a white collar criminal lawyer in Austin, Texas, says “Sometimes clients referred to me by other lawyers come into my office with a printout from my website in hand.”

If your firm doesn’t have a website, could you be losing referral business without knowing it? When your prospective client can’t find you on the web, could that send the message that your firm is too small, too new, too unsophisticated, too unsuccessful, or too behind the times to handle the good quality work you desire to attract?

Small firms lag behind

Most importantly, a website with useful content containing the words clients search on reaches clients when they are interested, 24/7. Related articles A toolbox for your computer (July 2007) iPods in your practice (June 2007)

Legal marketing consultant Alyn-Weiss concluded that “Law firm websites are the single most effective marketing tool employed by corporate, transactional and defense firms.” In their 2006 national survey of 119 firms, 82% had "received work directly or by referral during the past 24 months" from their website. Yet the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Survey for 2008 reported that only 51% of solo practitioners in the U.S. and 77% of small firms (2 to 9 lawyers) have a website. They lag behind bigger firms. One hundred per cent of U.S. firms larger than 50 attorneys report having a website, and 97% of those with between 10 to 50 lawyers have one. Although we don’t have the correlating statistics on Canadian firms, we would expect to find significant differences between large and small firms in Canada as well.

Why don’t the remaining solo and small firms have websites? Some small firms with stretched resources believe a website is beyond their financial means because they don’t have the budget to hire an IT consultant. Others struggle just to keep up with their clients’ legal needs and still have some semblance of a personal life. They believe they just don’t have the necessary time to invest in creating a firm website. Some worry they won’t get the content right, but content can be modified and updated frequently. A few techno-phobes think they can outrun the tsunami and retire from practice before websites become de rigueur. (They are the same ones who thought they could avoid a desktop computer and email.)

Benefits of websites

Besides avoiding looking inadequate or behind the times, why would lawyers want websites? Websites give clients a chance to get to know you and your qualifications at their convenience and before they are ready to make the commitment of a phone call. Websites can brag on your achievements and demonstrate your expertise, which decorum would prohibit in person. Informative articles and other valuable content pertinent to clients’ needs build trust because you provide service before ever meeting with the client. Websites save time and improve staff productivity by answering those recurring client questions about office hours, location, and how the legal process typically works. They can include intake forms for clients to complete before their first appointment or lists of essential documentation to bring to the appointment.

Most importantly, a website with useful content containing the words clients search reaches clients when they are interested, 24/7. Morris says his website brought in enough business in the first year to more than pay for itself. Soon it so out-performed his old tried and true Yellow Pages, that he canceled the ad.

Getting started

If you are now squirming in your seat with awareness that your firm just has to get a website up, how do you go about it? Begin by shopping the competition. Many websites have the name and web link of the designer in small print at the bottom of the page. Contact designers whose work you like for an estimate. Ask your friends and colleagues whether they would recommend their web designer, and what costs to expect. You can also find plenty of designers by entering terms like “websites for lawyers” or “law firm web designers” into a search engine. Websites like www.elance.com and www.guru.com provide a forum for freelance designers to bid on your project and provide links to portfolios of their previous work. Those sites also post satisfaction ratings and comments by previous customers.

What kind of expense should you expect? That depends on the number of pages and complexity of your site. A firm of 5 to 10 lawyers might expect to pay $2,000 to $8,000 for a custom site. However, according to Luke Gilman, a web designer turned law student, a firm on a tight budget could still get a custom web design up for under $1,000.

Websites on a tight budget

For even greater cost savings, check out the many template websites that are available. Sure, some other firms may have a website that looks similar to yours, but that’s better than being invisible! They usually have many templates to choose from and are so user-friendly that “even a lawyer” can create his or her own website in a day.

For templates specially designed for law firms, take a look at sites like www.lawsitesdev.com, www.legalwebdesigner.com and www.easylawsite.com. Their five or six page law firm websites cost from $400 to $1,000, plus a monthly fee of $25 to $40. That usually includes domain name registration, hosting fees, and a limited number of email accounts. Sometimes web traffic statistics are even included in the package. For a real bargain, check out the create-a-website packages at www.easylawweb.com, where you can get a five-page site for only about $6 per month, or www.citymax.com for $20 per month, including the hosting fee and an email account. Finally, for the ultimate bargain, get a minimal site free at www.justia.com.

Legal directory websites

Lawyers can also get templates created for them through online legal directories such as www.lawyers.com and www.findlaw.com. A search for a lawyer usually brings up listings in those two directories on the first page of any search engine. Due to the directory listing cost, even the simplest template site runs about $2,000 per year, and more targeted premium listings can cost much more. Many lawyers have found directory listings worth the price, although results may vary depending on the region and practice specialty. Even some firms that already have custom websites pay the fee to have their site linked to a directory listing.

With all these options, the only excuse for not having a website today is that you already have more business than you want!

Debra Bruce, President of Lawyer-Coach LLC (www.lawyer-coach.com), practised law for 18 years before becoming a professionally trained executive coach for lawyers. She is vice chair of the Law Practice Management Committee of the State Bar of Texas, and past leader of Houston Coaches, Inc., the Houston Chapter of the International Coach Federation. She can be contacted for questions or comments at 713-682-4353 or debra@lawyer-coach.com.

By Susan Van Dyke
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If your website is one of your firm’s major pain points, it’s time to stop the train and have a closer look. From their first visit, users will develop a strong opinion of how easily they can access the information they seek and whether they pick up additional relevant information. This first experience will set the tone for future site use.

Ask a variety of people to assess your site. Depending on your results, you could be facing a complete overhaul, propping up what you currently have online, or just a little polishing.

Stay on-message

Your site must authentically reflect your firm and its brand. Small firms can take direction from current collateral materials such as a firm brochure, newsletter or even a business card, provided they accurately represent the firm. The site’s visual components should resonate with users. Strong and clear visual cues lead a user through a site effortlessly and help to make navigating intuitive.

Keep it simple

How hard do you want your site to work for you? A small firm might be justified in only using their website to house their contact information, professional bios, services descriptions and a student recruitment section. You may not have the resources to keep feeding this beast, so you keep it simple, but functional.

Involve experts

In the absence of internal resources, a marketing consultant with project management skills can assist you. As for web designers, programmers and architects, there are plenty to choose from. A firm that understands the legal industry is a safer bet; even better if they have good references from other professional services clients.

Review options

Gather feedback from as many people inside and outside your firm as possible. Research other law firm and professional services firms and note the features of interest.

• Flash technology—most often used to display animated content—was the rage a few years ago, but many firms are avoiding Flash now as much of its use was gratuitous and distracting to users.
• The standard brochure website, which mimics or replaces a hard copy brochure, may be the easiest to develop and resource, but it is also likely to be static with limited or no ability to interact with users. Brochure sites are passive in design and are contrary to the heart of legal marketing: relationship building.
• Sites that are driven by a database of content are ideal in that updating is relatively fast. Populating a new database, or even moving content from one database to another, could consume a significant portion of your resources. Ultimately, the benefits of this effort will outweigh the resources required to get you there. Since content will be housed and pulled from one location, content management will be much easier, updates will be faster and you will have one repository for your marketing content.

Getting Started

Jot down what you need your site to do for you. What’s causing the most pain? What are the common comments about your site? Who is your main target audience and your second largest user-group? What are these two groups looking for? What are your key messages for each group? What platform is your current site on and how long does it take to update content?

If your site is starting to feel old and lawyers are no longer keen to contribute content or they aren’t directing clients/prospects to the site, it’s likely you’re ready for an upgrade. Consider where your site is now and how far it needs to go to meet your needs. What platform is it on and does it need upgrading? Can a non-technical person make simple text changes to the site now? Are changes done internally or externally – what are the costs?

What are the expectations of your lawyer colleagues, clients, prospects and students? Will you balance their needs equally? What can reasonably be achieved given your resources, both human and financial? And, what are competing law firms offering online? Will you lead or follow?

Map out your site

At this point, you’ll need a detailed snapshot of the site and how it will operate. This will include:

• Mapping your site’s information architecture, including how it should function.
• The look and feel of the site that’s consistent to the firm’s established brand identity.
• The system in which your content will be housed.
• The content migration plan.
• Site governance and operational management plan.
• Search engine optimization strategy – how you’ll ensure a variety of relevant keywords on Google, or any other search engine, will result in high rankings for your site.

With your detailed snapshot in hand, draft a project plan. From this point on, you’ll be consumed with the content migration process, where content from your existing site will be copied to your new environment. Once it's in place, your team will be busy wading through content and fine-tuning how it fits with the new site and architecture.

This item was adapted from the article “Anatomy of a Law Firm Website (Re)Design,” which originally appeared at CBA PracticeLink.

Susan Van Dyke is the principal of Van Dyke Marketing & Communications. She is a law firm marketing consultant based in Vancouver, B.C. and the president of the Vancouver Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association. She can be reached at 604-876-7769 or svandyke@telus.net.

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Once open, most businesses discover that operating expenses exceed revenues by a sizeable margin until the business matures and attains a break-even cash flow. All too often, a business that would otherwise succeed becomes a “money-pit” because the owner runs out of cash prior to the maturity of the business.

How can you avoid this fate? A forecast of expected cash inflows and cash outflows can be extremely useful in avoiding problems associated with an underfunding of capital.

A cash flow forecast is best done after the development of a sound business plan. Your business plan does not have to be a formal one. It can be a collection of notes and financial data in a paper folder. However, your plan should address the following areas:

1. Services to be offered:

• What legal concentrations will be available?
• To what market(s)? Individuals? Governments?
• How will the fees be charged?
• Will retainers be required?
• How long will it take to collect fees?

2. Resources required:

• Office and support equipment
• How many staff? At what salaries? What benefits?
• What will you and your family need to live on?
• Other items necessary for business success.

Armed with answers to these and other questions, you can construct a cash flow model.

Projecting revenue

A forecast of expected cash inflows and cash outflows can be extremely useful in avoiding problems associated with an under funding of capital. Related articles Don’t throw in the towel yet: seven points for a struggling solo to consider (April 2008) Budgeting basics for today's law practice (October 2007)

To begin constructing a cash flow model, determine the expected number of hours per months for each different category of services you plan to provide to your clients. Then plot the number of hours or services per months the respective fee rates over 18 or more months.

In most situations, a new business takes a while to build up volume. Your business may follow the usual pattern: a few hours in the first month gradually increasing in each succeeding month. When you are happy with this projection, simply multiply the projected hours or services by the respective fee rates. This will give you your expected monthly professional fee revenues.

Collecting your fees

Expenses

After you have listed your pre-opening items, estimate their costs and note the total of these costs on your cash flow model in your first month column.

Indicate your projected monthly expenses for each of the following items, and any others pertinent to your practice, in each monthly column:

• Personal living expenses
• Staff salaries and benefits
• Rent and utilities
• Accounting and computer services
• Income taxes
• Telephone and messenger services
• Supplies
• Professional dues
• Continuing legal education
• Law society fees
• Postage and freight
• Travel
• Contingencies

To get a good grasp of the actual amount of your personal living expenses, review your checkbook and credit card activity for the past 12 months or so. Take note of your infrequent expenditures as well as your monthly costs.

Calculating cash flow

Having plotted the expected revenues and expenses of your new business, you are now in the position to calculate the monthly net cash flow and determine the amount of cash you should have when you start out. In the early months, you will likely project significant decreases in your cash reserves.

Greater cash reserves would provide for unexpected contingencies. The amount of extra reserve you need depends on how your practice is constructed. Generally, it is wise to have two or three months of expenses in reserve at all times. If you have to use your reserve to pay bills, you should seriously consider the likelihood of success in your current configuration. Perhaps only a few costs need to be reduced. On the other hand, it is possible that the market will not support your business.

In analyzing your cash flow, consider a variety of factors, including: years of experience, type of practice, client base, hours you will work, location of office, type of furnishings/equipment purchased.

Securing the capital

The investment necessary to open your practice, if you haven’t already accumulated it in your savings account, can probably be borrowed from a bank as long as you can show success as a lawyer and several years' income tax returns to confirm your success. You may also need collateral such as substantial equity in real estate.

Budgeting

At the conclusion of each month, analyze all your cash receipts and your cash payments, total them by category and update the forecast to show the actual results for the latest month. Do this every month. This will help you stay focused on keeping costs low, and will alert you to unavoidable expenses you did not include in your forecast.

From Flying Solo: A CBA Guide to Solo Law Practice in Canada.

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There are many circumstances in which you, or others, may have to deal with the transfer or wrap-up of your practice: a transfer between firms, retirement, sudden illness or accidental death. Leaving a law firm will have a greater impact on the solo or small firm where, unlike larger firms, there may be no one available to immediately carry on with, or to wind-up the practice in an orderly fashion.

Your duty of competent representation includes an obligation to take appropriate steps to safeguard your clients’ interests in all circumstances. A failure to properly plan or prepare for both anticipated and unexpected departures from your practice may expose your clients to significant damages or prejudice, and subject law partners and family members to financial and emotional stresses associated with the winding-up process.

Do not underestimate the time and effort it will take to properly wind-up a law practice. Do not delay your preparations.

The time to plan for retirement is when you are in good health with sufficient time to allow you to thoroughly prepare. If possible, start planning 10 to 15 years before your anticipated retirement date. Prior to your retirement, you will have to deal with a myriad of issues: transferring active or open files; custody or destruction of closed files; maintaining firm books and records; satisfying outstanding undertakings and ongoing obligations; addressing accounting and banking requirements; dealing appropriately with personnel and office matters; and satisfying all change of status notice requirements. Make sure your partners, staff and family are aware of the plans you have put in place.

Active or open files

Review your active file list to identify files that can be resolved (and closed quickly), and files that are to be transferred to new counsel or delivered to the client. First work on matters that can be completed promptly. In the meantime, notify clients of your intention to leave the practice. Clients with ongoing matters will require time to retain new counsel. You may wish to practice and to provide contact information for clients who may wish to pick up their files.

If you are leaving private practice, stop taking on new matters or only accept matters that will be resolved prior to your departure.

If you are transferring active files to new counsel, conduct conflicts checks before the transfer to ensure the receiving lawyer does not have a disqualifying conflict of interest.

Prepare a transfer memo or letter summarizing the file. Flag outstanding tasks, anticipated problems, deadlines, or limitation periods. Confirm transfer of the file in writing by way of direction to transfer the file or an acknowledgement of receipt of the file signed by the client. If the file is to be sent to the client, confirm in writing the request and address.

Closed files

Lawyers leaving private practice are often unsure of what to do with closed files relating to client matters. Determining what to do with closed files will depend on who owns the file, or more accurately, who owns the documents stored in the closed file.

If the closed file contains documents that belong to, or are the property of a client (“client” herein includes “former client”), then you have an obligation to preserve the client’s documents in accordance with the Rules of Professional Conduct.

If at the time the practice is wound up, you have custody of client documents in closed files, you should deliver the documents to the client. If the client cannot be found, then you must preserve the closed file, or transfer the file to other counsel for safekeeping and storage. If there is a dispute as to who is entitled to client property (or documents) and you are not sure as to the proper person to receive the client’s property, you must make application to a tribunal of competent jurisdiction for directions as required by the Rules.

Ideally, you should have had a file closing procedure in place, such that all client documents would have been returned to the client before the file was closed.

If at the time the practice is wound up, you have already purged the file of all documents or property belonging to the client, you may nevertheless want to preserve the file for some time after closing. You may require copies of client documents to assist in defending against potential claims launched after the practice is shut down. The determination of how long to keep copies of client documents will depend on a number of factors, such as the limitation period for actions against lawyers, the nature of the original matter, and the outcome.

In some instances you may decide to return the entire closed file to your client. This should only be done in cases where you are sure that you will no longer require access to copies of client documents and only after the file has been stripped of your personal notes. You should obtain a written acknowledgement from the client confirming receipt of all remaining documents relating to the retainer.

A review of your closed file list will assist you in determining which files may be destroyed and which should be preserved.

Excerpted from The Guide to Closing Your Practice, a publication created by the Law Society of Upper Canada and LAWPRO®.

The complete guide is available at http://rc.lsuc.on.ca/jsp/guideClosingYourPractice/index.jsp

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The Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC) facilitates modernization and harmonization of laws throughout Canada, by developing uniform or model acts, statements of legal principles or other proposals to change laws. Through the Commercial Law Project, ULCC has created a comprehensive framework of commercial statute law to make it easier to do business in Canada. 

Members of the CBA’s National Business Law Section have provided leadership and practical expertise for the Commercial Law Project. For the latest developments and access to the ULCC resources, see their latest newsletter.

Commercial Law Project (ULCC Update) and newsletters.