Total Attorneys

Last week, Total Attorneys and several other industry leaders in the legal cloud computing arena announced a partnership we hope will help determine the direction of cloud computing for the legal field.  Founding members of the Legal Cloud Computing Association (LCCA) include Total Attorneys, Clio (Themis Solutions Inc.), DirectLaw, Inc. and RocketMatter.

In a rapidly changing technological environment, LCCA will cooperate with Bar Associations and other policy-making bodies to help develop standards, guidelines and “best practices” that will assist attorneys in making the most effective use of new cloud computing opportunities while fulfilling their ethical obligations and ensuring the security of client data.

At Total Attorneys we talk to a lot of experts about “the future” of legal services. In different areas, with people of different backgrounds, big law, solo practice, legal technology, so I thought I would throw my hat into the ring. Not as an expert per se, but as a gen y’r, who has grown up as a digital age consumer.

We live in a world today where myself, and many of those close to me in age and education would agree, we believe anything is possible. We are not bound by geography, we have friends all over the world we talk to everyday on facebook or linked in. We buy our groceries online and have them delivered to save time. We bank online avoid traditional teller lines. We rent cars for an hour at a time, helping the environment and saving tons of cash on a car that sits in a garage.

In short, our expectations are a lot different than the expectations of the average consumer a decade ago.  And each year, we make up a larger portion of the market for services, including legal services.  

That’s good news for small law firms and solo practitioners. Because what we’re looking for isn’t about multiple floors in prime office buildings and law firms that can claim a 100-year history.  We’re looking for professionals who can interact with us on our turf, in language we can understand, in the kind of timeframe we’re used to operating within.  We’re looking for professionals who are adaptable, who communicate with us in ways that are familiar to us and comfortable, and who don’t respond to our inquiries at snail-mail speed.

We’re open to new solutions like unbundled legal services, and we’re ready to take on more of the work ourselves but recognize that we need solid information to do that.  But we’re frustrated in our efforts because legal services are one of the few areas in our lives—perhaps the only one outside personal grooming and healthcare—that we can’t access online. 
Are you ready to be part of the solution hundreds of thousands of us are looking for?

We are proud to announce the Co-Founder of Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC, and our very own Technology Evangelist, Stephanie Kimbro’s new book: Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online releases on September 28th, 2010. Pre-order your copy from the ABA today and receive a 15% discount.

The book provides an excellent introduction to the concept of securely offering unbundled legal services, the intricacies involved in practicing law online and potential pitfalls one should avoid, as well as a step-by-step guide to setting up your own Virtual Firm.

Specific topics and case studies include:

Different Structures and Uses of Virtual Law Practice
Contract Lawyering
Unbundled Legal Services
Document Automation and Assembly
Virtual Law Office Checklist
Virtual Law Office Management
Ethical and Malpractice Issues

Visit the ABA website to learn more and pre-order your copy.