In today’s legal industry, we are surrounded by new technology and new ways to communicate with our clients.We market law firms online, communicate with clients via secure online portals, network through social media, create our websites for easy viewing on mobile devices, and even file court documents online.On the other hand, most attorneys are still entering into agreements on paper with the majority of their contracts.Attorneys utilize a printer, ink pen, scanner and email for most contracts, while they still meet in person to exchange and sign more important agreements.In most situations, however, is all of this printing, signing, copying, and scanning necessary?
With these laws in place, which lay out the signature and identification requirements necessary to validate a person’s signature, electronic signatures are in most cases recognized as being equally valid as handwritten signatures, as long as the agreements do not include terms that are unconscionable or against public policy.That means that click-wrap agreements and signatures could become as prevalent as traditional handwritten signatures and paper documents for many agreements created by attorneys and businesses.Not only do changes in law lean in favor of electronically signed contracts, electronic signatures combined with software and internet services offer a few benefits that are not available during traditional contract signing procedures:
Electronic signatures and click-wrap agreements save paper since there is no need to print the agreement, and web-based platforms allow all parties and their attorneys to view the same agreement as it is saved in your virtual law office or online document storage website.
Contracts can be accessed anywhere the internet is available, and there is no need to find a printer, scanner or fax machine. That means contracts can be accessed virtually anywhere, in the office, at home, from a laptop on vacation, and other places where printers, scanners and fax machines may not be readily available.
Because parties do not have to take the added steps of printing, signing, scanning and faxing, electronic signatures and click-wrap agreements speed up the contracting process.
With the advancement of security in SaaS (Software as a Service) products, electronic signatures and click-wrap agreements can help parties protect privacy.Instead of leaving a private agreement out on a table where wandering eyes may find it, web-based contracts can be stored on password protected sites that are accessible only to parties with the correct passwords and credentials.
Does your virtual law office or traditional law firm create electronic contracts?If so, what types of contracts do you think work best with e-signatures or click-wrap agreements?
Monday, August 09, 2010 Written by Chelsey Lambert
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to offer your clients access to their own files and appointments? How much time it would save in administrative calls and emails?
Total Attorneys just made it even easier!
We have changed the system to offer more intuitive navigation tabs, and language for both you and your clients.
With changes in the legal market, interest in virtual law practice and unbundled legal services is growing. But many attorneys have only a vague sense of what’s involved in starting and operating a virtual law practice, and may believe that it’s more complicated than it really is. Stephanie Kimbro, a veteran virtual practitioner, shares her experience in an effort to help attorneys get started in virtual practice and reach the clients who can benefit most from the flexibility virtual law practice offers.
Stephanie’s latest piece is Marketing a Virtual Law Office, the second part in a three-part series for the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program. If you missed the first part of the series, an overview of virtual law practice and unbundled legal services, you can read it here: Introduction to Virtual Practice and Delivering Unbundled Legal Services Online. Keep an eye on LOMAP for part three, or check back here to find out when it’s posted.
Yesterday, I came across a blog post that suggested that attorneys should forego email when they need to communicate bad news or delicate messages to a client because it may be difficult to convey the message properly without facial expressions and voice tone. But is this really true?
While some people may feel that a phone call or an in-person visit might be the best way to deal with bad news or a touchy matter, some of the most important and delicate moments in history were delivered in writing—the Declaration of Independence, the New York Sun’s letter to 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon about the existence of Santa Claus, and the countless number of Twitter updates that directed aid in Haiti last month, just to name a few.
While I agree that it may be difficult to convey some messages via a text message or casual communication, a well-written email or online message can be as effective if not more effective than spoken communication. Here are a few reasons why:
Written communication allows you to edit your thoughts before you communicate the message. While you may prepare for a meeting or a phone call, you may accidentally say something that you didn’t want to say, but if you write it down, you can read and rewrite your message until is succinctly represents exactly what you want to communicate to your client.
Written communication forces the client to read everything you wanted your client to know before he or she interrupts you with questions that you had already planned to answer. This can save a lot of time, anxiety and frustration.
There is no time limit on writing a letter. Have you ever tried to call someone only to get his or her voicemail or find that person heading out the door in a rush? Sometimes a 30-second message is not enough, but if you write your message down, your client will have time to read the message when it is most convenient. That means that your client will be able to get the message, process it and respond to it on his or her own time without being put on the spot with shocking news or a disappointing phone call.
Letters, email and online communication provide a communication trail. If you have a virtual law office, you can make sure that all written communication is saved in an organized format, by date, topic, case file or some other labeling system. This can be useful when you or your client need to recall previous discussions or when you need to relate a pressing matter back to the events and communications that came before it.
Finally, take a look at almost any well-written novel, article and public announcement. Authors have been able to pen tone and emotion into their writing since the beginning of print, and many of those authors were attorneys. As attorneys, we spent four years of college and three years of law school learning how to communicate effectively in writing. Many attorneys spend more hours creating contracts, briefs, motions and other written documents on a daily basis than they spend speaking. In other words, as an attorney, you probably qualify as an expert in written communication. So, before you pick up the phone to call your client or set up a last-minute meeting, ask yourself whether your message would be more effectively communicated through writing. Many times, an email, online message or a letter will get the job done in a more polite and professional manner.
Yesterday, I saw a somewhat misguided blog post on the risks of moving to a paperless law office. Basically, the author suggested that going paperless would be inherently more risky than sticking with a traditional paper office because you could lose electronic documents in the event of a technological glitch or human error. But running a successful paperless office is not about just scanning all of your case files to your desktop computer, labeling computer files, throwing all of the originals in a recycling bin and crossing your fingers that your server won’t crash or a virus won’t take over your hard drive.
It is important to recognize the risks involved in any document storage system that you use in your law firm, but with the right tools, a paperless office can be as safe as (if not safer than) a paper office for managing your documents and case files. Here are a few ways to set up a successful paperless office:
This one is simple but important: Always back-up your files, and keep your backups somewhere other than in your office next to your main computer. If you lose your laptop or a virus destroys your desktop computer, you will always have another copy that you can easily retrieve. If you are keeping your files strictly in a physical cabinet or in a pile on your desk, there will be no way to retrieve them if something gets lost or destroyed. Better yet, invest in a web-based storage system that allows you and other authorized users to access your files from any computer with an internet connection.
One argument against a paperless office was the fact that some clients may miss emails, but what happens when the post office loses a letter or your client suddenly moves to a new apartment? In both paperless and paper offices, there is always a chance that your client might miss a message, so be sure to follow up with a phone call or request confirmation upon receipt of important messages.
If you are worried about confidentiality, a virtual law office platform can provide you and your client with a secure, central location for sending and receiving messages and storing files, client data and case documents. In addition, some virtual law offices allow you to track any changes to the case file and restore pre-edited documents and forms. Both you and your client can view all of these updates and changes, so sharing a centralized, web-based storage and communication system can facilitate transparency and cooperation in the attorney-client relationship.
Another argument against a paperless office was human error. However, in a paperless office, you can use your search engine to pull up files that have been misplaced. This might not be so easy when you are sifting through boxes in a storage room in your office basement. With a paperless system, you can search files according to dates, names, contents, updates and a variety of other options.
In the end, it is important to choose a legal document management system that works best for your office and your comfort level, but with the right planning for backups, communication, collaboration and file searches, a paperless office can be secure and beneficial way for attorneys and clients to monitor their case files.
Do you remember the movie Groundhog Day that came out in 1993? It featured Bill Murray as a burned-out weatherman named Phil Connors who had to cover the annual events in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. In the movie, this was the one job that Connors hated to do most, but when he finished the job and went to sleep on February 2, he woke up then next day only to find himself repeating the same dreaded February 2 day over and over again in a seemingly endless loop.
After numerous suicide attempts and hedonistic indulgences, Connors begins to reexamine his life and priorities in an effort to break the chain. He stops focusing on the monotony of his job and depression, pulls himself away from his autopilot approach to life and uses his vast experience of a single day to help people in his community, strengthen personal relationships and learn how to do a number of new things. After Connors learns to focus more on the things that really matter most—getting involved in his community, spending time with loved ones and working on his personal growth—he is able to wake up the next morning to find that the time loop is broken.
Almost twenty years later, the plot of this movie rings true for many people working in the legal industry. As an attorney, do you see yourself going into the office, dreading the day, and working on autopilot, only to find yourself stuck on a loop that has you missing out on the things that matter most to you in life? If so, I urge you to do take a tip from Bill Murray’s character and find ways to break the loop by making more time for yourself and those around you.
Instead of heading to the office at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, have your virtual receptionist forward your calls to your email while you spend the morning volunteering for a cause that inspires you. Are you sick of looking at your office walls during client meetings? Just upload contracts and forms to your virtual law office and let your client sign and fill out these documents from home. Do you find yourself getting stuck late at the office filling out forms and doing paperwork? Why not take off from work early and send non-billable tasks to a reliable case support staff who can get the job done while you have dinner with your spouse or enjoy a card game with friends?
At the end of the day, take a look at your job and find out which parts of it you can streamline or delegate. This will give you more time to do the things that matter most to you. And if you are doing more of the things you love, you will be able to do your work with more energy and optimism rather than feeling the pains of a monotonous loop like the one Bill Murray’s character suffered in Groundhog Day.
Today, I ran across a really great article on the Lawyerist blog. The article focused on how to do the things that you can “do now” versus doing the things that are “due now” when you plan your work schedule. So often we tackle our deadlines within minutes of the due date when we could be planning ahead, checking things off our lists early and finding more time to do the things we really enjoy in life.
Sam Glover’s article gave a few great tips on how to make a switch from the “due now” to the “do now” mentality, such as setting aside an hour every week to make a schedule to plan work ahead of the due date. He also gave a work schedule plan that breaks down deadlines into individual tasks that can be completed in advance, and he suggested completing some tasks early when you have time to do so.
I think that utilizing legal tech resources can be another way to help move from a “due now” to a “do now” schedule. For example, if you hire a virtual receptionist to answer your phone calls, take your messages and schedule appointments, why not add a few other tasks?
Prepare an intake questionnaire for your virtual receptionist to use when answering calls from prospective clients. This will save time and help you evaluate the tasks you need to do before you return the prospective client’s call.
Breakdown messages into different prioritized categories. That way your virtual receptionist can flag messages that are sent to your inbox with different levels of importance and time commitments.
Ask your virtual assistant to rank messages based on clients’ sense of urgency. This will help you rank importance of your call return list, and it will help you determine how much time you may need to dedicate to your next client meeting.
Block off time to schedule tasks at least once a week, and give your virtual receptionists blackout days and times so that they will not schedule appointments during those times.
Another way to use technology to help schedule your workweek is by taking advantage of the features available on a virtual law office platform. Virtual law offices help streamline the administrative side of law practice management using processes that are built into the software.
For example, using the calendar feature in a virtual law office, you can set deadline reminders that will keep both you and your client on pace with case matters.
Does your new client’s case sound extremely similar to something you worked on last year? Use your virtual law office’s search engine to avoid reinventing the wheel. In just minutes, the file, forms and law library will give you the tools to turn a 10-hour task into a 30-minute one.
Do you find yourself waiting until the end of the week to call your clients back to tell them how their case is going? Or do you end up waiting to receive a check in the mail or a signature before you act on a time-sensitive matter? Don’t put off important aspects of your client relationship. Instead, use the automated features in your virtual law office to notify clients of case updates and respond to messages quickly. In addition, stop wasting time waiting to receive checks or signed documents in the mail when you can just have your client pay online, upload signed documents and accept your retainer agreement with the click of a mouse.
After using these technologies to prioritize your to-do list and help you check off the items on that list, you might find that you can add a round of golf, a vacation or at least an hour of relaxation to your schedule with a few days to spare before you head to the court house to file a motion or send a timely response to a USPTO office action.
Friday, October 02, 2009 Written by Total Attorneys
You definitely know by now that we’re always looking for ways to grow, expand and adapt our services to improve the legal industry for consumers, small law firms and solo practitioners. We make those changes every day, in small ways and sometimes in larger, more dramatic ones. Today, our acquisition of Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC (VLOTech) is one of the big ones.
Like Total Attorneys, VLOTech has dedicated its efforts to helping small law firms grow through technology. With VLOTech software, an attorney can practice law anywhere there’s an Internet connection. The software affords amazing possibilities to attorneys and consumers.
VLOTech makes it possible to build and maintain a full law practice with or without a physical office location. It allows consumers who live in rural areas or are unable to get to an attorney’s office to retain legal services online. For both virtual and brick-and-mortar practices, it allows clients to log in 24/7 to securely upload and download documents, complete legal forms, update personal information, review invoices, make payments, and more.
And, of course, we’re not stopping there. We’re all very excited about the many ways this software integrates with existing Total Attorneys products and our plans for the future. VLOTech Co-founder Stephanie Kimbro will assume the title of Total Attorneys Evangelist, while continuing in her virtual law practice. Co-founder Benjamin Norman will be joining us as a Senior Developer and will continue to expand VLOTech features.
The addition of VLOTech to our product line is a significant step in our ongoing effort to revolutionize the delivery of legal services, and we expect both attorneys and clients to benefit from the flexibility and efficiency it offers. Consumers and legal professionals will see the quality of representation and access to legal services improve as we integrate our two innovative companies into one.
Sunday, October 25, 2009 Written by Total Attorneys
A few weeks ago, Total Attorneys announced its acquisition of VLOTech. The VLOTech software helps attorneys practice law anywhere there is an Internet connection, and clients can log on to secure webpages to communicate and collaborate with their attorneys, upload documents, complete legal forms, update personal information, make payments, review invoices and more. An article entitled “Online Office-Makers” in the October 2009 issue of the ABA Journal said that VLOTech is “at the forefront of a legal services delivery revolution, streamlining and in some cases automating tasks to drive down costs dramatically.” Read the full article here to learn more about how VLOTech is helping attorneys build their practices while providing the cost-effective services, flexibility and efficiency that today’s clients seek when looking for high quality legal representation.