LEGAL CENTS: Virtual law becoming a legal reality

Listen to this article

Attorney Michael Brennan lives in Dundee, Ill.

He is licensed in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

He recently drafted the start-up business documents for a new construction firm in northern Minnesota, but he never actually met the client in person.

And that, Brennan said, is the preferred approach for lawyers and clients involved with virtual law practices.

Clients can deal with legal questions on their schedules, from their homes or businesses. Attorneys save a lot of money in bypassing the bricks-and-mortar office, and they can pass the savings on to clients.

Brennan said he never will get an office.

Chad Kemp has an office for clients in the Madison area, but he also uses virtual law to expand his geographic reach statewide. He said the idea has been to cross-sell his virtual estate planning to existing and former clients who hired him for more traditional, office-based representations in bankruptcy, divorce, personal injury or business law.

“Having a virtual law practice,” Kemp said, “is just another way for people to use the technology that already exists to have access to premium legal services.”

Brennan and Kemp use the Total Attorneys virtual law platform. Kemp limits it to estate planning, but Brennan uses it for business law too. Kemp said he hopes to offer advice online in some of his other practice areas as well.

Initially, Brennan used a different cloud-based provider, DirectLaw, and Kemp said he’s experimented with it as well, along with Clio’s virtual law firm platform.

But both say they prefer Total Attorneys, agreeing that, right now, it’s the cheapest option.

Brennan pays just $1 per month for the basic platform. He’s nixed some of the add-ons, such as lead generation, which can drive the price up substantially, but, still, he said he was told the price is going up in 2014. Brennan said he doesn’t know what the new cost will be, but he would consider a switch only if the price increases substantially.

Brennan said DirectLaw is very document-centric: Clients enter information, the platform drafts the document and what the attorney really is selling is the advice that goes along with it.

Total Attorneys, he said, is more intuitive, offers greater flexibility in drafting and has several secure ways to communicate with clients.