Word Cloud for The Virtual Lawyer

Growing the law practice: doing vs. saying

What has the Virtual Lawyer been doing? I have been so busy "doing", there has been no time for "saying" what I have been doing.

I know that I haven’t been keeping up with my blogging. Far from my initial goal of writing once a day, I have struggled to write once a month. Not for lack of interest, nor for a lack of things to write about. I was just too busy. As a solo practitioner or partner in a small firm, there is a constant need to juggle all the various responsibilities of providing legal services, marketing, billing, managing a business, and yes even taking out the trash, not to mention trying to grow the practice.

For the past year, I have been busy, very busy. In August of last year, I finally moved out of my home office into a shared office space. At the same time, I changed the name of the firm to the unconventional name of “Indigo Venture Law Offices”. All of a sudden, I needed to worry about ordering signage, submitting address changes, and sending announcements to clients and friends. I also needed to buy new furniture (bookcase, file cabinet, desk chair) and new office equipment (network storage server, printer, scanner). None of this stuff is hard, but it all takes time away from providing legal services to clients.

For the first 4.5 years, my practice grew slowly and steadily. Funny thing, after I moved into the new office, the practice started growing faster. The phone was ringing more often and the clients were asking me to handle bigger transactions. The work kept piling up and the usual slow down over the holidays in November and December never happened. By January, I was seriously looking to get some help and started talking seriously with other lawyers about partnerships, associates, paralegals, outsourcing or whatever.

In February, I created The Virtual Lawyer to help me think through the challenges of growing the law firm of the future and took on the additional task of blogging every day (what was I thinking!). I also realized that if I wanted to grow the law firm, I needed more space for other people to work; I started searching for a bigger office and signed a lease by the end of that month.

In March, I built a new website called “LEXpertise.com” for the network of 150+ lawyers that I organized. In April, I moved into the new office. In May, I hired a brilliant summer intern, Dave Marble, who not only helped to facilitate client matters, but also helped me to develop an innovative social networking platform for lawyers (to be released soon).

Also, in May, I reached an agreement with my new partner, John Koenig, a genuinely nice fellow and a seasoned corporate attorney who has unparalleled experience working with small to mid-sized businesses. By June, I was in overdrive. The phone kept ringing and the projects were getting bigger. I was working nights and weekends, outsourcing some client matters, and losing a lot of sleep. I was meeting with John on a weekly basis to plan the merger of our two practices. We created a new website, designed new business cards (which I never got around to after changing the firm name), ordered new phone service and planned infrastructure for the new firm.

Finally, on July 1st , two things happened: some clients went on vacation giving me a breather and my new partner John arrived. In fact, without John, I never would have been able to go on vacation. So, what do I do while on vacation? Of course, I start blogging again. I am very excited about all of the new activities Already, having a partner has made a huge difference. It’s great to have someone to share the process of growing a law firm. I am also excited about continuing to build the law firm of the future. We have a number of innovative systems, marketing plans and practice changes that we plan to implement going forward. As things progress, I’ll tell you more about it. I can’t promise to get back to writing on a daily basis, but I will try to post at least once a week.

What are your priorities for growing your law practice? How do you propose to build the law firm of the future?

Testing my virtual strength

On Monday, I had my first real test of virtual strength. I didn’t plan it that way, it just happened.

Every year, my son and I go away for a weekend in March to go skiing. There are two kinds of skiing. Winter skiing and Spring skiing. Winter skiing is a test of man against nature. Spring skiing is about man appreciating nature. There’s nothing like floating down a mountain of snow on a warm sunny day.

I digress…my son and I were away for our annual father-and-son spring weekend. As always for solos, getting away, even for a weekend can be difficult. For some reason, several last minute client matters arise that you feel compelled (ethically or contractually) to address before you go away. Of course, this year was no different. I worked right up to the last minute. We were supposed to leave early on Friday, and instead left on Saturday morning.

Rather than rush home on Sunday night, this year I decided to take Monday off and test out my abilities as a virtual lawyer. The skiing on Saturday was excellent (good snow, warm weather, lots of sun). But it rained Saturday night and was icy on Sunday. I looked at the weather for Monday, and it looked perfect. Being so late in the season, you can’t expect too many more days of skiing. The combination of warming temperatures, day-to-day obligations, and previously scheduled events minimizes the chances of enjoying another spring skiing day. Go for it!

But Monday was not Sunday and there was no Partner or Associate holding down the office. Was I able to maintain a professional practice remotely, any time, any where? How strong were my virtual lawyering skills? Well, this was a good test. I hadn’t originally planned to take Monday off, it was more spur of the moment. All I brought was my laptop and a pad of paper with my todo list. I didn’t even bring a pen. I had to use the complimentary pen from the hotel room.

Sometimes, as a solo, you and get away for a day without the phone ringing, and even if it does most client matters can wait 24 hours. Sometimes, you can’t.

Sunday night, I knew there were several projects which had a sense of urgency from the clients’ perspective. From my perspective, they were the typical “hurry up and wait”. You know the financing transaction that has to close this week and then the client sits on it for two or three weeks because something comes up or they’re not really sure they want to go through with it.

First, I made a deal with my son. We can stay an extra day and go skiing (and he gets to miss school), but I had to get my work done Sunday night. We stopped at the local video store rented the Star Wars trilogy for $1.25 and then I was free to work for the evening. The theory was that I could generate enough work to keep my clients busy (and happy) while I was skiing on Monday.

The second thing I did was to call my wife and ask her to forward my office phone to my cell phone (you can only do that if you are a solo attorney). That way, I could take my cell phone with me and, if something came up, ski back to the lodge to get my computer.

Third, I connected to the free wireless Internet at the hotel. I would have been happy to pay for Internet service, which they used to charge for, but this year the hotel made the brilliant decision to make wireless Internet free (probably to avoid technical support). The connection was a little slow, but I could live with it. I could receive emails through Outlook, but I could not send emails without using the web-based interface. Sending emails with attachments was quite a bit slower.

Finally, I set down to work. I read a few weekend emails from clients (I hate those!) and started drafting documents. As I worked, I realized my outstanding projects were bigger than I thought and the critical deadlines were closer than I had expected. The good news was that I was glad to be starting work at 5pm on Sunday evening in my hotel rather than driving home in 3 plus hours of traffic, packing and unpacking the car, and then trying to work at 9pm.

As it got to be midnight, my son fell asleep in the middle of the third trilogy; I was still working. I was determined to get several projects off to clients to free up the next day, even if I had to stay up late. Then, several clients (also working on Sunday night) sent emails raising new issues that could perhaps wait for Monday morning, but not Tuesday. By the time I got to bed, it was 4:30am. No problem, I would get 4 hours of sleep and then go skiing. Skiing in the warm sun would energize me.

At 8:30am, I woke up right on schedule. However, those projects that I sent to clients in the middle of the night, were already generating responses. Rather than keep the clients busy, they confirmed that the critical deadlines really were critical. Now I was in trouble. I had to file a new corporation in Delaware, revise financing documents, confer with outside counsel as well as the client, and get the financing closed by the end of the day.

The first challenge was faxing a document to the Delaware Secretary of State (“DE-SOS”). Yes, I could have called CT Corporation and emailed the document to them. But I try to keep costs down for client and I have gotten used to faxing my filings directly to the DE-SOS. I had no scanner or fax machine. All I had was my laptop. I called the DE-SOS and they said they only accept faxes; they could not accept email. If you know government offices, they were not about to make any exceptions for me or my annual father-and-son ski weekend.

The challenge was how to get an unsigned document out of my computer, signed, and faxed to the DE-SOS. First, I applied my electronic signature to the Certificate of Incorporation. Then, I saved it as a pdf to preserve the formatting. I attached the pdf to an email. All I had to do was to email to an online fax service and I was done.

Well, I had been meaning to sign-up for a PC to fax service, but had not gotten around to it. As a virtual lawyer, my plan was to forward the fax line in my office to an email fax. So, it was a problem I needed to solve anyway. Years ago, I used the free version of eFax, but I disliked having to download special software to read faxes written in a proprietary format. I assumed the fax services were better today, but I didn’t have time to research it.

So, there I was in my hotel room. The client said, “let’s go forward with the incorporation today.” It was 10am and the fax needed to be received by DE-SOS before 2pm. I can do this…I just need to signup for an online fax search. I did a quick Google search to find the most highly rated fax services. Several reviews came up quickly. One service offered a free trial. Great! Rather than take the time to compare services, I’ll just use the free trial to send out my document now.

In the meantime, there were a number of phone calls and last minute revisions to the financing documents. I still planned to buy a half-day ticket and go skiing in the afternoon. By noon, the sun would soften up the slopes and the skiing would be better.

Don’t forget to read the fine print. I sent out the fax document using the free trial, but nothing happened. No quick “confirmed” status. The website screen just said “processing.” That’s funny, in the real world, I hit the send button on the fax and it either goes through or fails within a minute or two. Instead, it just sat there “processing”. By 12pm, I got nervous and started reading the FAQs for help with the online fax service. In the fine print, I discovered that the free-trial was only good for 10 pages; my pdf document with the filing cover memo was 12 pages. Even when it gets done processing, this document was not going through.

Plan B was to go back to the reviews and, instead of the free trial, sign up for the top rated for-pay fax service. I could always cancel or change services later. I quickly concluded that MyFax and eFax were the most popular. The reviews suggested that they were equally as good, but MyFax was cheaper. I’m always in favor of supporting the underdog and saving a little money. ;-)

I signed up for MyFax, paid by credit card, uploaded my document and within minutes I received confirmation that the transmission was successful. At 1pm, I called the DE-SOS and confirmed the fax arrived. Crisis averted. In the meantime, my son was thrilled to be playing video games rather than skiing. And after two hard days of skiing, he needed the break.

Okay, so grab a quick bite to eat for lunch and then hit the slopes. Right? Nope…more client issues that had to be solved today. Each one passed the test: will a 24 hour delay adversely affect the client? If so, get it done now. By 2:30pm my hopes of catching the last few rays of the new daylight savings time were fading fast.

I finished the critical projects by 4pm. We packed up the car and drove home. No, we didn’t get to enjoy that glorious day out on the slopes. No, technology did not save me time that day. But yes, the virtual lawyer experiment had worked. I could access information, knowledge and tools from a remote location and provide the quality of service that clients deserve.

Maybe I still need to improve my life-work balance, but that will come. Already, I feel more comfortable knowing that I can leave the office spontaneously and I have acquired one more tool (PC to fax) that will facilitate working remotely.

Have you tested your virtual strength lately? What technologies have helped you to work remotely?

Virtual Lawyer vs. Virtual Law Practice

Yesterday, I helped a lawyer in a mid-sized firm by sharing some information about how to perfect a security interest in a patent. She expressed her appreciation and asked how she could help me. I said, "read my blog called The Virtual Lawyer". Her response was "Oh, I have a friend who turned down a partnership at a big firm to start a virtual law practice with a few others and they have no office. I'll tell her about your blog."

I wanted to say, "Wait! The Virtual Lawyer is not just for lawyers without an office. It's for you too!" But I didn't say that because I didn't realize it before. The Virtual Lawyer is not just for solo practitioners and virtual law practices. It's for all lawyers that want to evolve their practice virtually.

On Tuesday, I made a first attempt at defining "virtual lawyer". Upon reflection, that initial definition seemed to confuse the notion of a virtual law practice with a virtual lawyer. It makes more sense to separate them, as follows:

A "virtual lawyer" is a professional authorized to practice law, who works with people all geographically dispersed, and whose law practice is carried on by means of a computer or computer network.

A "virtual law practice" consists of one or more professionals authorized to practice law, whose law practice is carried on by means of a computer or computer network, without a physical office space.

These definitions suggest that there is a difference between a "virtual lawyer" and a "virtual law practice." The virtual lawyer may or may not have a physical office. The virtual law practice has no physical office.

The concept here is that as the legal profession evolves, most lawyers will work virtually by means of a computer or computer network even if they are sitting in the office next to you. I don't mean to dehumanize the profession or offend anyone. Virtual lawyers will continue to work with people, but their primary means of communication and delivery of work product will be by email, telephone and computer networks. This is quite different from traditional lawyers whose primary means of communication was meeting in person and whose primary means of delivery of work product was on paper.

Most of us are working "virtually" already, but we still think about the law practice in physical terms. We try to make the virtual practice fit into the traditional law practice. The next generation of lawyers is going to think virtually first. They are going to think about how to take the traditional law practice and fit it into the virtual world. This is what will open people's mind to a new and improved profession.

The purpose of The Virtual Lawyer blog is to help lawyers think about how to change and develop their lawyering skills for an increasingly virtual world. This is for all lawyers, not just solos and office-less lawyers.

What are you doing to adapt your legal skills for a virtual world? How will it affect your practice?

Definition of a "virtual lawyer"

Why did I pick "The Virtual Lawyer" as the title for this blog? It just seemed to fit my ideal notion of the future practice of law. I liked the idea of being able to work any where at any time by having access to people, information, and tools. Computers and the Internet make that possible.

But what do the words "virtual lawyer" mean? Since I adopted the name, I felt obligated to look up the definition. I was happy to see that when I googled the definition, this blog came to the top of the list (how often does that happen!). The other references on the first couple of pages used the term, but did not try to define it. Therefore, I feel comfortable defining it on my own.

First, I looked up the definition of "virtual". There were several definitions, but the one I liked best was from The Free Dictionary: "Computer Science. Created, simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or computer network." There are several other definitions like the one from Geekgirls.com that suggested the word meant "not real," but I don't buy that. Don't tell me the Internet is not real.

I am comfortable with the definition of "lawyer" offered by Princeton as "a professional authorized to practice law." So then the question becomes what does it mean to be a "virtual lawyer?"

I decided that I should look at definitions of other "virtual" things. Here is what I came up with:

Virtual call center is "a call center in which the organization's representatives are geographically dispersed, rather than being situated at work stations in a building operated by the organization. Virtual call center employees may be situated in groups in a number of smaller centers, but most often they work from their own homes."

Virtual reality is" an artificial environment created with computer hardware and software and presented to the user in such a way that it appears and feels like a real environment."

Virtual machine is "a number of discrete identical execution environments on a single computer, each of which runs an operating system. This can allow applications written for one OS to be executed on a machine which runs a different OS, or provide execution "sandboxes" which provide a greater level of isolation between processes than is achieved when running multiple processes on the same instance of an OS."

Based on the first two definitions (I threw out the last one), I came up with the following:

A "virtual lawyer" is a professional authorized to practice law, who works with people all geographically dispersed, and whose law practice is carried on by means of a computer or computer network in such a way that it appears and feels like a physical law office, yet provides greater responsiveness, higher efficiency and better quality work product.

This is just my first attempt at defining the term "virtual lawyer" and the definition is likely to change or evolve over time.

What do you think? How would you define "Virtual Lawyer?"

How do you say "thanks" in the blogging world?

The way to say "thanks" in the blogging world is to post a thoughtful and responsive comment.

I appreciate those of you who already gave me comments in person or sent emails about my blog. I am very interested in your feedback, but I'd prefer that you post your comments on this blog site. That's the best way to express appreciation to a blogger. That's how the blogging world works. (Of course, if you want your comments to remain private, in person or email communication is best.)

Already, I had a friend stop me on the street and say. "Hey, I like the blog you wrote yesterday!" Also, a lawyer sent me email on Wednesday (after only 5 days of blogging) saying that I sounded like a “voice crying in the wilderness.” I assume that is because there are so few comments posted. I asked both of them to post a comment, but it hasn't happened yet.

If you want to encourage my writing, and have a minute, just post a thoughtful comment. Initially, just a note that says "congratulations on keeping your NY's resolution" or "Great topic, I look forward to reading it" would be fine. This tells other readers that people are already reading the blog even though it just started. Later on, or if there is a serious discussion, comments should respond more directly to the content.

Blogging etiquette is very subjective and still evolving. Each blog has a different atmosphere. It is like walking into someone's house for a party. Some are very formal, some are wild. When you join a party you have to take a look around and ask. Am I wearing the right clothes? Do I need to bring something? What can should I talk about? Blogs are the same way.

At this point, the party is just starting, but if you like the content and want to hear more, post a comment!

Will I really blog everyday?

Maybe. I'll write because I want to write, not because I have to write.

Several people have said that they really enjoyed reading my new blog, but they think that I am putting too much pressure on myself by having to write everyday. First of all, I did not say that I would write everyday. Nor did I say I wouldn't. I merely expressed a desire to write everyday.

On February 16th, I wrote:

"Back to my New Year's resolution.... The promise that I made is that every day I would write about one new thing that would help build a law practice. I plan to focus on five separate areas: legal services (product quality and packaging), business development (marketing and sales), office management (technology, systems, knowledge management), recruiting (virtual and real team building), and finance (billing rates, pricing models, cash flow)."

The New Years resolution that I made was a "promise" to myself to try writing every day. For the record, it was not a promise to write everyday forever. This is a new experience. It may last a few weeks or it could last for years. I promise to write when I have something interesting to say about the five areas of interest I outlined for The Virtual Lawyer. The good news is that I have been writing for 7 days in a row and I really enjoy it. It helps to clarify my thinking and has already helped to move my business forward.

P.S. No, this is not my post for today. I'll post something more interesting later...

The Virtual Lawyer - Introduction

Today, lawyers are not tied to an office. With the advent of the Internet, they can work anytime, anywhere. They can work from a client site, from home, or from a remote vacation spot. All lawyers need is access to people, information, and tools (e.g., software and computer systems). Having access to people, information, and tools doesn’t mean lawyers have to work all the time; it just gives them control over where and when they choose to work. The Virtual Lawyer is all about building the law firm of the future, enabling lawyers to meet in person or in cyberspace, access resources and information, and leverage systems and tools. The end goal is make the practice of law more creative (and less mundane), more productive and more profitable. The legal profession is changing, not just because of technology but also because people are changing and the institutions used to practice law are changing.

In this blog, I will share my journey in developing the "law firm of the future". My perspective is that of a solo practitioner who wants to expand and grow his practice. I will explore new ideas for marketing, client development, legal knowledge, systems and equipment. I hope to encourage others to do the same. It’s a journey, of where and how to build a better law practice. This is just the beginning…