Extracted from: Investors.com
Legal Profession Being Pulled Online By Tech Clients
By
SHEILA RILEY,
FOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 08/02/2013
05:10 PM ET
The legal profession isn't exactly the e-legal profession yet,
but things like online consultations and real-time billing are starting to take
hold.... View Enlarged Image
Tech clients are leading the slow-to-change legal profession
into cyberspace.
Tech types want to do things online, not in law offices, says
San Francisco attorney Leila Banijamali, founder of Bedrock, a four-person firm
with only tech clients.
"The tech industry, particularly the startup crowd, is very
much a do-it-yourself generation," Banijamali said.
And that ethos applies to legal matters.
Tech startups contact Banijamali as potential clients all raring
to go, but they need incorporation documents, partnership and founder
agreements, and more, and "sometimes the conversation can end right there
because the cost of preparing those things is too high," she said — if
done traditionally, in a law office.
But if the work can be done online, attorneys can save time and
clients can save money, she says.
Bedrock is developing its website to allow secure access for
clients by early 2014, Banijamali says. It's common sense when working with
tech entrepreneurs to meet them on their own territory, and that is online, she
says.
"We're talking about legal services becoming more efficient
and more accessible to more people who need them," Banijamali said.
Law lags behind all other service industries in use of
technology, says attorney Richard Granat.
Granat has what he calls a "pure play virtual law
practice." That is, he provides legal services solely over the Internet
through a client portal. He lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., but practices
law in Maryland.
He also founded DirectLaw, a company that provides a virtual law platform for
other attorneys.
Most law firms have websites, says Granat, but few provide a
secure Web space where they work with clients.
Many clients, especially younger clients, often don't feel a
need to communicate with their attorneys in person, says Granat, who also
co-chairs the American Bar Association's e-lawyering task force.
"The younger demographic expects its lawyers to be
online," Granat said.
'It Just Takes Time'
That's not the way most lawyers are used to working. The
profession is coming around, but slowly, he says. "The opposition is
yielding," Granat said. "It just takes time."
Real-time billing for legal services is one online feature that
clients love, says Tom Baldwin, whose title is chief knowledge officer at
Pittsburgh-based legal giant Reed Smith. The law firm has 25 offices worldwide,
and its clients include Fortune 100 companies.
Baldwin, who is based in Los Angeles and is not himself a
lawyer, says clients are much more concerned about transparency and
predictability in fees than in the past. Because of that, a growing portion of
Reed Smith's work is fixed-fee, he says.
"The
onus for us to be efficient is greater than it's ever been," Baldwin said,
and doing work online increases that efficiency .
Clients
log on to the firm's Web portal, access documents and calendars, track their
case's progress against the fixed-fee budget, and see what's been done and
what's outstanding.
They
love it, Baldwin says. But there's a cultural divide in the legal profession,
he says, and not all attorneys feel the same way.
"Younger
associates, their whole lives are online," Baldwin said. "Juxtaposed
against that, senior partners started their practice using typewriters and
dictating to secretaries."
It's
a huge hurdle for some lawyers, he says.
Benesch,
Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, with offices in the U.S. and Shanghai,
thinks of itself as a technologically progressive law firm.
Real-Time Billing
"We
embrace technology and using technology to enhance our relationships with our
clients," says attorney Michael Stovsky. He heads the Cleveland-based
firm's innovations, information technology and intellectual property group.
Benesch
clients can upload and download documents, fill out forms, receive news
tailored to their interests, and get billed electronically.
In
June, the law firm rolled out an application to give clients access to
real-time billing.
Having
clients see just where their money goes at practically the moment it's going
there isn't always easy for attorneys, says Stovsky. That means the client can
ask questions, then and there, he says."Lawyers don't like to do things like that. It's a risk," Stovsky said. "You're baring your soul to your client."
He
says the legal profession has a ways to go in technology.
"As
a whole, law is probably lagging, not leading," Stovsky said. "Some
law firms get it and some don't."
The
global recession has taken a toll on the profession. Last year, Dewey &
LeBoeuf became the largest law firm to ever file for bankruptcy. In June,
another huge law firm, Weil Gotshal & Manges, fired some attorneys and cut
pay for about 10% of its 300 partners.
Since
things like billable hours decline the more that legal work is done online, is
the slow move online really all about money?
Lawyers
can do their jobs for less money online, says John Orcutt, a professor at the University
of New Hampshire School of Law.
"Law
firms operate in a market just like anyone else," said Orcutt. "You
better provide services to clients at prices they are willing to pay."
The
devil's in the details, but practicing law online will increase, Orcutt says.
"There's
going to be more and more of these types of online services," he said.Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/technology/080213-666215-lawyers-doing-more-work-online-in-slow-evolution.htm#ixzz2b7XIKxnU
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