This raises the question I've written about before: how can traditional practitioners compete in the fast - moving world of
online legal service providers?
As the online small claims court takes shape, we can expect to see an explosion
of online legal services develop that are inspired by it.
It's striking to note the enthusiasm of the new market entrants
for online legal services as compared to the relative resistance from the mainstream profession.
Other
online legal services companies may be considering similar referral models that will also encourage the practice of using technology and the Internet to deliver legal services online.
The new funds will be used to continue improving and expanding the company's
online legal service platform for consumers, small businesses and lawyers.
The cost - effectiveness of cloud technology that enables lawyers to
deliver online legal services is one of best methods to address access to justice challenges.
Attorneys are generally able to provide direct legal advice that we can not offer due to regulations regarding the unauthorized practice of law, and firms may develop a
competing online legal service division.
It's an interesting book, and we recommend it for anyone curious about
how online legal services might shape the future of American law.
Aside from benefiting the legal professional, this form of practice management also meets a growing consumer demand
for online legal services.
The rate of adoption
of online legal services will impact our ability to acquire new customers, increase our subscribers and grow our revenues.
This is an important lesson for law firms, because other
online legal services such as UpCounsel are already on the scene attracting startups, small business owners, and entrepreneurs with affordable and convenient unbundled legal services.
In addition to letting lawyers focus on practicing law, business people can help lawyers develop and market legal services that are responsive to consumer demand and that can compete with those provided
by online legal service providers.
However, if you take a look at the terms of service
on online legal services sites you will find they all explicitly say they are not practising law or providing legal advice.
It's our customers and the lawyers in our Rocket Lawyer On Call ® network who have made Rocket Lawyer the fastest
growing online legal service.
In a recent blog, David Bilinsky identified North American companies who are leading the way
with online legal services, including North Vancouver - based Self - Counsel Press.
As I put together another
Sinch Online Legal Services Conference to be held in May in Sydney, I reflect on how much things have changed with respect to IT and Law in just the last 12 months.
For starters, as Lee contends, many clients would just as well use non-lawyer assisted
online legal services like LegalZoom which have the added advantage of huge advertising budgets and exemption from the sorts of advertising restrictions that plague lawyers.
Various internet - based technologies have opened the door for individuals and entities, many of whom are not lawyers or law firms, to
offer online legal services or help with selected tasks that are a constituent part of handling a matter.
These are regulations that restrict our ability as attorneys to compete in this marketplace the
way online legal service providers do.
Second, the systems must not be easily replicable or competitors can easily mimic their development and... the prices of
rival online legal services will tend rapidly towards zero....
This led us to launching Legal Beagle in 2012 which was a
nationwide online legal service, and this put us on the journey to create our own automation software which is now our full time business Automio.
It does not mention the law, but it has implications: if the internet makes us dumber, does that
mean online legal services will be poorer, since the lawyers providing them will not be so sharp?
One senior figure in the field of
online legal services once said the secret is this: do not even think about doing something online unless you are sure that clients are going to want to pay for it.
Companies attacking the category offer e-discovery and legal research, consumer and business -
facing online legal services, legal practice management software, and intellectual property invention disclosure software, among many other use cases.