On-Line Legal Services: Keeping Pace with the Evolving Practice of Law

On-Line Legal Services

Richard S. Granat, J.D.

Co-Chair, eLawyering Task Force, ABA

and President, DirectLaw, Inc.

Keeping Pace with the Evolving Practice of Law

August 6, 2010

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The

CONSUMERProblem

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WHAT DO

CLIENTSWANT?

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CLIENTS WANT

FIXEDPRICES

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CIENTS WANT

SPEED© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat

CLIENTSWANT

TRANSPARENCY

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CLIENTSWANT

CONVENIENCE

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CLIENTS WANT

BETTERTECHNOLOGY

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THE WEB GENERATION

• Digital DNA

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THE SIZE OF THE“LATENT” MARKET

• $45 billion latent market

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Competition

•Legal Zoom – 1,000,000 wills•More than a Thousand Legal Form Web Sites•Independent Paralegals•Tax Preparers

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CONSUMERS OR CLIENTS

CLIENTS WANT

Legal Services Ala Carte- Unbundled Legal Services

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Only 52.1% of Solos Have a Web Site.

Legal Profession is Lagging

ONLNE

LEGAL

SERVICE© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat

Services?What are Online Legal

ONLNE

LEGAL

SERVICE© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat

On-Line legal services are legal services delivered over the Internet directly to clients through a password protected and secure web space where both the attorney and client may interact and legal services are consumed by the client.

Sometimes called: elawyering or virtual lawyering.

Defined

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Virtual Lawyering Is Not:

• No physical office

• Having a Web site

• Email communication

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• Know-How Systems• Document Automation• Technology-Assisted Services

Internet Technologies

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• Web Advisors• Smart Calculators• Other Client Tools

Internet Technologies

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DOCUMENT

AUTOMATION

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VIRTUAL LAW FIRM

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• Enables Interactions• Multiple Groups• Central Point of Contact

The Multi-Sided Platform Model

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• Consumers• Attorneys• Vendors

The Sides of the Multi-SidedPlatform

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• www.avvo.com• www.legalzoom.com• www.mylawyer.com• www.uslegal.com

Examples of Multi-Sided Platforms

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25

• Differentiation• Remarkable• Client experience

BUILDING A

STRONG BRANDONLINE

POWER OF

WINNING LAW FIRMS WILL HAVE A

STRONG BRAND & USE THE

ONLINE TECHNOLOGY

• Help law firms compete.• Create Go-To Places

for Consumers.

State Bar Associations Must BePart of the Solution

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1. ABA eLawyering Task Force

2. The Virtual Law Firm Learning Center

3. Unbundling Resource Center – ABA

Learn More About On-Line LegalServices

© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat