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2015 ABA trends: The virtual law office
RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers
Published: May 6, 2016
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, but only about five percent of attorneys who responded to the 2015 American Bar Association’s annual technology survey consider themselves to have a virtual law office.
First question: what is a virtual law office?
According to the survey, “At its most literal, the term “virtual law practice” indicates a practice that lacks (or at least doesn’t rely on) a traditional physical presence.”
After attaining the goal of a paperless office, this has to be the next logical step in the evolution of law practice, right? But virtually nobody is on board yet.
What would a virtual law office look like?
The components of such an office vary, and different sized offices had different answers. But, generally, and in decreasing order, virtual law offices consisted of lack of traditional (brick and mortar) office; minimal in-person client contact; web-based client interaction; unbundled legal services; and secure client portals.
Add that all up, and an attorney could create an entire law practice in an iPad or laptop (just don’t leave it at Starbucks).
Breaking down those components gives an interesting view. Although a true virtual office may be rare, the survey found an increase in use of the various individual components of one.
Seventy percent of large firms have secure client portals, for instance, while only 6 percent of solos have one (even though I’m willing to bet that solos take money online).
Survey said: “It’s clear that lawyers are using the web more in 2015 as a tool for true client interaction.” Nearly half of the firms reported the use of interactive web-based client interactions, up considerably from a year before. These include fillable forms, real-time consultations, calendars, invoicing, messaging, and document sharing.
Seventy-five percent of attorneys telecommute at one time or another. About 80 percent of them telecommute from home. Ten percent from coffee shops. Please learn.
All told, a little under a third of attorneys use cloud computing (a requisite for a virtual office). Here, like in many innovations in the law biz, the smaller the firm, the more likely it used the cloud.
Younger, smaller, faster—the overall story of innovation in technology is also the story of innovation in the law office.