eLawyering for Competitive Advantage:
Legal Profession : Turning Points
Richard S. Granat, J.D.
Co-Chair, eLawyering Task Force, ABA
and President, DirectLaw, Inc.
September 20, 2011
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
WHAT DO
CLIENTS
WANT?
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTS WANT
FIXED
PRICES
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTS
WANT
TRANSPARENCY
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTS
WANT
BETTER
TECHNOLOGY
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTS
WANT
CONVENIENCE
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTS
WANT
Legal Services Ala CarteUnbundled Legal Services
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
The
CONSUMER
Problem
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
THE WEB GENERATION
• Digital DNA
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
The Millennials
. are here. 1978-97
• 75 million clients
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
THE SIZE OF THE
“LATENT” MARKET
• $45 billion latent market
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
Latent Market for Legal Services
50% of middle income households in the US
have at least one legal problem per year
•Only 20% seek legal assistance from
attorneys
•Increasing percentage of consumers seek
alternatives to lawyers such as self-help.
New Kinds of
Clients
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
13
The U.S Legal Services Market
The United States represents, by far, the largest
market for legal services in the world, amounting to
$145.5 billion in 2006, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau
The market segment that we are targeting may be more
precisely defined as the market for self-help law online
and is a sub-set of what is known as the personal legal
services market
According to varying estimates by the U.S. Bureau of
Economic Analysis and the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, American consumers spend approximately $43
billion to $56 billion annually on personal legal services
Our estimate for the latent legal services market adds
another $45 billion to the potential market
Size of the market for legal services
What consumers spend now
$43 billion
Estimated value of under-served
consumers or latent market
$45 billion
Total market
$88 billion
Market Metrics
78% of Americans do not have a will or
updated will.
 50% of all marriages end in divorce.
 Bankruptcy filings have almost doubled
since 1990.
 More than 10 million American are victims
of Identity Theft each year.
 Nearly 9 our 10 employees experienced at
least one legal concern during the past
year.

Competition
•Legal Zoom – 1,000,000 wills
•Thousands of trademark and copyrights
applications
•Nolo
•More than a Thousand Legal Form Web Sites
•Independent Paralegals
•Tax Preparers
CONSUMERS
OR CLIENTS
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
Market Definition
and Types of Offerings
Self-help Reference /Self-Help Books/CD :
Nolo
 Legal Forms: e.g, SmartLegalForms, US
LegalForms, LegacyWriter, Nolo, Quicken
Willmaker
 Document Preparation, e.g. LegalZoom
 Find-a-Lawyer, Legal Referral Sites, e.g,
AVVO. Total Attorneys.
 Ask a Lawyer, e.g, LawGuru, LegalRiver,
Law Pivot, JustAnswer.com.

LegalZoom Trademarks
LegalZoom Copyright Service
I. Introduction: The Basics
What is a “virtual law firm”?
 What is “eLawyering”?
 What a “virtual law firm” isn’t
 Examples of On-Line Legal Services.
 What is driving the interest in this
concept?

19
Legal Profession is Lagging
Only 52.1% of
Solos Have a
Web Site.
ONLNE
LEGAL
SERVICE
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
Most
Law
firms
here
Ever
yone
else
here
Web
2.0
Web
4.0
Web
3.0
Web
1.0
Hello world
‘Brochureware’ sites
Flat forms
Reduced benefit
alone
User generated
content
Web applications
Try for free
Collaboration
©NakedEyes http://www.flickr.com/photos/55456073@N00/301678287/
What is a Virtual Law Office?
a “virtual law firm” is characterized by
access by the firm’s clients to a password
protected and secure web space where
both the attorney and client may interact
and legal services consumed by the client.
 More specifically it can be defined as
having a secure client portal that is
accessible from the law firm’s web site.

22
Virtual Lawyering Is Not:
• No physical office
• Having a Web site
• Email communication
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
Example of a Client Portal
What are Online Legal
Services?
ONLNE
LEGAL
SERVICE
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
On-Line Legal Services

A “virtual law firm” enables clients to:
Assemble legal documents over the web;
 Purchase legal advice online by telephone or
email;
 Store their legal documents online;
 Collaborate with their attorneys online through
threaded discussions which are archived.
 Access legal information, web advisors, and
intelligent calculators.

DOCUMENT
AUTOMATION
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat
3030
Documents that Assemble Themselves
Ready for Lawyer Review
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
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Next question

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Next question
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

Next question
Start


Complete?

Finish
You don't just ‘fill out’ an automated document – you create it.
The answers you enter create a custom legal document, built from a library of state-specific and relevant legal text,
that is tailored to client’s specific facts.
http://www.kentlaw.edu/cajt/A2JAuthor.html
Benefits of a Virtual Law Firm
Capture new clients who are part of the
“latent market for legal services” who don’t
use lawyers;
 Deliver “limited legal services” on-line.
 Capture web-savvy clients who are
members of the “connected generation”
who expect to relate to their lawyers “online.”

32
More Benefits
Increase law firm productivity and
profitability.
 Enhance to client experience.
 Reduce telephone-tag.
 Enable a more integrated lawyer/client
relationship.

33
How do you reach web-savvy
clients?






You have to learn how to deliver legal services over the
Internet and create an “online” brand.
Requires an interactive web site which support the
“virtual practice of law.”
More than a passive web site.
The web site as the “front-door” of your law practice.
The web site as a way for your firm to create an “online
brand.”
If you are not getting clients off the Internet, you are
missing part of the market in your territory.
35
36
Costs of a Virtual Law Office
Front End Web Site- Hosting and Design
 Client Portal

Vendor pricing ranges from $49.00 to $299.00
a month depending on complexity.
Web-Based Practice Management Solutions.
 Approximately $49.00 per attorney per month.

37
Vendor Selection
Do It Your Self- meaning programming a
virtual law office is cost prohibitive.
 The Software as a Service Solution
(SaaS) – Benefits.
 What to look for in a SaaS Vendor
generally.
 Needs Analysis.

38
Typical Virtual Law Firm SaaS
Offering- What to look for?
No Up-Front Capital Investment or small
set-up fee.
 No software or Hardware to Install
 East to Implement
 Ethically Compliant
 Totally Secure
 Subscription-based
 Plugs Into Your Existing Web Site.

39
Pure Play Virtual Law Practice
Difficult to pull off unless you have a
specific niche that you can expand on
through your web site.
 Need to have a web that can be found on
the web through the search engines.
 Need to understand how to drive traffic to
you web site and convert visitors into
paying clients.

Failure is Easy

A “pure play” virtual law practice is harder
to make successful that a practice that has
a “brick and mortar” element.

A blended model is easier to succeed at
because you can augment your on-line
marketing with more traditional off-line
marketing and referral networks.
Developing an Online Marketing
Strategy
A clearly defined niche;
 A web site that is search engine optimized
 A strategy for driving prospects to your
web site and converting them into clients.

Potential winners
Firms who operate on the web
Firms that develop “packaged” solutions
Institutions that serve their customers with law firms
Losers
Under-capitalised, fragmented small & medium firms
Sticking with one-to-one limited reach relationships
Don’t lever information technology and the web
BUILDING A
STRONG BRAND
ONLINE
• Differentiation
• Remarkable
• Client experience
WINNING LAW FIRMS WILL HAVE A
STRONG BRAND & USE THE
POWER OF
ONLINE TECHNOLOGY
Learn More About On-Line Legal
Services
1. ABA eLawyering Task Force
http://www.elawyering.com
2. The Virtual Law Firm Learning Centerhttp://www.virtuallawyerconnect.com
Get the Book: Delivering On-Line Legal Services by Stephanie Kimbro.
3. DirectLaw Learning Center
© Copyright, 2011, Richard S. Granat