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
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
The
CONSUMERProblem
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
WHAT DO
CLIENTSWANT?
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTS WANT
FIXEDPRICES
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
CIENTS WANT
SPEED© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTSWANT
TRANSPARENCY
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTSWANT
CONVENIENCE
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
CLIENTS WANT
BETTERTECHNOLOGY
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
THE WEB GENERATION
• Digital DNA
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
THE SIZE OF THE“LATENT” MARKET
• $45 billion latent market
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
Competition
•Legal Zoom – 1,000,000 wills•More than a Thousand Legal Form Web Sites•Independent Paralegals•Tax Preparers
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
CONSUMERS OR CLIENTS
CLIENTS WANT
Legal Services Ala Carte- Unbundled Legal Services
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
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
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
Virtual Lawyering Is Not:
• No physical office
• Having a Web site
• Email communication
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
• Know-How Systems• Document Automation• Technology-Assisted Services
Internet Technologies
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
• Web Advisors• Smart Calculators• Other Client Tools
Internet Technologies
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
DOCUMENT
AUTOMATION
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
VIRTUAL LAW FIRM
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
• Enables Interactions• Multiple Groups• Central Point of Contact
The Multi-Sided Platform Model
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
• Consumers• Attorneys• Vendors
The Sides of the Multi-SidedPlatform
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
• www.avvo.com• www.legalzoom.com• www.mylawyer.com• www.uslegal.com
Examples of Multi-Sided Platforms
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
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
© Copyright, 2010, Richard S. Granat
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