What are the benefits of a "virtual law practice"?
Client Acquisition Benefits
Capture new clients who are part of the “latent market
for legal services” who don’t use lawyers; Compete effectively against
non-lawyer providers like LegalZoom who are taking market share from solos
and small law firms;
Capture web-savvy clients who are members of the
“connected generation” who expect to relate to their lawyers “on-line.”
There is a huge market segment of potential clients born since 1970, which
have gown up with the Internet. They do their shopping, banking, book their
travel, play, entertain themselves, and connect with their friends online.
They expect that their lawyers will also work with them online. This is true
of both consumer clients and small business clients.
Extend the reach of your law firm: A virtual law firm
presence enables you to extend the reach of your practice either through the
state where you are licensed to practice, or if a nationwide specialty like
immigration, nationally. If you are able to offer an unusual value
proposition, you have the opportunity of expanding our practice through an
Internet marketing campaign that extends your practice beyond your local
community. For example. Robert
Grossbart, a consumer bankruptcy attorney based in Baltimore, Maryland,
reports that the attractiveness of the virtual law firm approach has enable
him to capture clients from the Washington suburbs, because of the
efficiency and benefits of working with him virtually. Client do come in fow
an initial meeting with Mr. Grossbart, but after than first meeting all of
the work that is involved in preparing a filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13
bankruptcy is done virtually. The next time the client sees the attorney his
at the Bankruptcy Trustee's hearing.
Provide useful client-centered "digital" tools. The availability of "digital applications" that provide a client with
some instant legal information feedback such as a child support calculator
or bankruptcy means test calculator can only be offered over the Web and are
impressive in terms of demonstrating the lawyer's expertise and the law
firms willingness to provide free legal decision tools that can capture a
client;s interest t the point of engaging the lawyer for additional services.
Client Conversion Benefits
When a prospects visits your web site, it is it critical that you
respond almost immediately by connecting with that client with an offering
that is responsive and satisfying. The Internet as a communication as medium
is unparallel for instantly connecting with prospects and useing the tools
available within a virtual law firm platform convert them to client status
almost immediately.
Client Retention Benefits
A "client portal" is a "sticky" application is the sense
that once a client begins to use it to store documents, communicate with
their attorney securely, pay their bills online, and efficiently create
documents by answering questions within the web browser, the client's
behavior either is changed by the experience, or existing Internet
behaviors are reinforced. The client begins to prefer doing business online
with the law firm and this translates into another reason for client loyalty rather than client churn. The fast response, reduction in
telephone tag, and other speed benefits of being on the Web translate into a
more transparent and satisfying client experience No longer does a client
have to give up a morning of work for an one hour meeting with his attorney
at a down town location,. While some of these meetings may still be
necessary, the alternative of relating over the Internet now become a real
alternative that is more efficient from both the lawyer and the client's
point of view.
Economic Benefits
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A law firm that embraces a virtual law firm strategy,
where data is stored "in the cloud"
will find that their costs are lower, because it is less expensive that
paying for software, local storage, and server hardware, which often
requires an additional IT professional to manage these functions within
the office For the solo or small law practitioner this is a financial
burden.
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A :virtual law firm" strategy that is based on a
Software as a Service (SaaS) platform
doesn't require local in-house software installations and regular
software updates and new features can be added instantly without
disturbing the law firm's work flow.
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Virtual law firms experience lower real estate costs,
because the need for a larger physical office is reduced or eliminated.
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Implementing legal applications such as web-enabled
document automation results in increasing profit margins and greater law
firm efficiency.
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