Frequently Asked Questions:  General

Q. What are the advantages of operating in a virtual law firm environment?

A.  Savvy and smart lawyers will migrate to doing legal business over the Internet for a variety of reasons: enhance the quality of the client experience by providing more transparency and convenience; increase their appeal to a "connected" generation; and tap into the "latent market" for legal services by having the capability of offering unbundled legal services online.

For an expansion of these concepts, download our white papers on e-Lawyering for Competitive Advantage - How to Earn Legal Fees While You Sleep and Web-Enabled Document Automation as a Disruptive Technology by clicking here.

Q. What is e-Lawyering?

A.  e-Lawyering is a synonym for virtual lawyering. Both terms mean delivering legal service online.

Some law firms call themselves "virtual law firms" because they have eliminated the overhead of a physical office or offices but don't provide any mechanism for offering legal services online. We would not consider this a true "virtual law firm."  The true hallmark of a virtual law firm is one that uses digital applications to provide service to clients and increase the productivity of the law firm. An example of a digital legal application is web-enabled document automation. While these so-called virtual law firms may be saving the cost of a brick and mortar infrastructure, resulting in lower fees to clients, their attorneys still work the same old way which is to bill for their time. Web-enabled digital applications, on the other hand, substitute for the time of an attorney and are truly disruptive as this time-saving feature can result in more radical cost savings and translate into dramatically lower legal fees.

Q. What kind of economic results can I expect from subscribing to the DirectLaw™ Virtual Law Firm Service?

A.  We offer three levels of the DirectLaw™ Virtual Law Firm Service. Level I does not include our document libraries, so no additional revenue is generated from the sale of legal documents bundled with legal advice. However, for law practices that are not document intensive, having an interactive web site that enables clients to communicate and collaborate with the law firm over the Internet is a big plus. You will be able to provide an additional means of communicating with clients over the Internet, in addition to traditional face-to-face meetings and telephone contact. You will be able to sell online legal advice and coaching services. This should result in acquiring clients who want their lawyers to be technologically savvy and who understand how to use Internet technology to make the client experience more convenient and efficient.

For those firms using our Level II or Level III Service, the addition of automated documents bundled with legal advice creates a new stream of revenue -- both from new clients who are attracted to this idea -- and from existing clients who are also attracted to the concept of a fixed-price service model.  There are many examples of successful non-lawyer, web-based companies selling legal forms without legal advice, proving the existence of huge latent demand for unbundled legal services that are sold for a fixed price.

Our pricing structure is primarily based on document usage and enables you to manage your costs in proportion to the revenue that you generate.  Therefore, each unit of service will have a healthy profit margin. Converting demand into actual sales will depend on many factors we cannot control, such as your reputation in the your community and your expertise as an attorney, as well as the amount of funds you are able to commit to marketing/advertising your services both online and offline.

One way of calculating your return on investment (ROI), is to consider that if you sell just one set of no-fault divorce documents a month and bundled with legal advice for $300, you have covered your DirectLaw™ costs for the month.

Q. How will I market my virtual law firm to online clients?  Do you provide marketing assistance?

A.  The primary way to market your services will be through Google, Yahoo and other search engines such as MSN.  You will need to make an investment in pay-per-click advertising programs. Selective offline advertising will also drive traffic to your web site.  If you have a physical presence/office, you will want to use the web site to attract clients who are within commuting distance of your law firm, as well as clients who live throughout your state. The Internet will increase the reach of your law firm.

For an additional fee, we will assist you with search engine optimization of your web site, as well as managing your pay-per-click advertising programs. We will make available to you the same technique and marketing technologies that we use in marketing our own direct-to-consumer legal forms web sites.

Q. How can I use my existing law practice to leverage my presence on the web and build my virtual law office?

A.  For law firms that have a physical office, a virtual law office can increase the firm's reach from your local community to serving clients throughout your state.  Existing clients can use the capabilities of the virtual law office platform as an alternative and in addition to face-to-face office meetings. Word of mouth from existing clients will result in the acquisition of new clients. Referral by word of mouth and personal recommendation is still the most powerful form of marketing.  Existing clients will spread the message that this is a law firm that understands how to use Internet technology to offer new pricing, service and delivery components and save their clients both time and money.  We believe that, ultimately, this will have a very powerful effect.

Q What is the term of the agreement with DirectLaw™? Can I get a refund?

A. The minimum term of our hosting agreement is one (1) year.  There are no refunds.  Since we do not charge a set-up fee or any other upfront fees/charges, we recover those costs during the term of your agreement.

Q. Is there a trial version of the DirectLaw™ Virtual Law Firm Service?

A.  Yes.  Please click on the Free Trial link at www.DirectLaw.com or click here.

Q.  Will DirectLaw™ staff have access to my client data?

A.  DirectLaw™ support staff will not access your law firm's data unless you specifically request that we access a client record due to technical issues. When we access your data under the terms of the Hosting Agreement, we are functioning as if we were your own law firm staff.  All client data within a Rapidocs® document is encrypted.

Q. What happens to client data if I do not renew the DirectLaw™ Virtual Law Firm Service?

A.  You can export "answer files" from any Rapidocs® template at any time and also download assembled documents to your local work station.  We are also able to download all of your client contact data and send it to you as an Excel spreadsheet or in MS Access database format, either by e-mail or on a CD.  You will always have access to your client data, whether you renew your agreement with DirectLaw™ or choose to terminate.

Q. Is it difficult to learn how to manage the DirectLaw™ Virtual Law Firm Service?

A. The Administrative Area for your virtual law firm is very easy to learn.  We provide telephone support, e-mail support and telephone training, plus we provide a DirectLaw™ User Guide for reference. Our own paralegal staff has been using a similar administrative interface for many years, so we know how easy it is to use.  If you need paralegal assistance, we will make our staff available as an outsourced resource to your law firm for an hourly rate. Thus, the entire process of managing, preparing and transmitting completed documents to clients can be outsourced to our experienced staff, or we can train your staff to handle these functions.