Elawyering and Virtual Law Offices - They're Not Rocket Science

As the legal profession is getting buffeted by a confluence of events such as the burgeoning online legal services industry, the recession, software, client's revolt against the billable hour, and the entry of tens of thousands of new attorneys every year, it is hard to be optimistic if you are an attorney. Today, thousands of the sharpest attorneys in California, from the best law schools in America, have been laid off and cannot find work. Similar trends are also seen throughout every state bar association in the USA. Unfortunately, this trend is just starting. A few years from now, 2010 will seem like the good old days.

However, there is one opportunity available for most attorneys that shows promise. Some call it Elawyering, others call it virtual law offices or VLO's. The reason why this industry shows promise is because it is the only segment that is showing strong growth in the midst of rapidly deteriorating legal market segments elsewhere.

Up until a year ago, the legal services profession comprised about 1% of the US GDP, or around $235 Billion per year. Of that total, it is estimated that some $15 Billion is coming from the explosive growth of legal online service corporations that offer various legal documents and attendant services online.

What is Elawyering? Well, most other so-called experts will have to explain it or define it with a 50 page white paper. And most of these people will make it sound like you need an LLM to fully understand how it works. But the bottom line is that Elawyering is basically taking your practice online. That's it.

I once had a golf instructor rhetorically ask me how to hit a drive, a pitch and a chip on the golf course. I gave him three separate answers. The golf instructor shook his head and said that each shot is basically the same. The only real fundamental difference is the length of the swing (yes, there's more to it than that, but there is a lot of wisdom in this teaching). This advice holds true for the practice of Elawyering. Although the name is mysterious in exotic, there is virtually no difference between Elawyering and lawyering through a brick and mortar in a downtown office.

So as you do your research on how to get into the Elawyering market, just remember that it is really no different from how you are practicing law now, at least not fundamentally.