Unlike many solicitors, I have run my legal business online for the past eight or so years. In November 2001 my LandlordLaw site was launched and I have been running it successfully every since.
During that time there have been many ups and downs, and I have tried various new initiatives with varying degrees of success. However the basic model of an online subscription information service worked from day one, and I now earn the largest proportion of my income from members subscriptions.
As I am a bit of a trailblazer in the way I work, I am interested generally in the provision of legal services online, and indeed the general development of the legal profession.
Also as a solicitor of over 20 years I believe that solicitors are the best people to provide legal services. After all we have all had to pass extensive examinations in law before being allowed to practice at all, we have to do continuing education every year and provide professional indemnity service as a condition of being allowed to continue in practice, and we operate under a strict code of conduct which includes strong ethical standards.
In this new 21st century things are changing. The internet is with us and all businesses must take account of it to survive. And now web-sites alone are not enough. We are in the era of web 2 with blogs, social networking sites and who knows what else? Openness is all the range.
Solicitors do not fit easily in this new scheme of things as our instinct and training is towards confidentiality and discretion. Also as we charge for our time, not widgets, the prospect of giving away legal advice and information for free is rather a scary one. The prospect of others giving away legal information for free is even more scary as it threatens our very existence.
Good thought provoking stuff. I suspect that we are still only in the very early stages of the development of the Web as both a service delivery and marketing tool for solicitors firms. Whilst the current position is exciting, and full of possibilities for the go-ahead firms, I suspect that the real shift may come when we move towards the regular use of videoconferencing online. When it comes — and my more technologically savvy friends tells me it’s only a few years away, the need to appoint a local solicitor will decline even further and the firms who profit will be the ones who control the sources of work. Only enough I have yet to see another solicitor or legal marketing expert discuss this. Perhaps this isn’t surprising, given that most solicitors look to the past rather than the future when considering business development.