e-Law — Meeting No.
12
I. Background
- Current structure of
"the legal profession(s)"
- Lawyers not in private
practice (government, corporate law departments, other)
- Lawyers in private
practice
- Practicing alone (solo)
- Practicing in small
firms (more than 10, more than 100 lawyers)
- Serving the needs
of individuals, families, and small businesses
- Serving the needs
of large business entities
- Specialist / generalist
- Partner / associate
/ contract worker
- Not evenly distributed
across the U.S.
- Regulated by the states
(mostly)
- Federal law with federal
agencies?
- Some general propositions
about that regulation
- Only lawyers licensed
by a state can render legal services for clients located in that state
- Furnishing legal information
is not the practice of law, but giving legal advice is
- Furnishing forms is
not the practice of law, but helping in the selection and filling out of forms
is
- Representing oneself
is not the unauthorized practice of law
II. Shifts in who does legal
work and how
- Large firms and small
- Collaboration and information
sharing tools
- Linking members and
groups within the firm (intranets)
- Linking lawyers to
clients and other firms (extranets)
- Sharing expertise and
work (without a firm structure)
- Referrals
- Lists and other forms
of information and expertise sharing
- Virtual law firms
- "Knowledge Management"
- Document production
systems
- Document review
- Other?
II. Shifts in how lawyers
market and deliver their services
- Marketing to present
and potential clients
- Web
sites
- Blogs
- Newsletters
- When does a lawyer-client
relationship arise? See generally Catherine J. Lanctot, Attorney-Client
Relationships in Cyberspace: The Peril and the Promise, 49 Duke L.J.
147 (1999)
- Small firms with a regional
or national presence
- Delivering legal services
online
- Unauthorized practice
of law (in jurisdictions where not licensed to practice)?
- See Birbrower,
Montalbano, Condon & Frank v. Superior Court, 17 Cal. 4th 119, 949 P.2d
1 (1998).
- www.myinjuryclaim.com
(see Mallen & Assocs. v. MYINJURYCLAIM.COM Corp., 329 Ill. App.
3d 953, 769 N.E.2d 74 (2002))
III. Shifts in demand for
lawyers' services
- Setting up a business
entity and other legal services for small businesses
- Diverse individual and
family legal transactions
- Self-representation
(education)
- Under what circumstances
does assistance, guidance, or document completion furnished via a Web site
or software constitute the unauthorized practice of law?
- Compare Office
of Disciplinary Counsel v. Palmer, 115 Ohio Misc. 2d 70, 761 N.E.2d
717 (Bd. of Commissioners on Unauthorized Practice of Law 2001) with Unauthorized
Practice of Law Commt. v. Parsons Technology, Inc., 1999 U.S. Dist.
LEXIS 813 (N.D. Tex. 1999), vacated on unrelated grounds, 179 F.3d 956 (5th
Cir. 1999).
IV. Wrapping up
- Assigned readings:
ODR - Katsh, Moeves & Moeves
- Submission: Abstract
of your paper plus one question or issue to which you would appreciate response