A virtual law firm By Daniel Bulusson – TheNigerialawyer

As I sat on my hospital bed, staring at my laptop and
contemplating which of the topics in my mind I should write on,
then it hit the possibility of being temporarily indisposed and
still able to write an article for our readers due to technology,
and they would not know the condition of the writer when the
article was written.

This situation made me remember how this column started, without
any physical contact with the then editor of the law section, and
management of Media Trust. We had come to an arrangement on how to
produce legal content to attract more readership for the law
section, starting from “Young Lawyers Column”, even the decision to
change to “The Advocate” was made without parties physically
meeting. Every correspondence was made via email and calls, and yet
we provided result to the satisfaction of our readers with the help
of technology.

In the legal profession, with the coming of smart phones and
information communication technology, every partner of a law firm
does not necessarily need to come to the office physically every
day for the firm to effectively deliver on its services to clients.
If a firm has the employ of one or two support staff, then they are
the only staff mandated to come to work daily from 08:00am to
05:00pm.

According to Wikipedia, “A virtual law firm is a legal practice
that does not have a bricks-and-mortar office, but operates from
the homes or satellite offices of its lawyers, usually delivering
services to clients at a distance using technological means of
communication.” In simple terms, different lawyers can have a
contact point from which they provide legal service to clients
either from home, or wherever distance must have placed them.

The American Bar Association in Virtual Law Basics defines
virtual law firm as “A professional law practice that exists online
through a secure portal and is accessible to both the client and
the lawyers anywhere the parties may access internet.”

What this means is that lawyers use technological advancement to
service clients’ needs without having an office space, but then,
due to the traditional practice of law in Nigeria, and the fact
that we are yet to transform all activities to digital, our genre
of virtual law firm would be having an office address with a
computer literate person as a secretary to operate the affairs of
the firm and provide a contact place to effectively serve
clients.

The secretary will be responsible for receiving and dispatching
correspondence, schedule appointment for partners (lawyers in
chamber), setting cause list for matters in court, sending
reminders to partners and the office email, that way, everyone can
be engaged elsewhere and still be fully aware of the activities of
the firm.

Nigerian clients are not yet used to communicating with their
lawyers through internet, especially with the fear of being duped
by yahoo boys. So when they want a lawyer they prefer to visit an
office to communicate with a lawyer directly. Likewise service of
correspondence and court process is yet to be fully digital, so an
office space is needed to attend to this essential aspect of legal
service delivery.

However, in a virtual law firm lawyers need not come to office
on a daily basis to offer their service, as long as the firm has a
universal email that everyone is logged to, communication can be
seamless. This provides an easy mode for lawyers to come together
to form a partnership and practice law at the comfort of their
homes without having to carry the burden of the profession alone,
and also improving legal service delivery in the country.

Someone may ask, “How can this work?” Partners can make monthly
contribution for the upkeep and running of the firm like payment of
salary and monthly utility bills to keep the office going, thus,
when a lawyer has an appointment with a client, he has an office
environment to attend to the client, and at the same time, as long
as the secretary is always in the office, this does away with the
presence of any partner, except for research purposes and the
likes.

A virtual law firm is not without its disadvantages, most
especially the fact that it is still alien to our practice of law,
but then when one considers all the elements of legal practice and
operating a successful law firm, this new generation lawyers would
discover it can be done, for the betterment of both our practice
and the legal profession. Godspeed!

Do send your comment(s), observation(s) and recommendation(s) to
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