Rebecca+Rose+Lutonsky

Rebecca Rose Lutonsky’s Homework Assignment 1 Advantages Disadvantages __Definitions for Virtual Law Practice:__ Virtual Law Practice - a professional law practice that exists online through a secure portal and is accessible to the client and the attorney anywhere the parties may access the Internet. [] A virtual law practice is a group of lawyers with diverse expertise that are banded together through technological means to provide a suite of services to its clients. [] A virtual law practice is “virtual law offices can be completely web-based. . . or they can be. . . integrated into a traditional law office to expand the client base and provide the online services as an amenity to existing clients who will also visit with the attorneys in person.” http://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/gp_solo_magazine_home/gp_solo_magazine_index/virtuallawpractice.html __Definitions for Digital Law Practice:__
 * 1) Can be very cheap start up costs (domain $8, hosting $10) when compared to other business such as owning a shop, for example a pizza takeaway has to buy ovens, ingredients etc.
 * 2) You can run your business from anywhere
 * 3) Low overheads (hosting and maybe staff costs)
 * 4) The Internet is still an open market, lots of opportunities for new business models exist.
 * 5) If you get it right you can have super fast growth. For example Youtube was only started in Feb 2005 and was sold for $1.65 billion in October 2006. It only took them 21 months to grow to be worth 1.65 billion which is amazing.
 * 1) Low barriers to entry which means that it is easy for someone to set up a website and compete with you.
 * 2) Business models can easily be copied, look at YouTube and how many copies of their site exist.
 * 3) Can take a bit of time to train yourself on all of the web skills.
 * 4) You can spend a lot of your time dealing with spam emails and sales people telephoning you trying to sell you directory listings.
 * 5) Internet security issues.

Definitions for Elawyering: eLawyering - This term was coined several years ago when the concept of online legal services was in its infancy. The term means the practice of law online and includes everything from form-generated documents for sale and purchase to emailing your clients from unencrypted “contact us” forms on attorney websites. The ABA has an Elawyering Taskforce that covers these issues and appears to be attempting to broaden their concept of virtual law practice. [] eLawyering – A law firm that delivers legal services online. The eLawyering Task Force of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association has released a statement on minimum requirements for law firms delivering legal service online. The guidelines equate the concept of “eLawyering” with the virtual practice of law and the concept of the virtual law firm. According to the American Bar Association guidelines, eLawyering or virtual law practice refers specifically to the delivery of legal services online through a section of a law firm's web site that is a known as a secure “client portal.” The purpose of the eLawyering Task Force minimum requirements is to provide guidance to attorneys who wish to deliver legal services online on how to comply with the professional rules of conduct that govern law practice in each state. [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elawyering#United_States] eLawyering - The term elawyering or e-lawyering (sometimes stylized eLawyering) is a neologism used to refer to the practice of law over the Internet, in a way more expansive than a mere legal related internet advertisement for a service, lawyer, or law firm. []