Online Legal Services : DirectLaw : Document Automation, Web-Enabled Document Assembly, Virtual Lawyering

The eLawyering Task Force of the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association has its quarterly meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The group discussed projects that are underway including: developing guidelines for malpractice carriers, adding content to the eLawyering part of the LPM/ABA web site; the development of a webinar on eLawyering concepts that would be delivered as a CLE program through the ABA, and the development of a model curriculum unit that could be used in Law Schools on delivering legal services on-line, as part of a law practice management course.

A submission date of December 1, 2008 was set for acceptance of applications from law firms for the James Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering, for next year's award. The Award is given annually at the ABA LEGALTECHSHOW  in Chicago, which this year is scheduled for April, 2009. Last year's award was won by the law firm of Cowell Taradash, P.C. for their website at IllinoisDivorce.com

The next meeting of Task Force is on October 16-18, 2008  during LPM Section Fall Meeting at
The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa - Tucson, Arizona. Lawyers interested in virtual lawyering are welcome to attend. The meeting is an open meeting, and the Task Force is recruiting new volunteers who want to work on these issues.

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The James E. Keane Memorai Award in Excellence in eLawyering has been award to the Illinois law firm of Cowell Taradash, P.C. for their web site IllinoisDivorce.com. This law firm offers a web-enabled document automation solution that enables pro-se litigants to generate their own divorce documents for $185.00. Wes Cowell, the Managing Partner, reports that that this service, together with an enhanced service where an attorney accompanys the client to a short hearing, which is priced at $500.00, generates about $100,000 in revenue for the firm. More importantly, this feature creates demand for a more full-service approach, as pro se litigants realize that sometimes their divorce is too complicated for a self-help approach. This demand generation feature has resulted in generating revenues in the 7 figure range for the firm that. The Guidelines for the James Keane Memorial Award in Excellence in eLawyering Award can be downloaded from the ABA Law Practice Management web site.

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