Stephanie L. Kimbro

Stephanie operates a web-based Virtual Law Office (VLO) in North Carolina and will teach about all aspects of a virtual law practice in the 21st century at Solo Practice University™.

Stephanie Kimbro, Esq., MA, JD, has operated a Web-based virtual law office in North Carolina since 2006 and delivers estate planning and small-business law to clients online. She is the recipient of the 2009 ABA Keane Award for Excellence in eLawyering and the author of Virtual Law Practice: How to Deliver Legal Services Online (ABA/LPM Publishing 2010). She is also the co-founder of Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC (VLOTech), which was acquired by Total Attorneys in the fall of 2009.

In addition to operating her own solo virtual law practice, Kimbro writes about the ethics and technology issues of delivering legal services online and is interested in the use of technology by legal professionals to increase access to justice in our country.  She has presented educational sessions on virtual law practice for the ABA, the North Carolina and South Carolina Bar Associations, Campbell Law School and other organizations.  Kimbro also teaches a course on virtual law practice as a faculty member of Solo Practice University, a Web-based legal education community.

Kimbro serves on the board of the Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP) and is a member of the ABA eLawyering Task Force, the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Law Practice Management (LPM) Council, the NCBA Tech Advisory Committee and the NCBA YLD Internet Committee. She lives in Wimington, NC, near the coast, with her husband and two children.

Syllabus

General Course Goal

At the end of this course, my goal is for the students to have the resources that they need to open a virtual law office and to operate that virtual practice with strong ethical and professional standards to provide quality online legal services to the public.

Outline of Course (order may be changed depending on feedback from the students or some topics may be divided into two parts)

What is a Virtual Law Office?

  • Discussion from other Virtual Attorneys operating VLOs
  • A brief history of virtual law practice
  • Where we are today

Understanding the Technology to Run a VLO

  • Secure HTTP
  • SSL Certificates
  • Encryption
  • Best Practices

Complying with your State Bar

  • Ethics and Professional Rules of Conduct regarding Websites/Advertising/Collection of Data/Online Payments, etc. and how to interpret those rules into a virtual law practice.
  • A look at some State Bars’ opinion specifically addressing virtual law practice and the different compliance issues

Remote Lawyering with a VLO

  • Mobile Device Options and Secure Practices

Secure Practices with a VLO

  • Encryption
  • Internet Security
  • How to stay safe when you have to use email
  • Metadata

Electronic Discovery and the VLO

Creating the Attorney Client Relationship with a VLO

  • Clickwrap Agreements

Defining the Scope of Representation

  • Engagement and Disengagement Notices

Virtual Law Office Management

  • Hiring a VA for your VLO
  • Using other software programs with your VLO
  • Adding a VLO to a traditional law office

Online VLO Payments

  • PCI Compliance
  • PayPal vs. Other Credit Card Processing Companies
  • General and Trust Accounting Issues

Marketing Best Practices for a VLO

Alternative Billing Methods and the VLO

The Future of Virtual Law Practice