From what one reads these days, a “virtual law firm” is at the same time both a groundbreaking new paradigm and merely an extension of the telecommuting trend that started 15 years ago. To some degree, both the champions and the naysayers are right. In some ways a virtual law practice is novel and new and in others it is traditional to its core.
To begin with, what is a virtual law firm? While there is no universal definition, most people think of a virtual law firm as a firm that operates without a traditional, physical office space shared by all the firm’s members. Large firms have existed with remote offices for a long time, but only very recently have firms adopted a model where all or a majority of the firm’s attorneys do not share office space, and collaborate by means of computer technology. Many see this work paradigm as providing an improved practice of law for both lawyer and client.
