Solo Practitioners, Technology

Today's Tech: A Silicon Valley Solo's Mobile Law Office

Are you interested in starting a truly mobile law firm? This solo practitioner has some advice for you to follow.

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These days, many lawyers have mobile aspects to their law practices. That’s because mobile technologies are becoming increasingly abundant and affordable. And the benefits of being able to run your law practice from any Internet-enabled device are undeniable. With today’s mobile tools and cloud computing software, lawyers have a newfound flexibility and can conveniently access law firm data while on the road. This means that the mobile law office — something that was once an unrealistic concept — is not only possible, it’s a cost-effective option that allows lawyers to provide better, more responsive legal representation to their clients.

Of course, different lawyers implement the concept of a mobile office in different ways. But most don’t go quite as far as Andy Chen, a California solo practitioner. Andy uses many different technologies in his law practice with the end goal of making it a truly mobile law firm.

Andy has two offices: one in Modesto, California and another in San Jose. The two offices are nearly 80 miles apart, so he’s taken great pains to ensure that he’s able to practice law from any location, whether it’s his car, a courthouse, his home, or one of his offices.

According to Andy, technology is what makes his dual-city practice possible: “Because I’m a solo lawyer with two offices, I need to use technology to create a seamless experience for my clients. So out of necessity I make up for the gaps with technology. I rely on Dropbox to store documents. I also have a unique phone system setup that is designed to streamline my ability to communicate with my clients no matter where I am.”

After researching all of his options, Andy decided to go with Google Voice for his practice. “I looked into many different phone systems including 8×8 and RingCentral. Ultimately I settled on Google Voice and the OBI200 VOIP adapter. The OBI200 is a little box that costs about $45 and if you buy more than one of those you can have your Google Voice number ring in multiple offices. I have one in my office in San Jose, one in my house in San Jose, and one in my office in Modesto,” he explains. “The other benefit is that it allows you to have multiple Google Voice numbers connected to it. Using these together, I now have a simultaneous ring system set up so that when you call one number, it rings in San Jose and Modesto. So theoretically I never miss a call.”

He also relies heavily on different types of scanners to keep his office mobile. “I have a Fujitsu ScanSnap in my San Jose office, a slightly cheaper scanner in Modesto, and I carry a Brother DS-620 portable scanner in my car. It fits in a briefcase or a laptop bag so if I’m going to a client’s house or to court I can bring my laptop and scanner and scan documents right there,” he says. “That way the client doesn’t have to give anything to me permanently. One benefit of that is that I can scan documents while I’m out and about. I can also fax documents since my fax service is electronic, too. And if I’m unable to locate accessible wifi, I have a mifi hotspot as my backup.”

Even though he relies heavily on scanning technology, his office isn’t 100% paperless: “I don’t have a paperless office. For most matters, paperless isn’t a priority, but for certain document-intensive cases, the file would be enormous if I printed everything out. So I tend to scan those files. But for financial data and documents like that I prefer to have them in paper form so I can flip through them and write on them, add post-it notes, and other types of annotations.”

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According to Andy, having a mobile law practice benefits both him and his clients: “Speed is a big part of it, as is the ease of use for my clients. My clients are typically average working class people and it’s often easier for them to get things done without all the pomp and circumstance. So they appreciate not having to take time off work to meet with me to just to sign documents. Instead they sign and email them to me at their convenience.”

Andy has two pieces of advice for lawyers seeking to more technology into their law practices. “First lawyers need to shop more intelligently for technology.  For example, instead of simply buying a mobile printer, give it some thought. Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy a small regular printer and then when you need to print out documents while on the road, locate a FedEx office and use their facilities. Second, technology has a lot of benefits so don’t be afraid to use it; but also realize it’s not a panacea for everything. Instead of trying to adopt technology in a blanket fashion, incorporate it selectively into your law firm rather than blindly.”

So that’s how one lawyer uses technology to create a mobile law practice. As always, if you or an attorney you know is using technology in a creative or unusual way in your law firm, drop me an email at niki.black@mycase.com. I’m always looking for new attorneys — or judges — to feature in this column.

Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase, web-based law practice management software. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikiblack and she can be reached atniki.black@mycase.com.

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