Online Legal Services - Is The Time Now?
I've been looking at how firms can offer something to sell to visitors to their websites.
After all, why not make money 24/7 right?
One thing that you can do is offer "backsourced" products such as Wills, where the client fills in the details and you check it over. It's how most of the car insurance industry now works.
(For an example of who does use it in the legal world visit www.Nelsonsonline.co.uk
Personally, online legal services are right for me as a consumer and I think there is a big market for them.
And I asked Tim Bishop, (who runs the Salisbury Solicitors firm Bonallack and Bishop) his views on the matter. (Tim's website is worth checking out - he know's where he's headed).
These are Tim's thoughts on online legal services
What do you think about online legal services Tim?
"I suspect it's likely that this method of delivering some legal services will become increasingly popular. However it's early days. I'm a great believer in not adopting a radical new method first I prefer to wait and see and let others go through the expense, the pain and the learning curve -- and if it looks like a winner then I'll happily come on board at the forefront of the second wave, learning from others' mistakes."
Do you see it happening soon?
"If this method of delivering legal services does take off -- I suspect it won't be tomorrow but the day after tomorrow. Law firms are a conservative market."
What mistakes do you envisage people making?
"I've spoken to at least one firm who just started taking this route -- I'm not sure that they have even the basic pricing right however. If I recall correctly they were doing wills the traditional way for about £95 pounds and online wills, with very little input from lawyers, for about £85 ."
" I don't see many clients choosing to go down the technological route, at their own risk when for another £10 they could get a lawyer to take the risk and do all the hard work. In my view to make this offer attractive, there clearly has to be a much bigger differential. But the problem for this particular firm I think is that they are significantly undercharging for wills in the first place."
What are the important things to consider?
"If the market is not ready for mass adoption of these sorts of services -- all we are doing in the short-term is cannibalizing our own market. I appreciate the risk is that non-lawyers to come into the market.
Here however I think is the crux of the matter. It is not so much delivery of service but control of the source of work. If solicitors can control the source work than they can, to a certain extent, control the rate of change in service delivery. Equally if the likes of, say Which, take control over the source of work for wills, that will allow them to start controlling the means of delivery.
How are you preparing for the future at Bonallack and Bishop?
"The central plank of my personal role [I no longer run legal cases] is finding ways of controlling the sources of work -- We will continue to deliver wills for the time being locally and in the traditional manner -- in fact we're coming up with various initiatives to significantly increase the number of wills we are doing and therefore getting people onto our private client database -- a critical move." "The other issue is that I'm personally concerned about commoditized services -- where profit margins will be driven down and down again and the only way eventually of delivering them will be on a massive scale -- simply beyond most small and medium firms of solicitors -- more suited to the likes of Which or large insurance companies. My target is therefore the niche areas of law which are more specialized and labour-intensive where we are, as solicitors, much more likely to be safer from the likes of Which etc, and where we are likely to be able to continue charging a premium in at least the medium term."
Thank you to Tim for sharing his thoughts.
Tim's words about getting local people on to their client database is very
interesting. This is where online "backsourced" wills and working with
joint venture partners, such as schools, charities and media owners locally can be combined.
Are you looking at online legal services as a way
to capitalise on your website?
Let me know what plans you have or why you won't be doing it any time soon...
I've been looking at how firms can offer something to sell to visitors to their websites.
After all, why not make money 24/7 right?
One thing that you can do is offer "backsourced" products such as Wills, where the client fills in the details and you check it over. It's how most of the car insurance industry now works.
(For an example of who does use it in the legal world visit www.Nelsonsonline.co.uk
Personally, online legal services are right for me as a consumer and I think there is a big market for them.
And I asked Tim Bishop, (who runs the Salisbury Solicitors firm Bonallack and Bishop) his views on the matter. (Tim's website is worth checking out - he know's where he's headed).
These are Tim's thoughts on online legal services
What do you think about online legal services Tim?
"I suspect it's likely that this method of delivering some legal services will become increasingly popular. However it's early days. I'm a great believer in not adopting a radical new method first I prefer to wait and see and let others go through the expense, the pain and the learning curve -- and if it looks like a winner then I'll happily come on board at the forefront of the second wave, learning from others' mistakes."
Do you see it happening soon?"If this method of delivering legal services does take off -- I suspect it won't be tomorrow but the day after tomorrow. Law firms are a conservative market."
What mistakes do you envisage people making?
"I've spoken to at least one firm who just started taking this route -- I'm not sure that they have even the basic pricing right however. If I recall correctly they were doing wills the traditional way for about £95 pounds and online wills, with very little input from lawyers, for about £85 ."
" I don't see many clients choosing to go down the technological route, at their own risk when for another £10 they could get a lawyer to take the risk and do all the hard work. In my view to make this offer attractive, there clearly has to be a much bigger differential. But the problem for this particular firm I think is that they are significantly undercharging for wills in the first place."
What are the important things to consider?
"If the market is not ready for mass adoption of these sorts of services -- all we are doing in the short-term is cannibalizing our own market. I appreciate the risk is that non-lawyers to come into the market.
Here however I think is the crux of the matter. It is not so much delivery of service but control of the source of work. If solicitors can control the source work than they can, to a certain extent, control the rate of change in service delivery. Equally if the likes of, say Which, take control over the source of work for wills, that will allow them to start controlling the means of delivery.
How are you preparing for the future at Bonallack and Bishop?
"The central plank of my personal role [I no longer run legal cases] is finding ways of controlling the sources of work -- We will continue to deliver wills for the time being locally and in the traditional manner -- in fact we're coming up with various initiatives to significantly increase the number of wills we are doing and therefore getting people onto our private client database -- a critical move."
"The other issue is that I'm personally concerned about commoditized services -- where profit margins will be driven down and down again and the only way eventually of delivering them will be on a massive scale -- simply beyond most small and medium firms of solicitors -- more suited to the likes of Which or large insurance companies. My target is therefore the niche areas of law which are more specialized and labour-intensive where we are, as solicitors, much more likely to be safer from the likes of Which etc, and where we are likely to be able to continue charging a premium in at least the medium term."
Thank you to Tim for sharing his thoughts.Tim's words about getting local people on to their client database is very
interesting. This is where online "backsourced" wills and working with
joint venture partners, such as schools, charities and media owners locally can be combined.
Are you looking at online legal services as a way
to capitalise on your website?
Let me know what plans you have or why you won't be doing it any time soon...
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