KNOW, the Magazine for Paralegals Summer 2014 | Page 29

Virtual Paralegals
Are law firms ready?

The practice of law has been taking on a new shape in terms of why
clients will hire a law firm. The biggest influence on this change?
LegalZoom.
Clients no longer have to meet with an attorney face-to-face and
many legal problems can now be resolved with a do it yourself package, downloaded from the internet. With the public being used to
finding legal services online and the recession causing many new law
school graduates to be unable to find work, the virtual
legal practice was born.
The beginnings of virtual law paralegals also began in the early 2000’s
when law firms tentatively embraced telecommuting. A paralegal
could work 2 days at home via computer but had to be in the office x
amount of days per week. Today, not only are virtual law firms popping up all over the country, but many paralegals are also taking
their practice to the virtual world.

29