What Makes a Firm Virtual? By Katrina Dewey The core concept of a virtual firm is a flattening of the traditional model through tools of technology and a philosophy of sharing, rather than joining by hierarchy and physical space. The result yields more autonomous practitioners as well as dramatically reduced overhead. "Virtual" law firms have been written about for the past 10 years and encompass numerous types of organizations. Any lawyer who practices from home can call him or herself a virtual practitioner. Increasingly, virtual seems to be the new branding, so don't take your "virtual" lawyer at face value. Here are a few of the most notable or longest standing: Virtual Law Partners. Virtuallawpartners.com. The biggest true law firm to be established to date, it has 18 partners who practice with no one but VLP. It has no offices and can be found at virtuallawpartners.com. Initially, it is strictly transactional but envisions adding litigation services some day. VLP is paid by the client and returns up to 85 percent to the attorney. Vantage Counsel. Vantagecounsel.com. Based in Hawaii, it was founded in 2004 by Greg Kim, the #2 corporate partner at Goodsill Anderson. It now has seven attorneys and a small administrative office. In four years, Kim has more than doubled his compensation and found greater satisfaction. XDL Group. Xdlgroup.com. Lawyers from firms in Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and New York join together under the XDL group to brand and operate a virtual firm that emphasizes intellectual property work. Delta Law Group or 1-2-3- Law Group. Makinglaweasy.com. Touted as Pittsburgh's first online law firm, it is a web portal created by a team of lawyers, entrepreneurs and web technologists to connect clients with lawyers. The lawyers maintain their own practices and the 'firm' operates as a referral service. Temporary attorney firms, which are often labeled virtual: Axiom Global. Axiomlaw.com. A high-end temporary legal help agency, Axiom is another entrepreneurial venture that has found a niche placing attorneys in-house at some of the nation's top corporations. It has approximately 220 lawyers 'on staff.' Axiom is paid by the client, from which it pays the attorney a salary. It generated revenues of $39 million last year. Lexolution. Lexolution.net. This is a top-end contract attorney firm where the attorneys are employees, but the 'firm' offers much cheaper rates for routine level work than a traditional firm because it minimizes overhead. Founded seven years ago, it is now a $40 million a year enterprise supplementing the legal services of many of the nation's most elite traditional law firms. Outside GC LLP. Outsidegc.com. Based in Boston, it offers the services of senior legal executives to corporations to serve as general counsel, for companies without in-house staff, or as overflow attorneys. Phillips & Reiter. Outsourcegc.com. Based in Houston, it offers senior legal executives to supplement in-house counsel. Through a joint venture with Warner Law Firm, thewarnerlaw.com, it also offers supplementary services focused on minority counsel. About the author: Katrina Dewey is the CEO and Publisher of Lawdragon, Inc. Email: katrina@lawdragon.com. Page: 1 of 1 pages for this article
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