New draft standards for practicing law online were recently issued by the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section’s eLawyering Task Force. The draft is entitled Suggested Minimum Requirements for Law Firms Delivering Legal Services Online.
The draft standards address the following issues:
- Legal ethics, with particular emphasis on unauthorized practice of law, advertising/marketing rules, and clients’ confidential information;
- “Web Site Architecture”;
- Disclaimers;
- “Terms and Conditions Statement[s]“;
- Retainer agreements;
- “On-Line Payment of Legal Fees”; and
- “Protecting Client Confidences.”
When completed, the standards will include forms for retainer agreements and disclaimers.
The draft standards build upon the ABA Best Practice Guidelines for Legal Information Web Site Providers (2003).
The task force invites ABA members to join the task force’s listserv. The task force also welcomes comments on the draft standards from ABA members, who may send comments to the task force via the listserv, or by contacting task force members here.
For more information, please see the draft standards and the task force’s Website.
HT @rgranat.
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