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Course Syllabus on Unbundled Legal Services
offered at
Solo Practice University
Faculty: Richard S. Granat
This course is about “Unbundled or Limited Legal Services,” a fast growing
development among law firms of all sizes, but particularly among solos and small
law firms. The terms “unbundled” and “limited” will be used interchangeably.
By the end of this course, each participant will have developed a design for
an “unbundled legal service” that can be incorporated into their law practice. I
will use as a case study throughout the course, my own
Maryland-based virtual law firm that offers “unbundled legal services” to
pro se parties in family law matters over the Internet. I run this virtual law
firm from my home in Florida where I actually live, so this should be an
interesting model to examine.
Instructional Methods
This course will have a beginning and an end, with the final product
evaluation of student designs of an “unbundled legal service” and evaluation of
a new “unbundled legal service” that I will develop during the course period and
launch and deliver through my own virtual family law firm by the end of the
course.
New materials will be posted on the course blog every two weeks following the
outline of topics in the syllabus. Each unit will take place over a two week
period, and the last two sessions will be scheduled a week apart, so it is
possible to complete the entire course within a quarter or by August 31,
2009. (See Schedule). I plan to use PowerPoint presentations, with an audio or
video track, supported by discussions in the Course Group. I may experiment,
with a real-time live Webinar, which will provide for voice interaction among
the participants and myself. You will have plenty of notice of any live
Webinars, and if you miss it, they will be recorded and archived for future
playback.
Session 1 - Introduction
- What are “Unbundled Legal Services”?
- The History of Unbundled Legal Services
- Why all the current interest in alternative ways of delivery legal
services?
- What do consumers want from their lawyers? Not what you think!
- The economic impact of offering Unbundled Legal Services on clients and
their lawyers.
Session 2: Design Methods
- Introduction to service delivery design concepts.
- Breaking down legal services into discrete tasks.
- Unbundling by Issue.
- On-line services or off-line (in-office) services.
- The power of on-line unbundled legal services.
- Limits of Unbundled Legal Services.
- Examples from a Family Law Practice
Session 3: Tools and Applications for Delivering Limited Legal
Services.
- Child Support and other
Calculators
- Web-enabled document
automation
- Legal Information
- Web Advisors
Session 4 and Session 5: Ethical and Regulatory Issues in
Delivering Unbundled Legal Services- On-Line and Off-Line.
- State rules.
- Limited Retainer Agreements.
- Client “Best Practices.”
- Malpractice insurance
Session 6: Developing a “Product” or “Service” strategy for a solo or
small law firm.
- What is your “niche?”
- How do you productize a service.
- Earning legal fees while you are sleeping.
- Web-enabled legal services.
Session 7: Examples of “Unbundled Legal Services”
- Document Creation
- Negotiation Assistance
- Court Coaching in Family Law and Other Matters
- Legal Research and Legal Advice
Session 7: On-Line Unbundled Legal Services
- Why on-line legal services?
- Differences between on-line and offline “unbundled” legal services.
- What are the consumer benefits?
- What are the basic requirements for success?
- Web site requirements. Site optimization.
- Secure client space.
- Limited Retainer Agreement.
- Credit card payment processing.
- Web site marketing.
- Case Study of an on-line Family Law Practice: Putting it all together.
Session 8: Final Session. (Live Webinar - date to be
announced).
- Evaluation of instructor’s launch of new limited legal services with a
virtual Family Law Practice.
- Wrap-Up: Questions and Answers
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