Expanding the Utility of The Law Firm WebSite-Creating Client Extranet Access
BY Stephan A. Roussan and Allison Manning.                                                                  TalkBack

Mr. Roussan and Ms. Manning are partners in Intercounsel, LLC, a New York company designing Internet solutions to meet the information and communication needs of the legal community. Intercounsel can be contacted by e-mail at info@intercounsel.com or on the web at www.intercounsel.com.

If you've read the legal press lately, you probably cannot help but notice the that the Internet is beginning to insinuate itself into every aspect of the legal profession. Among the many utilities the Internet offers, law firms, from small practices to the large, nation-wide and international legal institutions, have taken advantage of the opportunity to create accessible electronic offices by putting up firm websites.

To be frank, some of these sites are simply taking up space. They provide little, meaningful information, are not kept up-to-date, are poorly designed and accomplish little in to advance the firm's practice.

However, there is no doubt that a well-designed site with sharp presentation, fresh content such as articles, memos, and attorney profiles can be a productive and worthwhile marketing tool. But what about making the site do something useful for the firm's current practice? What about using the firm's presence on the Internet to keep your clients up-to-date on what you're doing for them?

Whether you are negotiating real estate deals, updating SEC filings or litigating a large and complex discrimination action, your client wants to be kept current about what is going on, how their matter is progressing and, often, what the costs will be. The successful practice of any law firm, regardless of size or location, depends on communicating with your clients, providing regular and up-to-date status reports. However, responding to a client's need to know what is going on, can often strain the firm's resources; time spent hand-holding a client is time away from handling the client's matter. The firm's website can be configured to meet this demand.

Typically, a firm website is maintained on a webserver under a recognizable domain name with access available to the public at large. For maximum exposure, the site is registered with legal search engines or linked to legal resource sites in order to promote the firm's services. However, from such a full access website, a webmaster can easily create a private area on the site for each client you service. That area, or subdirectory, can be readily accessed by the client through a web browser by typing in the web address of your firm, a slash, and the name of the private client area, best identified by a confidential code: www.yourfirm.com/client-code id. Since the information in this area is likely privileged and confidential, access should be protected by a unique username and password known only by the firm and client. This user name and password feature can be created and disseminated by the firm's webmaster to allow full access to the site for the authorized personnel of the client or can be controlled by the firm so that is created and distributed only on a need to know basis for a particular client for a particular project.

Giving client access to information in this fashion, through a web environment rather than directly through a firm's computer network or intranet, further ensures security because it prevents breach of the firm's internal security and firewalls and provides a complete layer of anonymity for clients.

Because the site will be used to communicate sensitive and potentially privileged information, send e-mail and provide direct document upload and download, it must be designed to incorporate an encryption system to protect data in transit.

After entering the coded address to the page, the client is prompted to supply the secure access name and password. Once the client enters the site, the range of information and features available can be as broad and varied as the services the firm provides to that client.

A document library can include contracts or briefs or regulatory filings, progressing from draft to final. Client comments or edits or, in the case of an affidavit, original documents can be transmitted or posted. In the case of a matter which may involve input from several sources within a client organization everyone is given the opportunity to review the material with the confidence that all the contributors are operating from the same page.

Documents for certain legal matters which are standard form, can be created dynamically on the site and, for certain legal services, the client information can be databased. This application is particularly useful when dealing with matters that are repetitive, such as real estate transactions or patent and trademark applications. SEC filings can be created by counsel, posted to the site for review, transmitted from the site to be filed and then posted to the client site for limited access by shareholders.

The client site can have a calendar feature which can be tailored to reflect filing deadlines, closing dates or briefing schedules for multiple matters to be monitored by clients, including corporate general counsel.

A message or bulletin board is useful if there are a number of individuals within the client organization or attorneys in the firm who need to provide input on a given matter but who may be located in different office locations. A message or e-mail feature can be set up which allows the client to send queries or feedback after reviewing information or documents directly from the browser window to a particular attorney. The direct e-mail feature in the site gives the client the opportunity to provide feedback which goes to a mailbox designated by the lawyer for just that purpose, allowing the lawyer to keep track of client contacts in an organized fashion.

Research material or relevant law and business articles or government regulatory updates can be posted. This information feed, tailored to the needs of particular client, can enhance the attorney-client relationship in areas the firm already services for the client and can lead to new client service opportunities.

For a demanding corporate client who insists on tight budgeting or detailed breakdown of fees and disbursements, the firms' billing files can be posted to the site for review by the client on a regular basis.

Of course as with any website, a critical assessment of its utility depends on whether the site is updated regularly. Assuming there is an ongoing need to keep in touch with clients, this means of Internet communication should not impose any additional burden on the firm. For a standard client site, once the particular features have been designed and installed, the maintenance is as simple as logging on and posting the information. This can be done by a lawyer or paralegal or secretary assigned to the matter. The library, the message center, the schedule are all updated immediately, by the firm or the client. The need for intervention by the webmaster should only arise if new features and new functions are to be introduced to the site.

The additional cost to the firm in hosting fees on the web server are minimal for the additional pages and functionality when compared to the other communication costs of phone or fax or postage. Indeed, the system allows for close contact and monitoring of affairs while maintaining scheduling flexibility, providing relief from the phone (the biggest time drain of them all), keeping the fax line free, reducing staff strain, lowering the FedEx bill, saving file space and even wasting less paper.

Best of all, your firm can market the fact that it offers this service to its clients. And the full use of this feature promotes client relations in a manner guaranteed to make your life easier.

About the Authors :
Allison Manning is partner in a New York City law firm and has been a litigator for 18 years. Stephan Roussan is the principal of a commercial web development company. They have formed a partnership, Intercounsel, LLC, which provides internet solutions meeting the unique needs of the legal and financial communities.

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