Irl vs virtual legal help

[Carl Mintern]

Im looking to build a relationship with a Soliciter/lawyer (no idea what the difference is if any) to handle drawing up contracts between directors, look at business purchases, possibly help with conveyancing in the future and who knows what other business related paperwork going forward.

I have never utilised legal experts before so am starting from ground zero in terms of knowledge; forgive me if I ask a question that appears stupid to you, or incorrectly use terminology.

I have a ton of questions, the first of which is can I expect to find a one stop shop for all my legal needs?

The second, and most important question to me right now is, what should I consider when selecting wether to go with a real life person I can sit across the table from, or someone I communicate through the Internet with?
An Extention of this question is are there cost implications of irl vs virtual legal?

At the moment, I use a local (ish) accountant that I can meet up with every couple of months, obviously a local bank account manager, and have recently switched to a local insurance company to handle all our various insurances etc, so obviously my initial feeling is that I value a personal service, however, personal doesn't have to mean in person.

I'm particularly interested to hear from people that pay for, rather than charge for, these services.

 

[Newchodge]

A solicitor is a lawyer. A barrister is also a lawyer, so there is a difference. You want a legal advisor who will probably be a solicitor. You may be able to find a one stop shop, depending on what you need: you have described a basic commercial lawyer, you may also need an employment expert as well, later down the line - the two are not necessarily the same.

On line or real person? I think that is down to your personal preference, but you definitely want an individual dealing with your business, not a generic online responder, the identity of which could change each time you contact them. You need to be able to build a relationship with an individual.

Cost will be down to the company with whom you contract - a big name company with a local office will probably cost more than a local partnership, and probably more than an internet provider.

You need to clarify what you want from your legal advisor, and how often and then start looking for quotes. Personally, I think it is vital that you find someone with whom you can have the classic ' I don't understand what you are talking about' conversation. Even the best occasionally drift into jargon and will baffle you with it. That of itself is not a problem, provided you can tell them to stop and ask for a plain english explanation.

 

[The Resolver]

Online or real?

Up to now there is no distinction since all lawyers providing services online tend to be very much real (well I believe I am at least) .

As to the future, I went to the launch last week of Richard and Daniel Susskind' s book 'The Future of the Professions' see http://susskind.com/ They argue that we are indeed heading for a world of robot lawyers (but with real lawyers simply re-focusing on what they really are good at rather than simple stuff like applying clear and obvious law to standard scenarios which technology can handle in nanoseconds). I wonder how many years of my life have been spent informing people of the limitation periods for when it becomes too late to sue. In future no lawyer will need do this since the client will be told by the machine before the lawyer begins to work on the case. More time spent on the real tricky stuff.......or just enjoying more life. First move in AI and the law is the wonderfully named RossIntelligence.com - applying IBM Watson to the law. I'm looking forward to speaking on the same platform as IBM Watson and RossIntelligence speakers at two AI events in London and Hamburg next month.

But forgive the ramblings and back to earth.....what you may prefer is a virtual Head of Law, which I am currently experimenting on with a start up client and will launch as a full service in the near future. The concept is that to the outside world you have a legal dept to which you refer any legal issues/disputes/drafting etc. You pay a monthly retainer to cover writing to suppliers /customers/authorities when legals raise themselves, and keeping you advised and up to speed on issues, including ones to be alerted to, pre-emptively, not just those landing on your desk, but with additional fixed fees raised for specific documents. The work also includes referral to outside lawyers when, say, litigation is required but in that case negotiating competitive fees and terms.