The virtual law firm is a professional law practice which operates via a secure online portal. A virtual law firms is distinctly different from online companies which offer legal documents for sale, in that while it may be online,the virtual law firm provides direct and personal communicating between a real attorney and the client.  There have been debates about the ethics and privacy issues that may arise in a virtual law office; but some analysts are predicting that this new way of providing legal services could be the future.  A matter of fact, some analysts argue that virtual law firms may even force traditional law firms to restructure so that they can effectively compete with their virtual counterparts.

We’ll likely see even further specialization of legal practice, with law firms focusing upon those areas of practice where they have real substantive knowledge. Thus, we may see more boutique practices emerging and successfully competing. In fact, I suspect that law firms will be competitive in more specialized areas of law only to the extent that they likewise develop specialized practice groups. Generalist attorneys will have an increasingly difficult time competing for high quality business when an already highly competitive environment becomes even more so, and they will face more difficult competition finding quality work as unspecialized soloor small firm practitioners.

Some projections indicate that small networks of virtual firms could be interconnected via the internet to provide various types of legal service toclients in a more efficient and effective manner than traditional brick and mortar firms. Currently, traditional law firms have a vertical hierarchy which can slow down the flow of information. Junior attorneys review cases and that work is then reviewed by more senior and experience lawyers.  But under the vision of some who say that virtual law firms will transform law, this vertical structure will become more horizontal making the process of legal cases quicker.