Readers and visitors to my web site know that I am one of a small (so far) group of lawyers who doesn't maintain a physical office. I was perusing old issues of the ABA Journal today and ran across an article from about a year or so ago detailing the efforts of at least one other attorney who is trying that.
Technology, the cell phones, PDA's, laptops and all the widely available wireless access is making it possible for lawyers to work anywhere. Look at my practice. Right now I am living in Ohio, yet handling a small number of matters in Tennessee. The fact that I can have a Tennessee local phone that rings in my home office in Ohio, together with the ability to easily travel back and forth (I am a licensed pilot), with a little creativity on scheduling things in Tennessee so I can accomplish a lot with a fewer number of trip cycles, it is certainly possible to have that kind of practice. Whether it can withstand building up to any sizable volume is an open question. With volume may come an increased number of trips that would make it easier just to live there than here.
Yet, still, the lure of being able to do it this way is attractive and I think that eventually you are going to see growing numbers of lawyers abandoning the traditional practice office for their own versions of the "virtual office." Already we see growth in the business of providing temporary counsel, some even work from home, with companies like Counsel on Call entering the marketplace.
Technology, the cell phones, PDA's, laptops and all the widely available wireless access is making it possible for lawyers to work anywhere. Look at my practice. Right now I am living in Ohio, yet handling a small number of matters in Tennessee. The fact that I can have a Tennessee local phone that rings in my home office in Ohio, together with the ability to easily travel back and forth (I am a licensed pilot), with a little creativity on scheduling things in Tennessee so I can accomplish a lot with a fewer number of trip cycles, it is certainly possible to have that kind of practice. Whether it can withstand building up to any sizable volume is an open question. With volume may come an increased number of trips that would make it easier just to live there than here.
Yet, still, the lure of being able to do it this way is attractive and I think that eventually you are going to see growing numbers of lawyers abandoning the traditional practice office for their own versions of the "virtual office." Already we see growth in the business of providing temporary counsel, some even work from home, with companies like Counsel on Call entering the marketplace.
You can read the ABA Journal article at http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/switching_to_house_calls/
~Tim
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