Net Law: How Lawyers Use the Internet (Songline Guides) Review

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(More customer reviews)You can't beat having a strong presence online, if you are a self-employed contracts kind of lawyer. This book helped me drum up decent business. Glad I got it. I only wish it came with more online examples.

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From simple email to sophisticated online marketing, Net Law: How Lawyers Use the Internet shows how the solo practitioner or the large law firm can turn the Net into an effective and efficient tool.Through stories from those who've set up pioneering legal Net sites, attorney Paul Jacobsen explains how lawyers can successfully integrate the Internet into their practices, sharing lessons these "early adopters" have learned.

In this book, you'll read about a law firm that reports its Web site gets more than 40,000 visitors a week, resulting in 6,000 subscribers to its online newsletter.The firm claims that more than two-thirds of its clients come to them directly through their Internet Web site. Net Law shows what you might do to get similar results.

Firms with Internet connections not only have the yet-to-be-provenadvantages of a homepage to tout their firm's virtues and services, butthe practical advantages offered by email and access to legal researchresources on the Net.

In Net Law, the author walks the reader through the process of gettingconnected, to using the Net for research, to marketing online.Net Lawdraws heavily from the real-life experiences of lawyers who were earlyadopters of the Net and have successfully integrated it into their practices. These early adopters share their experiences and the lessons they've learned. They talk about what works online -- and what doesn't, separating thereality of the Net from the hype and hysteria that often surrounds thisnew medium.

The wealth of the Internet can only be fully tapped by those professionalswho actually use it.Net Law's author takes the reader step by stepthrough the issues, beginning with examples of firms that have alreadyexperienced the power of being connected.He walks beginners through twochapters of Internet basic training before moving on to the business ofturning a Net connection into a working asset for the firm.

One of the biggest advantages lawyers get with a Net connection is theability to work collaboratively with colleagues and clients over greatdistances.Lawyers interviewed in the book tell of exchanging 200-pagelegal briefs with other attorneys in other cities, allowing them to meettight filing deadlines they would have otherwise missed.The book alsodeals with the issue of privacy and security.Email is not as secure astraditional mail for highly confidential client communication.How dolawyers protect themselves and their clients' information in this new medium? Net Law explains how lawyers are addressing this serious issue.

Research was noted by many of the lawyers interviewed as one of the Net'skey resources.With many university law libraries now online andrecent case law and court decisions becoming available online, attorneysare finding research time and budgets shrinking thanks to a simple andcheap Internet connection.

Unlike other professions that can simply advertise their services to thepublic, ethical considerations limit what attorneys feel is appropriate inmarketing legal services.The author spends considerable time exploringthe do's and don'ts of online legal marketing and shares the experiencesof those who have been both successful and unsuccessful.The authoroffers examples of law firms that range from modest to aggressive useof the Net.Includes CD-ROM with Internet software and limited freeonline time.










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Songline Guides share the experience and knowledge of users who havebecome Internet professionals by discovering how to make the Internetwork for them.

Songline Professional Guides share what members of a professionsuch as teachers or lawyers are learning about using the Internet. These books provide an opportunity to learn from the first wave ofusers, the pioneers who have realized the benefits and overcome thefrustrations of integrating the Internet into their work life.Theseare not technical books that explain in detail how the Internet works; instead, Songline Professional Guides describe how people work betterby harnessing the power of Internet.

Songline Productivity Guides are aimed at professionals who want tolearn advanced techniques and strategies to be more productive online. Focusing on the workplace, these guides emphasize becoming proficientin the new skills professional users need to acquire.

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