Brainstorm Magazine

Michalsons Attorneys is taking local law online.

Local specialist technology law firm Michalsons Attorneys has recently launched its online venture – Michalsons Online* (www.michalsons.com). The site is providing automated legal services and online legal guidance to local companies for a monthly fee, and a small one at that.

Says founder and partner Lance Michalson: “The way law is currently offered, on a one on one basis, at hourly rates, is expensive for a lot of people. Coupled to that is the amount of information now available online. People think that if it’s online they can either do it themselves or do it up to a point, then get lawyers involved.

“Yes, lawyers make information available on websites. The problem with articles and legal information, when written by lawyers, is that there’s a big marketing angle; they tend to outline the problem and say ‘come see us if you want a solution’.

And when a layperson is putting information out there, it is either product or vendor driven, and biased, with a lot of inaccuracy,” he says.

What Michalsons Online aims to do is provide accurate and relevant information to the local market on topics that are relatively generic. As the site puts it: “We offer proactive insight and knowledge that no longer needs to be accessed exclusively by traditional consultation with an attorney.”

Michalson, and his partner John Giles, have been working on the online offering for just over a year, since Giles joined the firm in 2008.

“The thinking of the distinguished legal academic and legal futurist, UK-based Richard Susskind, has had [much] resonance with the embryonic thinking of Giles and Michalson on this subject,” says a statement released by the firm, announcing the launch.

“At the core of their thinking is that the legal profession is on the brink of fundamental transformation. The role of traditional lawyers in some legal fields will be eroded and in others eliminated. Driving the revolution are two forces: the relentless “commoditisation” of legal services (as Susskind calls it) and the rapid development of new innovations and technologies, particularly computers, IT, and software.”

Further, says the statement: “Giles and Michalson have also observed that clients are tired of lawyers rehashing the same work and charging for it each time. Many clients want answers on-demand when they need it, not just in case they need it. With the advent of e-mail and instant messaging as the most common methods of communication in the commercial world these days, clients now often demand and expect an immediate response. This places a huge amount of pressure on lawyers who simply do not have enough hours in the day.

“Clients also don’t want information that is difficult to read or understand. Much of the writing that South African lawyers currently still produce is inaccessible and not in plain legal language, now a requirement for certain contracts in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law on 24 April 2009,” it notes.

Says Michalson: “There is a slowly emerging demand for lawyers to reduce fees and provide answers online. We’re giving away the answers and taking a big step by giving them away online. What’s nice [for clients] is that you can pay me R1 500 per hour to tell you the information or pay R200 per month to subscribe and find out online. There is lots of information plus stuff like self-assessments to see the extent to which you comply with a law. We’ve just started a document assembly offering that can put together contracts.

The combination of online and traditional is new. We’re starting to see it in other jurisdictions but not here,” he adds. What remains to be seen is how successfu the offering will be. As Michalson notes, it’s a risk, and a big one. Given everything is going online and being shared, merged and manipulated in real time, it looks like the company has taken a good bet. Watch this space.

*While the online firm is associated to the well-known Michalsons Attorneys, it is a seperate entity.