Law Times

Page 10 May 25, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com FOCUS Virtual offices a work in progress Despite obvious benefits, evolving practice has its challenges By marg. Bruineman For Law Times W hen clients walk into the law of- fices of Gilmore & Gilmore PC in Alliston, Ont., an employee named Claudia will almost al- ways be there to greet them. But those who look past her will likely see several unoccupied desks and offices. Although Jamie Gilmore has practised law for the better part of three decades, he's not afraid of trying new approaches. So as technology develops, Gilmore keeps a keen eye as he watches for tools that can improve his prac- tice. That has allowed him to try a variety of approaches to develop- ing a virtual team that includes a corporate assistant who works from home on a part-time basis. "She worked for us for six months before I even met her," says Gilmore. "We try all sorts of different things. We had set things up so any of our staff could work from home fairly easily." The technology and tools are definitely there. Gilmore's software includes Basecamp for project management, Dropbox for client files, Conveyancer for real estate law, LogMeIn for re- mote access, and Estate-A-Base for estate law. The issue facing Gilmore's office was a practi- cal one. During the particu- larly busy summer rush when everyone is dealing with house closings, ironing out some of the problems that often arise is much easier to do in the real world than a virtual one. After having had several assis- tants working remotely for a cou- ple of years, Gilmore concluded that face time was paramount. They still work from home but only a couple of days each week and when the weather is bad. A full-time bookkeeper also works from home one or two days a week. In addition, two part-time estate assistants split their time between the office and their vir- tual workplaces. Jordon Furlong figures the le- gal profession is still at the early stages of implementing virtual teams but for the moment is do- ing so slowly and steadily. "We're in a situation now where it's feasible for a number of legal professionals to be in different locations," says Fur- long, principal of Ottawa-based Edge International. Several collaborative and output functions no longer re- quire a single office setting. But as Furlong points out, there's always a trade-off. A virtual of- fice costs money. In Gilmore's situation, he provides all of the software and tools, but the as- sistants use their own hardware when they work from home. Furlong sees the move towards virtual legal teams as being on the upswing but only to a point. He's uncertain, however, about what that point will be. "More likely, what we'll see is a balance emerge," he says, estimating that in the near future about a third of the legal workforce will work from a virtual office. But as a new generation emerges, so will new ideas and ap- proaches, something that's likely to increase what virtual legal of- fices will do and how they work. One approach that has emerged, partly due to the tech- nology available and partly due to the demands, is the use of virtual general counsel. Andrew Foti recently celebrated the one- year anniversary of Avokka LLP, an Ottawa-based firm that supplies general counsel to mid- sized companies with legal needs but doesn't require the full-time services of an in-house lawyer. All seven of Avokka's lawyers have previous experience in the role of general counsel and each takes on a small number of cli- ents to build their capacity and provide them with the advice and service they require. But as Foti points out, having an entirely off- site role can limit its effectiveness. "Although we're virtual, there's no substitute for being there," he says, noting the law- yers will spend a portion of their time at the company's offices. "When you're there [and] pres- ent, you can make things happen." Foti believes the future holds more opportunities for other new firms to take advantage of this approach. And despite the challenges, Gilmore has discovered the ar- rangement can work well. Al- though having staff on hand to handle files can be helpful when issues arise, he says virtual assis- tance can work in certain situa- tions. When one of his estate assis- tants had twins, she and Gilmore came up with a plan to allow her to resume working after her ma- ternity leave at home. She logged her 20 hours per week when it was convenient for her, usually during the baby's naps as well as on eve- nings and weekends. It worked well. The twins are now in school and the assistant is picking up more hours and sometimes comes into the office. "Overall, it has worked quite well," says Gilmore, who notes he didn't want to lose the assistant. Gilmore himself spends two days a week working from home where he concentrates on larger projects. Overall, he finds he can be more effective when he's in the office but says the ability to work from home, without hav- ing to plan for it, is helpful. And as he points out, it's likely the arrangements will continue to evolve. "My staff will tell you it's rarely status quo for long," he says. "So who knows what we will look like next year?" LT SKIMMING THE SURFACE IS FINE UNTIL A DEEPER DIVE IS REQUIRED. Start with Practical Law Canada. Whether you need a surface view or a deeper understanding of a legal issue, Practical Law Canada offers up-to-date, straightforward how-to guides, annotated standard documents, checklists, and more. For more information visit www.practicallaw.ca Jamie Gilmore has allowed several of his staff to work from home at least on a part- time basis.

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