{"id":4710,"date":"2004-02-06T16:57:59","date_gmt":"2004-02-06T20:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2004\/02\/06\/can-we-talk-about-virtual-eng"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:59:03","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:59:03","slug":"can-we-talk-about-virtual-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/02\/06\/can-we-talk-about-virtual-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Can We Talk About &#8220;Virtual&#8221; English?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a name='a737'><\/a><\/p>\n<p><DIV align=\"right\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/phoneringing.jpg\" alt=\"phone ringing\" \/> . .<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Appearances to the <A href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2003\/10\/01#a307\">contrary<\/A>, I <EM>hate<\/EM> being a Name Nag or Word Whiner.&nbsp; But, terminology&nbsp;keeps many lawyers from seriously considering the use of important new technology that will&nbsp;benefit consumers.&nbsp;&nbsp;So, I&#8217;m going to <EM>force<\/EM> myself yet again to nudge all you creaters and&nbsp;&#8220;<A href=\"http:\/\/kevinokeefe.typepad.com\/imarketinglawyers\/2004\/01\/blog_setup_publ.html\">early adopters<\/A>&#8221; of technology to choose nomenclature that is inclusive and&nbsp;understandable to Jill and Jack Lawyer on Main Street (rather than weird, incomprehensible or repulsive).&nbsp; Today&#8217;s targets, the terms:<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<UL><br \/>\n<UL><br \/>\n<UL><br \/>\n<LI><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">virtual<\/FONT><br \/>\n<LI><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">virtual law firm\/office<\/FONT><br \/>\n<LI><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">disruptive<\/FONT><\/LI><\/UL><\/UL><\/UL><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">They may be passive-aggressive rather than violent, but most Lawyers are Luddites, loathe to adopt new technology.&nbsp; I&#8217;m pretty certain that the&nbsp;three terms chosen for today&#8217;s lesson will <EM>not<\/EM> sell the digital, high-tech, well-networked era of lawyering to the demographic groups that make up the great mass of attorneys.&nbsp; Sure, I&#8217;m no marketing whiz (which may be a plus), but I think my antennae are quite good at picking up communication breakdowns or static.&nbsp; <\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">My credentials as translator between the high- and low-tech sectors of the Bar?&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#8217;ve practiced in a big fancy city with high-powered lawyers, and in a small, poor one alongside the non-Ivy section; I&#8217;m over fifty; I learned to&#8221;reframe issues&#8221; for better communication between mediation clients; and I&#8217;ve been an ESL tutor, seeing first hand&nbsp;the difficulties&nbsp;that neologisms, jargon and idioms pose for linguistic outsiders.&nbsp; <\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV align=\"right\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/mouselawyersmall.jpg\" alt=\"mouse lawyer small\" \/> . . <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">&#8220;<STRONG>Virtual<\/STRONG>&#8220;:&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8220;Digital&#8221; and &#8220;computer-assisted&#8221; would have been difficult enough nomenclature to popularize with lawyers, but why the heck do we <A href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/lpm\/magazine\/articles\/v30is1an1.html\">use<\/A> (and keep <A href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/reader\/0471388254\/ref=sib_vae_pg_16\/102-4810311-4254502?%5Fencoding=UTF8&amp;keywords=%26quot%3Bmeaning%20of%20virtual%26quot%3B&amp;p=S01G&amp;twc=17&amp;checkSum=g6QA39skKKkgTI3eLsgANUeR%2BGWHgIUO7UQi%2BbJgPY0%3D#reader-link\">changing<\/A> the&nbsp;meaning of) &#8220;virtual&#8221; when pitching new technology?&nbsp;&nbsp; Most lawyers remember the <A href=\"http:\/\/www.bartleby.com\/61\/67\/V0116700.html\">definition<\/A> of &#8220;virtual&#8221; from their childhood: &#8220;existing in the mind or imagination&#8221; or &#8220;in essence&#8221;.&nbsp; If they&#8217;ve run across it fairly recently, it involves a computerized game environment their sons are dying to experience.&nbsp; These days, the word keeps being applied to more and more computer-related situations, as is explained in a <A href=\"http:\/\/www.bartleby.com\/61\/67\/V0116700.html\">Usage Note<\/A> from <EM>The American Heritage Dictionary:&nbsp; <\/EM><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">&#8220;When <I>virtual<\/I> was first introduced in the computational sense, it applied to things simulated by the computer, like <I>virtual memory<\/I>&#x2014;that is, memory that is not actually built into the processor. Over time, though, the adjective has been applied to things that really exist and are created or carried on by means of computers. . . <EM>Virtual<\/EM> tends to be used in reference to things that mimic their &#x201C;real&#x201D; equivalents. &#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [and see <A href=\"http:\/\/www.csgnetwork.com\/glossaryv.html#virtual\">this<\/A> computer industry glossary entry]<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><\/FONT>&nbsp;<\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/mouselawyersmallflip.jpg\" alt=\"mouse lawyer small flip\" \/>&nbsp; Just what &#8220;virtual&#8221; means or connotes to Main Streeters when discussing the practice of law is any one&#8217;s guess.&nbsp; But, that&#8217;s the problem: we and they have to guess.&nbsp; I&#8217;m guessing, it&#8217;s not a meaning that opens minds and checkbooks.<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><\/FONT>&nbsp;<\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">&#8220;<STRONG>Virtual Law Firm\/Office<\/STRONG>&#8221; is even worse.&nbsp; It has all the problems of the word &#8220;virtual,&#8221; plus creating great ambiguity about what a &#8220;law firm&#8221; is.&nbsp; I <A href=\"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2004\/01\/25#a602\">recently<\/A> praised the concepts in&nbsp;<A href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/lpm\/lpt\/articles\/ftr01047.html#author\">Dennis Kennedy<\/A>&#8216;s<FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">&nbsp;<\/FONT><STRONG><FONT face=\"Arial\" color=\"#42aac8\" size=\"2\"><A href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/lpm\/lpt\/articles\/ftr01047.html\">article<\/A><\/FONT><\/STRONG><FONT face=\"Arial\"><FONT size=\"2\"><A>&nbsp; &#8220;A Vision for Virtual Law Firms<\/A> &#8212; Questions You Should Be Asking&#8221;<STRONG> <\/STRONG>(<EM>Law Practice Today,<\/EM><\/FONT><FONT size=\"2\"> Jan. 2004).&nbsp; But, let&#8217;s be frank: Dennis is not talking about a &#8220;law firm&#8221; as we know it.&nbsp; In fact, Dennis says <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><FONT face=\"Arial\"><FONT size=\"2\">&#8220;To me, virtual law firm simply means an affiliated group of lawyers connected by technology rather than co-existing in common physical locations.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Dennis seems to be talking about&nbsp;creating and maintaining&nbsp;a network of lawyers that is able to communicate and share information readily through computer technology, without a pooled&nbsp;profit-center.&nbsp;&nbsp; That&#8217;s not a &#8220;law firm&#8221; &#8212; an entity that exists as a corporation or partnership, and that shares profit and losses.<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><\/FONT>&nbsp;<\/DIV><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\" style=\"MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">It&#8217;s not even a &#8220;law office&#8221; (nor a shared-suite arrangement).&nbsp;&nbsp; We&#8217;re still at a stage where only a minority of the general public&nbsp;<EM>might<\/EM> understand&nbsp;&#8220;<A href=\"http:\/\/www.csgnetwork.com\/glossaryv.html#virtual%20office\">virtual office<\/A>&#8221;&nbsp;as meaning<\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\" style=\"MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><FONT face=\"Arial\"><FONT size=\"2\">&#8220;An office that is not a real office environment, such as telecommuters, people working out of the normal office and people working in home offices, presenting an image that is different.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/FONT><\/FONT>&nbsp;<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<DIV dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><\/FONT><FONT size=\"+0\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Stretching that terminology to mean loosely affiliated people who are part of a professional referral network, and whose computers can talk to each other when necessary, is asking for confusion &#8212; which means&nbsp;it turns off&nbsp;much of the target audience.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><br \/>\n<UL><br \/>\n<LI><FONT size=\"+0\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Why not use the terminology&nbsp;<\/FONT><\/FONT><FONT size=\"+0\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">of &#8220;networking,&#8221; digital technology and &#8220;the digital lawyer&#8221; as <A href=\"http:\/\/www.granat.com\/\">Richard Granat<\/A> and <A href=\"http:\/\/www-unix.oit.umass.edu\/~eleclaw\/lawyer.html\">M. Ethan Katsh<\/A> do?<\/FONT><\/LI><\/UL><br \/>\n<P><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><STRONG>&#8220;bow tie&#8221;&nbsp; &#8220;Disruptive Technology&#8221;<\/STRONG>:&nbsp;&nbsp; Although I hold <A href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/lpm\/magazine\/articles\/v30is1an3.html\">Jerry Lawson<\/A> in great esteem, I think this&nbsp;phrase is also a turn-off for the average lawyer.&nbsp; Weblogs and other techologies may meet the criteria for &#8220;disruptive technology&#8221; set out by Clayton Christiansen in his 1997 book <EM><A href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/tg\/detail\/-\/0060521996\/qid=1076105484\/sr=2-1\/102-4810311-4254502?v=glance&amp;s=books\">The Innovator&#x2019;s Dilemma<\/A><\/EM> (HBS Press, 1997).&nbsp; But, the phrase means nothing to the hordes of lawyers unfamiliar with management theory and corporate strategy.&nbsp; Forget necktie analogies, most lawyers still see <EM>bowties<\/EM> as disruptive.&nbsp; If your headlines tout a &#8220;disruptive technology,&#8221; they&#8217;ll turn to another page.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Instead, pique their interest with an idea that will help shake up the competition &#8212; that&#8217;s profit-generating, efficiency-enhancing, a proven client magnate..&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/FONT><\/P><br \/>\n<P><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Razzle-dazzle may work in Silicon Valley and Wall Street.&nbsp; Plain English is virtually always the most effective form of advocacy on Main Street &#8212; including when making a sale.<\/FONT><\/P><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<P><\/FONT><FONT face=\"Geneva,Arial,Sans-Serif\"><FONT size=\"2\"><FONT color=\"red\"><STRONG><EM>Afterthought <\/EM><\/STRONG>(02-07-04)<\/FONT>:&nbsp; Yesterday, I forgot to mention&nbsp;the definition of a &#8220;virtual&nbsp;law firm&#8221; that Jerry Lawson of&nbsp;<A href=\"http:\/\/www.elawyerblog.org\/archives\/000573.html\">elawyerBlog<\/A>&nbsp;recently attributed to <A href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/lpm\/lpt\/articles\/ftr01042.html\">Joe Kashi<\/A>: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<P><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">&#8221; Kashi suggests that it is a law firm that: <\/FONT><\/P><br \/>\n<UL><br \/>\n<LI><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Has a stable core group of attorneys; <\/FONT><br \/>\n<LI><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Has established collaborative relationships with other, specialized law firms that possess expertise that&#8217;s occasionally needed; <\/FONT><br \/>\n<LI><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Is glued together with appropriate computer and telecommunications technology; and, <\/FONT><br \/>\n<LI><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Expands and reduces personnel as needed.<\/FONT><\/LI><\/UL><br \/>\n<P><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">&#8220;Sounds like a pretty good working definition.&#8221;<\/FONT><\/P><\/BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<P dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Constructing and maintaining such an entity seems like a great way to take advantage of new technologies, bringing efficiencies and synergy that will benefit lawyers and clients.&nbsp; But, as I argue above, it&#8217;s <EM>not <\/EM>a law firm, and calling it &#8220;virtual&#8221; is more confusing than explanatory for the non-initiated.&nbsp;&nbsp; It&#8217;s a high-tech (&#8220;digital&#8221;) lawyer network.&nbsp; <\/FONT><\/P><br \/>\n<P dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">Why complicate things by using confusing, definition-bending nomenclature?&nbsp;&nbsp; When you ask Average Lawyer &#8220;Is she&nbsp;in your law firm?&#8221;, you&#8217;re asking a very different question than &#8220;Is she part of your lawyer referral network?&#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I don&#8217;t want to have to overhear this conversation: <\/FONT><\/P><br \/>\n<BLOCKQUOTE><br \/>\n<P dir=\"ltr\"><FONT face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">&#8220;Well, she&#8217;s not in my firm-firm, but she is&nbsp;in my virtual firm.&#8221;&nbsp; &#8220;But, didn&#8217;t she used to be in your firm-firm?&#8221;&nbsp; &#8220;Yes, we all liked her at our firm(-firm), and when she left to open her own firm-firm (but stay in our office-office suite), we hoped she&#8217;d join our virtual firm.&#8221;&nbsp; <\/FONT><\/P><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>. . Appearances to the contrary, I hate being a Name Nag or Word Whiner.&nbsp; But, terminology&nbsp;keeps many lawyers from seriously considering the use of important new technology that will&nbsp;benefit consumers.&nbsp;&nbsp;So, I&#8217;m going to force myself yet again to nudge all you creaters and&nbsp;&#8220;early adopters&#8221; of technology to choose nomenclature that is inclusive and&nbsp;understandable to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1dY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13993,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4710\/revisions\/13993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}