ELAWYER BLOG

Technology v. Lawbreakers

Rapid developments in technology are improving life and causing massive paradigm shifts in all areas, and they have had a large impact on the legal profession. The same computerization of records that is assisting the medical industry also helps out the law, which may be the leading consumer and doer of paperwork in the world. Thanks to systems like phone records, email logs and scanned documentation, the files needed to pursue cases are nearly always at hand, likely through a personal computer.

Communication is greatly enhanced. No longer is it necessary to travel in order to see someone face to face – instead, you have the option of a phone call, or an email, or a text message, or video chat, or one of any number of other digital communications options. This easy and cheap access to connection technology means that lawyers and other members of the legal profession can easily get together in a digital room from all over the world for a conference whenever one is required. If you need a consult, just dial up the person on your smart-phone, take a picture or scan of the documentation in question with the phone’s camera, send it to the other party, and discuss the file in real-time.

Powered by web design companies, the internet is the greatest gift. Powerful search tools such as Google and the frequency of data uploads to the public domain means that the days of reference librarians may be over because anyone from a school child doing a report on the Constitution to a lawyer tracking down obscure records can find the necessary information via a computer terminal. The downside is that some additional verification may be required – with the proliferation of blogs and the “everyone-can-edit” approach of sites such as Wikipedia, there is no guarantee that the data you find is accurate or objective. Then again, that has always been the case.

Online Legal Services: Online Divorces

You really can get anything online these days, including a divorce. As technology spurs forward even more with coding and software advances, our reliance on the Internet becomes greater. Legal document templates have long been available online as well as other legal services, but now with a few clicks of your mouse, you can get a divorce.

The Internet isn’t likely to replace lawyers as each of the online legal service websites will quickly point out that their services are for information and advice only. It seems, however, that the days of long drawn out divorce proceedings costing thousands of dollars may well become the exception rather than the rule.

Designed primarily for uncontested divorces, the online divorce services are favored by couples who want a quick dissolution of their marriage. Couples would need to still agree on the standard issues of child custody and support, alimony, and the liquidation and sharing of communal property. Couples would still need to sign a professionally prepared contract, but these documents are available on online divorce websites.

The cost of online divorce is perhaps one of the most attractive features. A traditional conventionally filed divorce with no contest will start at about $1000.00, and go up from there. Online divorces cost an average of about $300.00. This will gain you all the documents you need as well as filing instructions. Court filing fees are generally not included and neither are notary fees, if applicable.

The second most attractive component of an online divorce is the lack of drama typically associated with conventional divorces. There are no angry mediation sessions, no stern judges looking down at you, no tears as one party or the other feels slighted.

There are many companies offering online legal services, but online divorces are quickly gaining in popularity amongst couples who wish an amicable separation carried out quickly, inexpensively and without unnecessary drama.

Legal Services Offered for Website Creation Issues

If you want to start a personal business online but aren’t sure how to begin, a good starting point is researching passive income options. One wonderful option for Internet-based passive income sources is web design.

Those individuals with great website ideas or an insight into online user demands make wonderful incomes doing what they love. However, while there are wonderful benefits to using website creation as passive income sources, there are also certain safety precautions to take. A few of those precautions are listed below.

Creating Website Domain Names

When you are deciding which domain name to create for your website, be sure you don’t violate any copyright issues with the domain name. Many website creators have faced serious legal issues because the domain names they purchased violated the copyrights of major corporations.

For example, if you want to start a blog discussing a certain product you love, it may not be legal to use part of the product’s name in your domain address. Even if you think the corporation will never find your domain or press charges if you are violating their copyright, this is an issue to avoid because it can create a variety of unnecessary problems.

Understanding Plagiarism

If you will be hiring writers to create articles with links to your website for search optimization optimization purposes, ensure the articles aren’t plagiarized by using text searching technology. Many sources are available where you can input text and assess whether or not the copy is original work. You should never use plagiarized material for search engine optimization or other purposes because this can affect your search engine rankings and reduce the credibility of your website.

Consult a Professional Web Designer or Legal Professional

If you have any questions regarding the legal issues of starting a website, consult a professional. Legal professionals who specialize in online issues can aid you in the website creation process and help you bypass the legal dilemmas so many others have faced.

Use the Internet to Research Legal Services

Before you go to a lawyer and pay the big bucks, you might want to do some of your own research regarding your situation. Thanks to modern technology, legal information is posted on the Internet, so you can do your preliminary research with ease. Even if you can’t find a solution to your legal dilemma, your research can offer you a clearer understanding of your situation and offer you options for solutions so you can better communicate with your lawyer.

  • As you begin your journey into legal research, consider using a legal research guide such as Zimmerman’s Research Guide, which offers an online encyclopedia for those interested in legal research.
  • Browse through Internet sites dedicated to law. Sites such as LexisONE and FindLaw generally list material according to legal subjects.
  • Try using keyword searches in your search engine. To make sure you are gathering information from legitimate websites, look for information that is backed up with references. Double-check the references to make sure they are legitimate. Websites that end with .edu and .org tend to be more legitimate than websites and with .com.
  • Log into a law-related forum and ask questions regarding your specific situation. Consider the advice offered by other forum users.
  • Use reference materials from online libraries to sort through various magazines, law journals, and newsletters. Some websites offer information for free while others might charge you a nominal fee.
  • Sign up for electronic newsletters and browse through legal announcements to keep updated on laws. The Cornell University Law Library offers an electronic newsletter, and the American Bar Association offers legal resource announcements.
  • If you are uncomfortable searching for resources on the Internet, go to your local library and ask a reference librarian for some research help.

Keep in mind that your research online opens doors for communication with a lawyer. You are merely using computer technology to keep yourself well informed.

Internet Research is Dynamic

There’s no better way to conduct research on any topic than to turn to the Information Superhighway that is the Internet. Well, make that any legal topic, as mobsters, drug dealers, and those who commit insider trading don’t really put out a lot of information on the how-to’s of their businesses. But for the majority of other topics, books have been supplemented by the resources available in cyberspace. No longer are dusty volumes the end all and be all for information gatherers. That’s because old books are not only dusty and musty, but their information is a bit rusty, too.

Unless you’re looking for information on a static piece of history, books probably aren’t going to provide you with all the information you’d like on a topic. Knowledge in every field of study is constantly expanding, so quoting old facts and figures is not necessarily going to give you the most accurate idea of what’s happening now. Take astronomy, for example. Poor Pluto has been declassified as a planet, after centuries of being known as a planet. When even the planets are subject to updating, it’s important to be able to access the latest thinking and news so that you use accurate information in your research.

None of this is meant to take anything away from books, however. Most books have been well researched, and as such, offer reasonably accurate data as of the date of their printing. Unfortunately, not all information on the Internet is verified as rigorously, so research conducted online should be double checked for accuracy from more than one independent source. Additionally, portions of many researched books are available on the Internet, so it’s sometimes easy to find the “old” information and compare it with the latest thinking on a particular subject. To keep up with a dynamic and ever-changing world, it’s essential to use the most dynamic and frequently updated source!

Why People Use oDesk

A lot of people (and even full-scale businesses) have taken to outsourcing many of their internal components lately. While a decent number outsource their payroll operations and some even outsource a percentage of their service offering (keeping few besides their sales and marketing team essential to the company), the greatest potential for outsourcing success is in the realm of fairly mundane tasks. In the areas of research (be it patent, general legal, or simply for topics and information related to an upcoming blog post), a surprisingly large number of individuals have taken to outsourcing through the use of the Internet. And while there are a lot of different sites where you can find professional, high-quality freelancers who work hard for a reasonable price, oDesk may be chief among them.

There are a lot of reasons why the labor force uses the site. One reason why a lot of freelancers like using oDesk is they can set up their fees according to what they want to make. If they use something like Paypal, they have to have its fee deducted from what they earn. It can lead to additional complications and can chop hundreds of dollars a year off of what they end up earning. Another reason why they enjoy the site (and thus flock to it) is it allows them to hustle up ample amounts of work from clients who are ready and willing to pay for quality and speed.

The reason why you should consider using oDesk is, first and foremost, freelancers tend to love it. A lot of hard-working, very dependable people are ready and willing to do whatever you are willing to pay for. So it’s a buyer’s market, and you can often get great work done (by people who live in low cost-of-living countries) for a small fraction of what you would end up paying if you hired a freelancer who operates locally.

Internet Legal Services

Not everyone can afford a lawyer when they need a lawyer. Sometimes people just need a few answers and guidance on how to do something. It’s a DIY world, after all. Internet legal services serve a very important function in today’s technologically savvy world. Not only do legal services rendered through the computer help the client, they can be great marketing opportunities for the lawyers.

Along with free legal services come some very useful applications that are also free and can help with managing your legal issues.  One needs to have a reliable word processor such as Open Office which can open and save almost any document in any format.  If your legal issues concern finances, then GNU Cash is a great freeware program that keeps money matters simple.  Try Freemind to arrange your thoughts in a logical fashion and keep track of important points as you embark on your legal course.  These applications are a great help when dealing with the complicated world of law.

Free legal services are definitely out there for the individual willing to put a little more effort into the search. ILRG Legal Forms has an extensive archive of legal forms for business and personal use. Whether you’re researching the best way to word a legal document or you need to download one, this site can help. Here’s the caveat; in order to download the form in Word, it will cost 9.99. Otherwise, you’ll have to copy and paste and re-format. The University of Washington’s law school has a site with extensive research material. If you have a question, the answer is probably in this database.

The law firm provides extensive resources from where to find a lawyer to necessary legal forms. This site is probably a good place to start for the person using the Internet to find legal services. There are also up-to-date articles about various legal issues on this site.

For lawyers, there’s The Center for Law Practice Technology, which offers resources for attorneys who want to deliver legal services over the Internet. The need for good online resources goes both ways. The consumer has to know what to look for and the legal team has to know how to deliver.

As technology takes over the way we deliver and receive our legal services, security will be a major concern. Therefore, any legal professional transferring documents over the Internet will need to make sure they have excellent security measures in place on their office computers