© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
Founded in 2012 by then-28 year-old attorney and entrepreneur, Michael Brennan, The Virtual Attorney is a 21st century law office where technology is a driving force behind increasing the value of legal services through accessibility and convenience at an affordable price.
Based in Milwaukee, The Virtual Attorney is the first known entirely virtual law office serving clients throughout the tri-state area of Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Clients are able to work with a licensed attorney in the areas of estate planning and business law
entirely online- whether they’re at their desk at work or couch at home.
According to Brennan, "People today are very comfortable using technology in their everyday lives whether it's to buy clothes or pay a utility bill. I don't think that the delivery of many legal services needs to be any different."
Brennan believes the law should be accessible to everyone- young and old; rich and poor. It’s his hope that, with The Virtual Attorney, people will come to realize that what they want in a lawyer and what they need in a lawyer doesn’t have to be different.
© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
WHY VIRTUAL?
At its simplest level, everyone deserves access to a lawyer. Of course, stating the obvious is
one thing, but delivering on that belief is another.
While many clients still enjoy the comforts of a conference room and physical face-to-face office meeting, continuously improving technology has created expectations that things should be able to be done anytime and anywhere.
Generation Y is technologically focused and ever-ready to adapt to change- two traits not typically attributed to the legal industry. The Virtual Attorney is out to change that. It’s our sincere belief that the practice of law is ripe for a revolution. It’s our mission to transform the face of law to reflect new generations’
increased desire for convenience, responsiveness and affordability.
From buying a new pair of shoes to paying an electric bill, people today can do practically anything online. According to Brennan, the delivery of legal services doesn’t have to be any different.
So what makes it different than other legal service sites out there?
The answer is simple and essential to any legal
services… A LAWYER.
Websites like Legalzoom and Rocket Lawyer cannot provide legal advice and can only provide self-help services based on specific directions. They do not provide any kind of advice, explanation, or opinion to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms or strategies.*
Consumers deserve more, and it’s our goal at The Virtual Attorney to be that difference.
© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
WHY ESTATE PLANNING AND
BUSINESS?
As a young attorney with a knowledge and passion for topics like tax, trusts and regulatory compliance, Brennan knew that he had specialized knowledge to offer his generation.
Up until recently, there were only two options for young people when it came to getting needed legal services:
On one side were traditional brick and mortar law firms
which involved wallet-draining hourly fees and inconvenient scheduling face-to-face meetings.
On the other end of the spectrum were the do-it-yourself legal document generation websites that offered speed and simplicity but were prone to cause more problems than they would solve.
Brennan knew that the demanding schedules and entry-level paychecks of his peers required more
convenience and lower costs than traditional law firms could offer, but as an attorney he was keenly aware of the
perils and pitfalls of relying on Legalzoom or Rocket Lawyer to produce high-caliber results.
As little as 12% of estate planning is done for people under 40. *
He encountered far too many young people who simply didn’t realize there was more to estate planning than just getting rid of their things when they die.
According to Brennan, “they’d be surprised when I explained that it was through estate planning that they could make their wishes on life-sustaining medical treatment and
feeding tubes known or ensure responsible people raised their children in the event tragedy struck.”
Nearly one-third of
entrepreneurs are under the age of 34. **
He knew that the brilliant young minds of today were a
wealth of great innovative ideas waiting to be put into action, and he wanted to act as an asset to them by
providing an affordable means of getting the legal advice and assistance necessary to turn those great ideas into great businesses.
With that convergence of ideas the Virtual Attorney was born. By operating virtually, Brennan keeps overhead low. Those low costs are passed along to the client.
By using the wide array of technologies available today, The Virtual Attorney
combines the best of both other models.
It takes the expertise, knowledge and value of the traditional law firm, combines it with the convenience and accessibility of DIY legal websites, bundles it all up and delivers it securely to clients as a complete reasonably-priced package.
*Wealth Counsel; 4th Annual Industry Trends
Survey; Jan. 10, 2011.
**Kauffman Foundation Survey on Entrepreneurship.
© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
OUR MISSION
“
It’s
OUR MISSION
to offer modern convenience to families,
professionals, small businesses and entrepreneurs through the
utilization of available technologies. Everyone deserves access to a
lawyer who is
RESPONSIVE AND DEPENDABLE
; knowledgeable and
friendly, and that is what The Virtual Attorney continually strives to
be.
Our goal is to use the latest
TECHNOLOGY
to provide clients with a
secure,
CONVENIENT AND ACCESSIBLE
means to plan for their
business or protect their families. It’s our primary aim to have a
collaborative relationship with every client and we’ll continually strive
to present
VALUE
in all facets of that relationship through
professionalism, knowledge, simplicity and reasonable costs.
We Encourage The Client To Realize That
WHAT THEY NEED
In A Lawyer
And
WHAT THEY WANT
In A Lawyer
DOESN’T HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT.”
© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
SERVICES
Services are...
Accessible:
send messages, review documents, upload information or ask a
question whether at the office or on the couch at home.
Convenient:
no need for long trips to an attorney’s office or hours of
meetings. Work from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
Secure:
100% secure transactions and encrypted documents and
communications provide ultimate security of personal information and
sensitive data.
estate planning
business law
bypass trusts
living trusts
living wills
durable powers of attorney
wills
buy sell agreements
corporate formation
llc formation
corporate bylaws
operating agreements
essential in-house counsel™
The Virtual Attorney’s Essential In-House
Counsel™ for small businesses offers an
alternative to a typical business attorney.
Through flexible monthly plans and a
pay-as-you-go format, companies are
able to pay for only the amount of an
attorney’s time that fits their needs. For
anything from formation to contract
negotiation to mergers and acquisitions,
Essential In-House Counsel™ brings full
service representation to companies no
matter how small.
//estate planning and
business law
rethought
_//
© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
OUR FOUNDER
Michael Brennan is licensed attorney in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin- Madison (BA, Political Science, 2007) and the University of the Pacific-McGeorge School of Law (JD, 2010). He currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his fiancé and crazy little dog. Passionate about entrepreneurship and the law as a tool to bring social good and stability to the masses, he is a firm believer that the virtual law office model is a necessary step towards spreading legal access to a new generation of families and
© 2013 The Virtual Attorney. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]
