Examples of Lawyer Kits and Forms
Richard S. Granat, a Maryland attorney, at http://www.granat.com, has a home page link to a listing of divorce kits available in Maryland and other states as well, from http://www.divorcelawinfo.com. Granat's home page also states that the only legal services his firm performs is to assist pro se parties. Document drafting services are available to help the consumer fill out the forms in the kits offered. Email and phone consultations are available at a fixed rate of $30 per phone call.

The web site of New Jersey attorney William C. Jaekel at http://www2.cybernex.net/~wjaek/ offers the following: an uncontested divorce kit, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy kit, a name change kit, a durable power of attorney, a living will, a sell it yourself real estate kit, and a wills kit that includes trusts for children. His site has "clients" fill out questionnaires online, and documents are generated and sent to the "client," by fax, email or regular mail.

The law firm of LegalAdviceLine, LLC, at http://www.legaladviceline.com, plans to offer certain kinds of legal documents in all 50 states, by employing associate attorneys in every state. In Maryland, they already offer divorce, estate planning, guardianship, child support, custody, name change, adoption and power of attorney document generation online for immediate downloading. The service is combined with an optional consultation for $30 per phone call, and this service is available in Texas.

At least one Texas attorney offers a "do it yourself divorce kit" on his web site. Edward Garrison's kit is described at http://www.garrison-law.com/texasdivorcelawyer.html. The kit is not designed to be generated or distributed online at this time.

Liability for Kits and Forms
Texas Government Code Section 81.101(c) (H.B. 1507, effective June 18, 1999) created a new and significant effect on the legal status of kits and forms in Texas. Section 81.101(c) states that:

[T]he "practice of law" does not include the design, creation, publication, distribution, display, or sale, including publication, distribution, display, or sale by means of an Internet web site, of written materials, books, forms, computer software, or similar products if the products clearly and conspicuously state that the products are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Section 81.101(c) indicates that the provision of the kit or form to the customer without the required disclaimer is the practice of law. If a lawyer renders legal advice by providing a kit or form with instructions, do all of the characteristics of an attorney-client relationship attach?

Texas Disciplinary Rule of Professional Conduct (TDRCP) 1.02(b) allows an attorney to "limit the scope, objectives and general methods of the representation if the client consents after consultation." Comment 5 to TDRPC 1.02 states, however, that "the client may not be asked to agree to representation so limited in scope as to violate Rule 1.01 (competent and diligent representation)." A "client" choosing a kit may not choose the right one, and thus providing the incorrect kit or form may not be "competent and diligent" representation. In analyzing the corresponding ABA Model Rule 1.02, Professor Catherine J. Lanctot has argued that the duty of diligence has traditionally required an attorney to take all lawful steps necessary to protect a client's interest. C. Lanctot, "Attorney-Client Relationships in Cyberspace: The Peril and the Promise," 49 Duke L.J. 147 (1999), available online at http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dlj/articles/dlj49p147.htm. Thus, the potential seems high for imposing liability on attorneys who prepare or recommend a defective (or inappropriate) kit or form.

If an attorney offers kits or forms or refers persons to other kit and form web sites, the best practice would be to make affirmative disclaimers to avoid forming inadvertent attorney-client relationships. Listings of other kit and form web sites should be accompanied by similar disclaimers, unless the attorney is willing to accept responsibility for appearing to endorse products of the linked sites.

Beyond Kits and Forms
While it is doubtful that all law firms will offer kits and forms on the web, the same technology may well impact everyday legal services significantly. It is very easy to create a web page that obtains information from a client and then insert it into a word processing template or add it to a database. One web-based service, at http://forms.flashbase.com, lets you create forms online and allow others to access them, at a very low cost.

The Atlanta law firm of Alston & Bird has created Internet based extranet systems that allow exchange of documents with clients easily. One of the partners describes the firm's system as "a shared filing cabinet." See Hokkanen, "Ground Zero: Will You Survive the Internet Explosion?" at http://www.llrx.com/features/ground.htm. For clients needing a high volume of service, it is not hard to imagine how connecting them with a secure system can lead to greater efficiencies in providing legal services.

The Internet is beginning to be used to provide legal services in ways unimaginable a few short years ago. Lawyers need to analyze the potential impact of these new methods with disciplinary requirements and professional liability in mind.