Online law and lovin' it

Stephanie Kimbro thinks her "virtual law office" could revolutionize basic legal services. But the Web site has already accomplished something even more personally meaningful.

"I am able to stay home with my 19-month-old daughter," she said. "And that is the best gift."

In another time, Kimbro, a Wilmington lawyer, might have faced giving up her career to stay home. But since her daughter's birth, Kimbro has been busy operating kimbrolaw.com, apparently the state's only Internet-only law practice.

Kimbro never sees her clients, who live as far away as Charlotte. They contact her via the secure Web site her husband developed, looking for help with wills, marital separations, business agreements and other basic services. She replies online, starting an encrypted dialogue to give advice and craft documents for her clients' needs.

Other sites like legalzoom.com generate online forms, but only a handful in the country provide an attorney's customized assistance, Kimbro said. With no office or secretary to pay for, she charges $450 for a basic estate planning package including wills and power of attorney agreements, about half what a traditional lawyer would charge, she said.

"It's a very nice package, very professionally done," said Pat Murphy, a financial services representative who recommends Kimbro to customers who don't have wills. "They need to do something about it and it's the simplest way to do it."

Geoffrey Losee, a local attorney, said he was unfamiliar with the site but dubious of the idea. You get what you pay for, he said.

"I can't imagine that you're getting the kind of care and thoughtful analysis that you need," he said.

But Kimbro said the arrangement allows her to take care of business that many firms rely on paralegals to handle. She's betting other lawyers will see the software as a complement to a traditional practice or an alternative to one. In June, she and her programmer husband, Benjamin Norman, filed to patent their business method and software. They are seeking investors to grow the business.

"There is a need for services that are efficient, that are fast and that just provide the basics to people," Kimbro said.

The epiphany behind the site came three years ago as Kimbro fielded phone calls during a hectic week at Shanklin & Nichols, a downtown law firm. So much of what callers needed was basic legal assistance, the kind of work that often still gets billed at rates that scare many people off, she said.

The online approach should have special appeal to women, who represent nearly half of law school students, Kimbro said. Like herself, they often graduate in their mid- to late 20s with a mountain of debt and a looming dilemma - how to start a family while dedicating themselves to a career they've only just started.

"If you want to have a family of any kind, it's tricky," she said. "I see this as a good solution."

In more than two years, researching potential competition, Kimbro said she was surprised to find the field wide open. Russell Rawlings, communications director with the N.C. Bar Association, said he was aware of no other online practice in North Carolina.

"I just don't think lawyers and geeks get together all that often," Kimbro said.

The most common concern she has received are questions about how she knows her customers are who they say they are. Documents like wills still need to be notarized with witnesses, she said. She explains to users how to do that, she said.

Ken Shanklin, whose practice is where Kimbro worked before her pregnancy, said he's not worried about the effect on demand for his business. Some people will always want the face-to-face communication of a traditional practice and many of his cases are so complex and long-lasting the Internet is not a realistic option.

"It's not the way I was brought up," he said. "But there is a place for that."

Sam Scott: 343-2370

sam.scott@starnewsonline.com