How much does DirectLaw cost?

Click here to see our current price list

What is included in the cost?

The ongoing monthly fee covers hosting, maintenance, continual improvements and the development of extra features, plus all legal content updating. Currently, there are no usage charges on any documents drafted by clients online – we have waived this cost. And for no additional cost, your DirectLaw subscription also includes access to Rapidocs LawDraft, our document assembly system, to use in-house for the quick and efficient drafting of complex documents using the same templates provided by DirectLaw.

What is the typical cost of a DirectLaw deployment?

As noted above, the cost of DirectLaw varies according to the options, libraries and licences you elect to subscribe to, but monthly site costs are typically between £350 (for a sole practitioner) to £500, with the average monthly cost being £450 . This includes an extensive online document library, ecommerce facilities, full service and support, ongoing site maintenance and branding, continual legal content updates, and use of Rapidocs LawDraft for in-house drafting.

How long will it take to set up DirectLaw for my firm?

Setting up DirectLaw for your firm is a smooth and efficient process. You will be assigned a project assistant who will help you through the setup, ensuring that you select the options that best suit your firm and make sure that the appearance of your DirectLaw site matches that of your firm’s site. Once we have all the information from you, your DirectLaw site could be set up in less than 7 working days.

Can DirectLaw be integrated into my own site?

Absolutely! In fact, that is how we largely expect the service to be run. You can offer your DirectLaw site as a single standalone site if you wish, but the service is designed to be integrated within your own site, and to maintain your branding across both.

What do we need to get started?

All you’ll need is to provide a page on your website (a landing page) to host links to your DirectLaw site. We’ll then provide the links you need to embed on your site which will seamlessly link your website with your DirectLaw site, so your clients will be unaware of the difference. If you are not sure how this works, don’t worry as we will advise you and, if you wish explain the best ways to set up multiple routes for customers to access your service.

How customisable is DirectLaw?

Very. You have full control over the range of documents and legal services you want to offer, which include commercial controls such as setting pricing, any associated options and discount schemes, so that you can provide your online services exactly how you want to. Site customisation also allows for some basic branding and colour matching with your existing website, along with textual edits of instruction pages, terms and conditions and letters of engagement.

Does my site have to take online payments?

No. The DirectLaw service is structured to be flexible and the ecommerce payment module is optional. If you don’t want to take payments online, you can use your DirectLaw site as a free-to-access service. This is a service where no fees are shown, and you simply direct clients to the site where they can undertake the initial document interview and create the first draft. You would then review the document and decide to take the matter forward online or in-office. This approach allows you flexibility on pricing while maintaining or improving your margin, and offering a cutting-edge web presence.

How is online payment handled?

If you decide to offer ecommerce services, all transaction and payment processing is handled securely by DirectLaw with revenue received (less any transaction costs such as credit card fees) being passed to your bank account.

What's best for my firm – a fixed-fee online payment or 'free-to access’ offline payment site?

This depends on how you would like your online service to operate – both approaches have their advantages. Broadly speaking a site with ecommerce facilities offers an immediacy and fixed fees which clients find appealing, whereas a ‘free-to-access’ site allows you to price your services for individual clients. One of our Business Development Directors can discuss the options available to you and help you identify which is best for your firm.

What happens when a client doesn't purchase a document straight away?

Clients are able to save a partially completed document draft and return to it at any time to edit and proceed. This gives them a chance to get together any missing information required or to consider their options, without losing the time investment they have already made. And, if they are just at the stage when they are undecided about the law firm they want to use, it gives them a reason to return to your site.

What happens when a client completes and purchases a document?

Post-purchase, when the client is ready to have their document reviewed, they can submit it you securely online and it will be made available to your firm for review in the administration part of the system. You can export the document into a word processing package and, once any necessary changes have been made, return it to the client securely through the system, complete with signing instructions. Alternatively you can ask the client to come into to the office for a face-to face discussion at the point of document handover.

Is DirectLaw compliant?

Yes. Epoq is an expert in the delivery of online legal services, and we have been particularly careful to ensure that the DirectLaw service is fully compliant for use by solicitors. Click here to read our background paper on regulation and compliance.

Is the payment process compliant?

Yes. If you choose to offer your clients the option of paying online then you will have to set a fixed fee for each of your services. Under such circumstances, the fee taken represents ‘office’ (rather than ‘client’) money and the service is fully compliant on this basis.

Can I edit the website Terms and Conditions and Rule 2 letter?

Yes, you can, though standard terms and conditions and a Rule 2 letter are included on your DirectLaw site and written with the delivery mechanisms of the service in mind. You can change the text of these documents if you wish, but we would recommend discussing the requirements with us beforehand, as we can advise on best matching your terms with the technological possibilities that the DirectLaw service offers.

How does the system handle Money Laundering checks?

The DirectLaw site itself doesn’t handle these checks, though it does capture the information you need to feed into your existing Money Laundering processes. It remains your responsibility to perform Money Laundering checks on your clients, regardless of the fact that they have initially come to you online.

How does the system handle conflict checks?

The DirectLaw site itself does not, though it does capture the information you need to feed into your existing conflict check processes. It remains your responsibility to perform conflict checks on your clients, regardless of the fact that they have initially come to you online.

How can I perform a mental capacity check online?

If you are concerned about the mental capacity of your client, we advocate that you do not return the document to them online via DirectLaw. If you wish, it is very simple to retain the document after you have completed your review and edit, and insist that the client comes into your office for final review/payment/signature. There are specific mechanisms in the DirectLaw interface for allowing and managing this.

Can the client get hold of the document without me checking it?

Not if you don’t want them to. There are a whole range of switchable settings within DirectLaw to allow you to precisely control what the client can see, and what they can do, at each step of the journey. For example: • Obscuring controls allow the client to see, but not use, the draft in progress • Questionnaire only mode can be used if you don’t want them see a live draft at all • The client cannot access the document while it is with you for review or conflict and ML checks • You can decide to return the online document in a non-editable format such as PDF

How are the online document templates provided?

Our legal document templates are provided using Rapidocs, Epoq’s automated document assembly system, which allows for the creation of sophisticated draft documents through an online questionnaire.

Do we have to write the legal content?

No. All the online templates that are the basis for the document drafts are provided by Epoq.

Who writes the Rapidocs document templates?

All of our documents are researched and written by our team of expert barristers and solicitors, who constantly review and update the existing content and add new templates and options on a regular basis. We have a dedicated and expansive team working on our content and have been honing our online templates for over a decade.

What is contained within the content library?

Click here for a full list of documents in each library

Can we change the legal templates or write our own?

Yes, though with some reservations. As standard, firms using DirectLaw do not have the ability to author their own content or change the Rapidocs document templates specifically for their site, unless they are prepared to maintain them (Epoq’s legal team will only keep Epoq’s own templates current with the law and will not maintain other templates on another firm's behalf). Furthermore, there is an additional charge for authoring capabilities and a training overhead. However, if this is something you would like to explore, please contact us to discuss the options available.

Can I use the templates to draft offline documents (ie. use Rapidocs in-house)?

Yes, you can – in fact we offer a dedicated site for this, Rapidocs LawDraft, and access to this service (which includes a number of useful features for the law firm drafting environment) is currently included at no extra cost with your DirectLaw subscription.

Can Epoq help me position or market my online service?

Yes. Every DirectLaw account has their own account manager, who acts as first point of contact for a firm while they ‘bed in’ their new DirectLaw site. They can advise on strategies for using the site to its best advantage and to appeal to your market. In addition, Epoq is in contact with a wide network of specialists in SEO, PPC and online marketing techniques, and so even if we can’t help directly, we can certainly advise firms on the right people to get in touch to take their site forward.

Who is behind DirectLaw?

DirectLaw has been developed by Epoq Legal who has invested millions of pounds in developing the technology and legal content used. There are over 150 law firms using DirectLaw worldwide, and the number is growing rapidly every month. In addition, Epoq provide the technology underlying the online legal services of many large law firms and major institutions, including MORE TH>N, NatWest, RSA, DAS, Halifax, RBS, Pannone LLP, Nelsons, Russell Jones & Walker and many others. To find out more about Epoq click here

What is the DirectLaw Online Payment Request facility?

The Online Payment Request facility will also a law firm to request payment for any service and for nay amount, via your DirectLaw site, regardless of whether the client has a transaction in place with you. It effectively allows a firm to use the online ‘basket’ system provided with the optional ecommerce module on a DirectLaw site to bill for anything they’d like.

How does it work?

From with the DirectLaw site backend, a law firm can select an client from the User list and then enter the details of the payment they want the client to make- amount, description etc. The request is then created, and the client notified they have pending payment request via email. When the client then logs into DirectLaw, the payment request appears on their ‘My services’ page and they can then click through to pay the request off using the online basket. Monies collected from clients in this way are paid to the law firm on the same payment schedule as normal document-based online transactions, once a month.

Which law firms can use this facility?

In order for a law firm to create an online payment request, they must:

• have a DirectLaw site (i.e. this facility is not available standalone)
• Have an ecommerce facility – i.e. have a monthly subscription that includes the optional payment basket to allow them to take payment for priced documents/service on their site. (About three-quarters of all DirectLaw firms have elected to take this option, and those who currently do not can easily expand their subscription to include it)

In addition, the individual within the firm creating the payment request must have administrator level access.

What can it be used for?

It can be used to request payment for anything – the law firm has complete control over the amount billed and the description. Payment requests do not have to be related to services provided online through DirectLaw (though for services with variable fees this is an excellent way of collecting any fees due once the service has been delivered) but can be for anything. The firm must still of course comply with the regulatory framework –see the question below on legal limitations.

How much does this facility cost?

If you already have a subscription that include the ecommerce facility, then nothing – this service is provides as an additional benefit of that module and there are no extra subscription cost for you to pay in order to make use of it. If you do not have the ecommerce module as part of your subscription, this is required, and is currently priced at £100 pcm + VAT Epoq make no charge for each transaction, but credit card providers may charge on a per transaction basis in line with their own standard terms and conditions (as they would for any other credit card payment).

Is this a full-scale invoicing system?

No. In fact it is specifically not an invoice system, in that it does not generate invoice numbers (there are specific rules from HM Revenue & Customs on how such systems should operate.) Rather, it a just a convenient mechanism for collecting payment online Note, however, that if a firm has an invoice system already, which can generate HMRC compliant invoices, these can be attached to the payment requests (in PDF or Doc format) so they can be supplied to the client when they log in – client they will be able to access such attachments both before and after payment from their My Services page.

Who can a firm request payment from?

Anybody, provided that the intended recipient has a login to use the firm’s DirectLaw site in order to log on and pay the request. Of course, a User login can be created specifically for the purpose of collecting online payment – they do not need to have bought a document in the past or used the website previously, they just need to have login. Clients can create this for themselves or a law firm can create a login for them (using the standard or quick registration functions) and supply them the details.

Are there any legal limitations?

Payment via this mechanism is subject to the same regulatory framework as any other method, and the existing rules about handling client/firm money still apply. As this mechanism is concerned with requesting payment, it is suitable for collecting the final payment for anything where the price has previously been agreed, or in part payment for something where the part payment amount has also been agreed. It is not suitable for taking client money on account. This is highlighted with the following legal notice shown on the starting page of every new payment request:

Legal Notice

We do not verify Online Payment Requests. You must satisfy yourself that, in relation to any Online Payment Request that you submit to a client, you may properly require that payment to be made by that client, and that you may properly require the client to make that payment to us on your behalf, having regard to all applicable laws, regulations and the terms that you have agreed with, and the information that you have provided to, your client. In particular, you must not, in any circumstances, use the Online Payment Requests facility to request payment of client money

How can a firm track payments online?

Just as there is for document reviews, there is a dedicated table showing the status of all payment requests, which is accessible from the firms administration area of the DirectLaw website. It shows which have been paid and which are outstanding, the date each was raised and/or paid, the client names, amounts and description, and the internal reference number used to keep track of them.

Can a firm cancel a payment request?

Yes – a firm can either mark a payment request as ‘Paid’ or cancel it completely is they find it necessary to do so, perhaps because payment has been settled by another mechanism.

How are those involved notified of a payment request status?

Via email. System messages are sent out to the parties involved for the following reasons:

To the firm: Confirmation of request creation, Notification of request paid, Confirmation of request cancelled.

To the client: Notification of request creation, Conformation of request paid, Notification of request cancelled.