Now Scots can make a basic will online

Whatever the day, or time, the place is heaving – literally – as thick-set individuals stack high their plates with roasties and veg and galumph back to their tables.

What have large plates of food got to do with law? Well, the carvery HAS to be heaving to make money. The profit margin on the meals is minimal – but if those waddling through those doors every day also buy drinks and desserts, and most do, the economics stack up.

It is rather like that with commoditised online law – yet in an era where most of us are comfortable with internet transactions in all areas of our lives, lawyers have come rather late to the party.

Thorntons insists Login2Law is the first time Scottish consumers have had the opportunity to complete a range of basic transactions, such as making a will, in a secure online environment. With charges starting at low £60, Thorntons will need to process lots of wills (like lots of carvery meals) to recoup its significant investment in developing the site.

Shirley Phillips, the Thorntons associate heading up Login2Law, says: “The work behind the documents has been really intensive. It has been a couple of years in the making, but we decided online was the way legal services were going and this was where we should be investing.

“Lawyers can be quite traditional and just get on with the way we do things. We feel this can set us apart as being forward-thinking. Clients are increasingly busy and want to save time and money. One way to do this was to make legal services available online. “

Thorntons worked with Epoq on the Rapidocs technology, and Phillips says feedback from English firms which have gone down a similar route is positive and that they have picked up new clients.

Thorntons’ online foray is aimed beyond its normal east-coast client base, but Phillips does not accept it is only about doing masses more business to make its investment pay.

“This is just something we need to be doing,” she says. “It will take time for people to get used to it and accept it is backed by a professional legal firm. It will be a slow burn but worth it in the long term.”

She insists Login2Law has big advantages over competitors: “You can access actual documentation online. There is lots of very helpful advice online but Login combines that with the opportunity to access and complete real documents and interact with the website. Users are asked about their wishes and needs and the document constructs itself in front of them.

“You can get anything checked by a legal professional, so you have the convenience of online services with the security of being backed up by a professional legal service if you want that additional support.”

Chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland, Lorna Jack, is a fan: “Login2Law is not only impressive but sits as a clear example of where new technology can be used to reach a wider pool of clients. Having looked around the site myself, it is clear to me that this kind of innovative approach highlights the ability of the web to make it quicker and easier for individuals and business to access legal services.”

Thorntons is developing a broader range of Login2Law services, but Phillips says not every document is the right fit for an online format.

“There are situations where documents are not suitable and we tell a client to seek independent advice or go down another path,” she says.

“There will be clients who want to see a lawyer, which is fine – this is an option. However, it can work the other way. Some people are superstitious talking about wills and funeral arrangements. One woman completed her will online and said she couldn’t have talked about it face to face or on the phone. She was much more comfortable typing an e-mail.”

Thorntons is trying to use Login2Law to drive up the number of people completing wills in Scotland.

“The statistics on people without a will in Scotland scare me,” says Phillips. “People have to guess what a loved one might have wanted and it causes upset and family arguments. The amount of worry, delay and expense that making a will can save is quite astronomical. I hope we can make some inroads – it would have a massive benefit. So many people, including lawyers, have just not got round to it. Maybe giving people the chance to do it in the comfort of their home at a time that suits them will make a difference. I was involved in testing and made a point of reading all the warnings and notices, and I made a will that wasn’t straightforward, with a number of specific bequests. Even then, I completed it in 15 minutes.”

Thorntons-commissioned YouGov research suggests some 50 per cent of people thought if they didn’t make a will, their estate would automatically go to their loved ones.

“They just don’t understand the implications of the cost of winding up an estate and of dying intestate, and the need to petition a court to become an executor,” says Phillips. “It is extra hassle when you are already coping with a death.”

While the early days of Login2Law are focused on wills, Thorntons plans a range of online documents as part of the project. This already includes short assured tenancies, as Phillips says many styles currently in use are “way out of date and not legally effective”, and, further down the line, documents pertaining to divorce.

But does the cheapness of the online services suggest that lawyers’ fees were too costly? Phillips laughs: “I think it’s about giving clients value for money, rather than saying lawyers are too expensive.”