There are several strategic legal advantages to using the Internet in your law practice.

• Clients and potential clients are on the Internet. With the number and income level of the users using the Internet, businesses are rushing to attract them to their products and services and communicate with them. Many of these users or businesses are clients or potential clients for your firm. Having your own web site offers a unique opportunity to reach out to clients and explain why your firm is the one to assist them. It also provides an opportunity to provide them with legal briefs, newsletters, or other legal information of value, such as links to government agencies of interest to your clients.
• Other law firms and competing nonlawyers are marketing themselves on the Internet. There are thousands of firms with web sites and more are being added daily. Nonlawyers are also finding their way onto the WWW to offer legal services. The competition for clients can sometimes be quite intense as law firms market their services. An effective way to market your firm 24 hours a day to anyone located anywhere is to have a web site. Establishing an Internet presence enables people to get information about your law firm and the services you offer.  Most importantly, the Internet will help to make legal services and information on the law accessible to a much larger portion of the public. It will create a more efficient marketplace, and Internet technologies will help drive down the cost of practicing law. Thus, more people will be able to hire lawyers.
• Conversation among lawyers and clients creating and cementing relationships is already taking place on the web. The ubiquitous low cost availability of e-mail has provided unparalleled access to your clients. E-mail provides the ability to send messages, documents, exhibits, or spreadsheets to clients anytime and anyplace. It cements and fortifies existing attorney/client relationships, especially as both parties assist each other in adapting to the new technologies. Besides e-mail, many lawyers are networking by hosting or participating in discussions by using listservs and newsgroups with potential clients on the Internet. Intranets and Extranets are allowing lawyers and clients to share information and collaborate on their cases.
• Unparalleled and cost effective access to legal and factual information. Legal, business, and financial information on the Web has been a driving force for attorneys to use the WWW. The United States Code, Code of Federal regulations (CFR), Supreme Court cases, law review articles, state statutes, caselaw and other legal information are on the WWW; more information is being added daily. The Wall Street Journal, Dun & Bradstreet, stock market companies, and news services are all on the Web, providing business information and services. Some states now provide UCC filing information, incorporation and doing business certificates, and court docketing information though the Internet. You also can locate expert witnesses, fact witnesses, and latest standards for handling propane or how to reconstruct an accident. The Web contains a phenomenal amount of information for your litigation needs.
• Connection with other justice system entities. Many courts are providing docketing and other court data on-line and considering the electronic filing for lawsuits. It is just a matter of time before court minute entries and orders and service of process are delivered via e-mail, and oral arguments are scheduled using the Internet. Federal and state agencies will use the Internet as an additional means to post proposed regulations and for other uses. Many legislatures already post proposed legislation.
• Cost effective global communication of data that includes text, voice, graphics and video. For the first time in history, we have the capability to send and receive text, voice, graphics and video to anyone located anywhere in the world at anytime. The thousands of computers linked together, and passing the information from one computer to the next, provide a seamless communication link with everyone in the world for a low cost. For the price of a low-end computer, a modem, and a fee of approximately $20 a month, one can communicate with clients, potential clients, and others. Whether that person is in Australia, Europe or North America, the communication will generally be delivered in seconds or minutes.
• Recruitment of employees. The web is fast becoming one of the most researched sites for new employees. Before, one had to explain job requirements to an applicant, get resumes, conduct face-to-face interviews, and pay steep commissions. Now, services will screen resumes from thousands of candidates and initiate contact by e-mail to begin weeding out candidates. There are thousands of people now employed who have posted their resume on the Web to look for better opportunities. Employer poaching has now become a survival need. By 2005, career networks will capture more than ½ of the 7.1 billion on-line recruitment market.
• Training of legal professionals. We will see increased interactivity and training being conducted over the web as the bandwidth increase into law firms. Real-time and archived seminars and client training sessions will become commonplace.

• Finding People. If you are looking for a witness, friend or whoever, there are a number of directories that allow you to search all of the phone books of the United States.

• Finding businesses, products and services. Yellow page electronic directories allow you to search by the type of company, area code, or zip code to help specify the location. You can find hard-to-find special item gifts, or just about any book in the country by going to sites such as www.amazon.com.

• Research. Lawyers and businesses are getting volumes of information off the net for which they were previously charged. Demographic unemployment statistics, genetic research, and a phenomenal amount of other information are available free of charge.

• Education. The latest encyclopedias are on line. We are starting to see sophisticated long distance learning by live broadcasts over the Internet via a regular phone line. Teachers, students, and parents all stay in touch using the Internet.

• Travel. Cities, town, counties, states, and nations are putting up a host of tourist and event information. You can find weather, maps, transportation schedules, and museum hours on-line. You can purchase airline tickets at discounted rates.

• Marketing and Sales. It is estimated that there will be over 3.5 billion dollars in sales by this year on the web. People are selling software, books, music disks and a host of other products over the Net. Electronic commerce will continue to grow in importance.

• Medicine. Patients, doctors and others are sharing healing experiences, keeping up with the latest medical treatments, and giving one another support over the web. Some doctors even communicate with their patients over the web.

• Investing. People are buying stocks and other securities over the web. It has revolutionized the traditional brokerage houses since one can buy and sell shares for as low as $10 a transaction.

• Organizing events. Seminar, conference, and trade show leaders are organizing their events over the web. They disseminate information, register and recruit speakers, and perform other tasks over the web.