(Photo credit: rvw)
Sign up for a free webinar, hosted by MyCase, on June 27th, 2013 at 11am PDT / 2pm EDT. At the webinar, Carolyn Elefant and I will discuss the top ten ethical red flags your firm should consider when taking on new technology.
Covered topics will include:
- Confidentiality and security considerations when using cloud and mobile solutions
- Attorney-client relationships, advertising, and other challenges when using social and online platforms
- Virtual law office ethical issues, such as avoiding the unauthorized practice of law
- Escrow account issues, alternative billing, outsourcing, and more.
The Presenters:
- Carolyn Elefant is the Founder and Principal Attorney with the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant in Washington D.C. She is also an ABA-published author. She wrote “Solo By Choice” and is the co-author of “Social Media For Lawyers.”
- Nicole Black is an Attorney in Rochester, New York, the Business Development Director at MyCase, ABA-published author of “Cloud Computing For Lawyers” and co-author of “Social Media For Lawyers.”
CLE Accreditation Pending – MyCase is currently working with the California State Bar to be able to provide free CLE credit to webinar attendees.
This week’s Daily Record column is entitled ”The latest in Android apps for lawyers.”
A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.
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The latest in Android apps for lawyers
A while ago I wrote an article that focused on resources for Android-toting lawyers and promised that I’d follow up with an article on Android apps for lawyers. Well if you’re a lawyer who loves Android devices but haven’t yet figured out which apps will help you in your law practice, you’re in luck! What follows are some great Android apps that will help you to stay on top of your law practice no matter where you are.
And before I start, I’d like to extend my thanks to Rochester attorney Steven Feder, an avid Android user, for sharing his favorite list of Android apps from a recent presentation that he gave on this very topic. His list was a wonderful resource and helped me tremendously in drafting this article.
First, let’s focus on the substantive legal apps developed for lawyers using Android devices.
For conducting free legal research on the fly, look no further than the Fastcase app. Another great resource is dLaw, which provides free access to federal statutes and rules along with access to Google Scholar’s legal research capabilities, and also offers paid access to various state statutes and rules.
For a functional legal dictionary, there’s LawGuide. Another great resource is the NYSBA’s ethics app, which provides full, searchable access to all New York ethics opinions.
For specific practice area tools, there’s Karl’s Mortgage, a mortgage amortization app and QuickTax, an app that is chock full of tax-related information.
Picture it Settled is an app that is currently free, although that may start charging an access fee down the road. This app aids in settlement negotiations by using predictive analytics — including vast amounts of settlement data — to assist lawyers during negotiations.
And of course, there are apps devoted to legislative and Supreme Court topics, including We the People (the full text of the U.S. Constitution), Congress (everything you ever wanted to know about Congress and pending bills), and PocketJustice (everything you ever wanted to know about the U.S. Supreme Court).
If a mobile office is what you seek, the following apps will help you achieve that goal. First, there’s Documents to Go, which is a great, albeit somewhat pricey ($24.95), word processing app that allows you to create Word documents.
Next, ScanToPDF is a really handy app that turns your Android device into a scanner. EFax is a mobile fax app that is a really useful tool, but you have to sign up for their eFax service in order to use it. Finally, there’s SignEasy, an app makes it easy to sign a document using your finger or of stylus and then share the executed document via email.
And last but not least, a few apps that turn your Android device into a personal assistant. First there’s SpeakToIt, an app that allows you to speak to your phone in order to obtain all sorts of information and also performs tasks and notifies you of important events. And, finally, DictaDroid ($1.99) is a dictation app that transforms speech into text.
So there you have it. A great list of Android apps for the mobile 21st century lawyer. Download a few and see how much you can get done using just your Android device.
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and Director of Business Development and Community Relations at MyCase, an intuitive cloud-based law practice management platform for the modern law firm. She is also a GigaOM Pro Analyst and is the author of the ABA book Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a West-Thomson treatise. She is the founder of lawtechTalk.com and speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes four legal blogs and can be reached at niki@mycase.com.
First, the giveaway. Head on over to the MyCase blog to enter to win a free copy of the JuryPad app, compliments of the good folks at Bench&Bar, LLC. The JuryPad iPad app is designed to streamline the jury selection process by assisting lawyers during voir dire. Using this app you can create voir dire templates and then keep track of potential jurors’ demographics and voir dire responses using a customizable seating chart. Enter to win today!
Next, check out this great infographic that we created and published at the MyCase blog that is chock full of useful and interesting statistics about lawyers use of mobile law practice management tools. It offers lots of insight into how attorneys are communicating with their clients and managing their busy law practices while mobile and on the move.
Over at the MyCase blog, I wrote about a number of new apps for lawyers that were recently released. Check it out here.
In case you missed it, I recently wrote a post over at the Lawyerist blog about the best iPad PDF storage and annotation apps. Head on over, check it out, and add your favorites in the comments.
Over at the MyCase blog, we’re holding a giveaway for 2 free copies of TrialPad app, compliments of the good folks at Lit Software. Learn how you can enter to win a copy of this app here.
Why you want it: TrialPad is one of the leading iPad trial presentation apps. It’s designed to provide an affordable alternative to expensive trial presentation software or trial consultants. The idea is that using TrialPad, lawyers can organize, manipulate, and annotate documents for presentation at trial using only an iPad.
So head on over to the MyCase blog and enter to win!
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Join me at the “Cloud Computing for Lawyers” Google Plus community! Stay on top of legal cloud computing issues and developments. Share your thoughts on how cloud computing will be implemented in the legal field. Analyze the way that cloud computing will change the way that lawyers do business and run their firms.
Come one, come all! Hope to see you there!
This Daily Record column is entitled “Legal technology predictions for 2013.”
A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.
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Legal technology predictions for 2013
Each year, I take a stab at predicting the legal profession’s reaction and implementation of 21st century technologies. And this year is no different. I’m not always correct, but I often have a good sense of the pulse of the legal profession when it comes to its perception and adoption of technology into the practice of law.
So let’s start with mobile devices. Last year I predicted that lawyers’ use of tablets would increase dramatically and that iPads would be the tablet of choice. According to the American Bar Association’s Annual Legal Technology survey, my predictions were correct. The percentage of lawyers using tablets for law-related tasks in 2012 nearly doubled to 33 percent and 91 percent of those lawyers who use tablet devices preferred the iPad.
I believe that trend will continue in 2013, with the percentage of lawyers using tablets nearly tripling, with iPads leading the way. And, at least 15 percent of new iPads purchased will be iPad minis. Eventually, at least half of lawyers who choose to buy iPads will prefer the iPad mini, in large part because its lighter weight and smaller size make it more easily transportable in a handbag, briefcase or suit pocket.
Last year I also predicted that smartphone use would continue to increase in 2012, with iPhones in the lead, Androids coming in at a close second, and that BlackBerrys would quickly fall into disfavor.
Again, my predictions were borne out, with the ABA’s survey indicating that BlackBerry use declined significantly, dropping from 46 percent of smart phone users in 2011 to just 31 percent this year. Additionally, most lawyers who stopped using the BlackBerry switched to the iPhone, with iPhone use increasing from 31 percent in 2011 to 44 percent in 2012. My prediction regarding Android use was a bit off, with Android use increasing only 1 percentage point, from 15 to 16 percent.
I expect that these trends will continue in 2013, with BlackBerry use continuing to decline. During that same time, Android use will increase by at least 10 percent, as will iPhone use.
Next up, social media. Last year I predicted that the percentage of lawyers using of social media would remain relatively stagnant, with some lawyers abandoning their accounts and others jumping into social media for the first time. The ABA survey’s results supported this, with the percentage of lawyers using Facebook increasing to 38 percent, which is only a 4 percent increase from 2011 to 2012. Similarly, the percentage of lawyers reporting that they had a LinkedIn presence was 96 percent, representing only a 1 percentage point increase from 2011.
Once again, I predict that social media use will largely plateau in 2013. The only wild card is Google Plus. Last year I predicted that lawyers’ use of this social network would begin to increase in late 2012 and it’s unclear to me whether that is actually happening. That being said, Google Plus appears to be gaining traction and it will be interesting to see how it develops in 2013 and whether it will be of any benefit to lawyers.
Finally, as I’d expected, cloud computing use by lawyers increased slowly in 2012, with 21 percent of respondents to the ABA’s survey indicating that they used cloud-based software — an increase of only 5 percent from last year. Similarly, the cloud computing backlash from ethics committees that I’d expected also occurred, with the issuance of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Ethics Opinion 12-03, which requires Massachusetts lawyers to obtain client consent prior to using cloud computing platforms to store confidential client information.
That being said, I also predicted last year that in mid-2013 cloud computing use in law firms will begin to show a marked increase and I stand by that prediction. The reason for the increase is simple: lawyers are becoming more familiar with cloud computing technology. Their concerns regarding security risks are slowly dissipating, while the many benefits offered by cloud computing — affordability, convenience, flexibility, secure client communications portals, and built-in back up and disaster plans — are beginning to outweigh any perceived security risks. As this shift in perception occurs, lawyers will increasingly take advantage of cloud computing services and the many benefits that they offer.
So, those are my legal technology predictions for 2013. Only time will tell if I’m right or if I’m wrong. But either way, it’ll be interesting to see what the next year brings.
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and Director of Business Development and Community Relations at MyCase, an intuitive cloud-based law practice management platform for the modern law firm. She is also a GigaOM Pro Analyst and is the author of the ABA book Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a West-Thomson treatise. She is the founder of lawtechTalk.com and speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes four legal blogs and can be reached at niki@mycase.com.
This week’s Daily Record column is entitled “2012: The year of the mobile lawyer?”
A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.
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2012: The year of the mobile lawyer?
Like it or not, we are now living in a mobile world, made possible in large part due to rapid advances in mobile and cloud technologies. The effect of these tools on the legal profession is becoming increasingly apparent, especially as these technologies improve and the prices drop, making mobile devices more accessible and more affordable than ever before.
Proof that the legal profession is embracing mobile tools can be found in the results of the American Bar Association’s 2012 Legal Tech Survey. According to the survey, laptop use increased significantly, with 38 percent of lawyers reporting that they switched from desktops to laptops as their primary computer of choice. And, a whopping 89 percent of lawyers reported using smart phones in 2012. Finally, over the past year, the number of lawyers using tablets more than doubled.
When it comes to smartphones, BlackBerry, once the preferred mobile device for lawyers, fell out of favor dropping from 46 percent of smart phone users in 2011 to just 31 percent this year. Meanwhile, the number of lawyers using iPhones went up in 2012, with that number increasing from 31 percent in 2011 to 44 percent in 2012. The number of lawyers using Android phones was the smallest, with Android use increasing only 1 percentage point in 2012, from 15 to 16 percent.
Tablet use was also on the rise in 2012. The iPad was released in the United States less than three years ago in April 2010. Since that time, lawyers have quickly acclimated to tablet use and the number of lawyers using tablets has risen dramatically every year. For example, according to the ABA’s survey, in 2011, 15 percent of lawyers reported using tablets for law-related tasks, but in 2012, that number increased to 33 percent.
Not surprisingly, as lawyers’ use of mobile tools increased, so too did lawyers’ use of mobile apps. One of the most popular types of apps used by lawyers are PDF annotations tools, which facilitate the storage and organization of PDFs and also allow the user to fill out PDF forms and annotate PDF documents by striking text, adding text, highlighting text and more. Some of the most-used PDF annotation apps for iPads include PDF Expert (my preferred app), Good Reader and iAnnotate.
And, of course, with the rise in the number of lawyers using mobile devices, the number of apps developed specifically for lawyers has increased rapidly, with new ones being rolled out all the time. These apps aid lawyers at every stage of the litigation process, including legal research, depositions, jury selection and trial presentation. The list of iPad apps for lawyer includes, but is not limited to: TranscriptPad, TrialPad, JuryStar, ExhibitView, Jury Duty, Mobile Transcript, The Deponent App, Exhibit A, iJuror, iPleading, iJury, iTestimony, MobiLit, JuryPad, TouchTax, FastCase and LawStack.
So, it seems that lawyers and mobile commuting were made for each other. Although traditionally the legal profession has sometimes been hesitant to embrace new technologies, mobile computing appears to be an exception to this pattern. Lawyers understand that mobile technologies make their jobs easier and provide a level of convenience and flexibility never before seen, while simultaneously offering innovative and affordable ways to better serve their clients. And, at the end of the day, isn’t that what lawyering is all about?
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and Director of Business Development and Community Relations at MyCase, an intuitive cloud-based law practice management platform for the modern law firm. She is also a GigaOM Pro Analyst and is the author of the ABA book Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a West-Thomson treatise. She is the founder of lawtechTalk.com and speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes four legal blogs and can be reached at niki@mycase.com.
In October, I reviewed the IPEVO Typi Folio iPad case and bluetooth keyboard for iPad3 and iPad2 for the ABA GPSolo Division’s eReport.
From my review:
You may recall that I reviewed an earlier version of this case last May, concluding that aside from the fact that my iPad didn’t fit as snugly into the case as I would have liked, I found it to be an attractive, highly functional case and keyboard.
Shortly after I wrote that review, the folks at IPEVO released an updated and improved Typi Folio Case and keyboard and offered to send it to me for my review. Like its predecessor, this case retails for $79 and is very similar to the prior version that I reviewed, with a few very notable improvements.
Before I highlight the improvements, let’s cover the basics. It continues to offer a magnetized QWERTY keyboard that can easily be removed by gently lifting it up from the case. Like the keyboards that accompany most iPad cases, it is not a full-sized keyboard, but instead is a slightly smaller, more compact version.
Bottom line: it’s a very nice iPad case/bluetooth keyboard combo and is much more attractive than most of the others out there. You should definitely check it out!
