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2014 Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers

Well, the holidays are upon us, so the hunt begins in earnest to find the right gifts for lawyers. Lawyers are a singularly difficult group of people to find gifts for and--almost to a person—they really don’t like any gift with the trite “scales of justice” slapped on it. To help their families and friends, I began publishing the Holiday Gift Guide for lawyers in 2005.

This year completes a decade of providing this service to friends and family of lawyers. Each year I gather new ideas from my fellow bar members, and peruse the latest and greatest items for lawyers across the internet and beyond. I now get hundreds of emails annually from people and companies who want "in" on the gift guide. Only one or two make it because most, well, they just don’t understand lawyers. So after a year of fun searching, I am pleased to share with you the 2014 Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers:

The LiveScribe Sky Wifi SmartPen can record both your handwritten notes and audio, and then automatically transfer these to your Evernote account for use and playback on almost any type of computing device. Tap anywhere on your notes and to replay the audio from that exact point in time. Great for lawyers during depositions, witness prep, CLE lecture, or just about anywhere!  

If Supreme Court justices can have their own bobble heads, why shouldn’t that supreme lawyer in your life
have one too?  Custom bobble heads are fun and affordable, and from the ones I’ve seen, accurately capture their subject. About $100 from Bobblebobble.com.  

The tablet market is quite saturated this year, however, the iPad Air 2 really stands out above the rest. It is lighter, more powerful than before, and the screen is amazingly sharp and crisp, making it the clear winner for 2014. Many lawyers have an iPad, but they are probably 3 to 4 years old no, so the processor is much slower and the screen less sharp. Your lawyer will love the upgrade to better performance. While you’re at it, upgrade the storage capacity to at least 64 GB. 

Over the years I’ve stayed away from suggesting professional books as holiday gifts for lawyers, but
the MacSparky Field Guide e-books break the mold. Written by litigator/legal technologist David Sparks, these e-books use a variety of imbedded media to teach skills that lawyers can use in their professional and personal lives. I recommend lawyers start with the ebooks Email and Paperless, both of which I have read and learned a great deal. Available from the iBookstore, and a perfect addition to that new iPad Air 2! 

Once again I am pleased to feature great stocking stuffers from on-line artist/craftsmen site, Etsy.com, including the “Gladiator in a Suit” shirt collar stays, the Lawyer’s Prayer plaque (which I have not seen anywhere before),
and a wonderful lawyer heart charm.

Etsy also features a number of hand-made leather laptop and briefcases that are sure to please lawyers of both genders, ranging in price from $85 to $600 or more.

Une Bobine is a USB Charge+Sync+Stand accessory that I have found to be incredible handy for my phone. The coiled “goose-neck” cable is flexible yet rigid enough to hold a mobile phone (even my iPhone 6+) in
a handy eye-level position when plugged into your computer monitor USB port. This Kickstarter-funded product has a weird name, but at $35 is a winner. (Yes, they sent me a free one, but I had no idea it would be so helpful as to end up in my HGG!)

The Bartendro 7 from PartyRobotics may not look like much under the hood, but this
“bartender in a box” can automatically mix and pour hundreds of cocktails for your holiday party. Add up to 7 bottles of liquor, mixers, or other liquid flavorings, then use the smartphone app to have Bartendro precisely dispense custom cocktails each and every time.  Also available in a 15-bottle version. Perfect for a law firm party or for that lawyer in your life who really loves a good time! 

Fascination for Powered Personal Transportation Systems continues to grow, thanks, in part, to Segway and now the Hovertrax. Developed by Inventist, the same folks that brought us the SoloWheel (featured in last year's guide), the Hovertrax is a more compact form of powered personal transportation. Forget parking at the crowded courthouse when you have the Hovertrax in your briefcase! $995 from Inventist. 

We’ve come to expect judicial ratings and ethics opinions from the American Bar Association (ABA) so why
not wine too. Yep, w-i-n-e. The ABA recently launched the ABA Wine Club so lawyers can enjoy the vinosity of a wide selection of types and vintages. The club features three levels, regular deliveries, and special pricing for ABA members and non-members. Curated wine shipments by the Terlato Wine Group, representing the largest portfolio of 90+ rated wines.

There are hundreds of portable Bluetooth speakers on the market today, but I drooled when I saw and heard the new Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A2. It isn’t the smallest portable speaker, but with B&O engineering and design, any music-loving lawyer will want to take this everywhere! 

The New Yorker Book of Lawyer Cartoons is a classic collection of cartoons from the
magazine that poke fun at judges, lawyers, and the legal profession. A must for every lawyer’s desk or office!

It took only one smoky, juicy, tender beef brisket from my new electric Masterbuilt Smoker to know that it was a sure thing for this year’s gift guide. About the size of a dorm refrigerator,
it is the tastiest and easiest way to smoke fish, meat, and just about anything else (including killer macaroni & cheese) that will bring out the carnivore in your favorite lawyer! Set the digital time and temp, add wood chips, and then monitor your meat via remote temperature gauge. The best deal I’ve found for these is on Amazon, especially if you have Amazon Prime.

The biggest problem with padlocks is that you either lose the key or forget the combination, rendering
them useless. Enter the Noke Bluetooth padlock that opens with an app on your smartphone. This Kickstarter-funded first-of-its-kind product from FuzDesigns ships in April 2015. (Not a long time to wait for a really helpful product!)  

Stump Your Lawyer: A Quiz to Challenge the Legal Mind is a described as “a hilarious tour of
the quirks and curiosities of the our legal system”—and what lawyer can resist showing off how much they know about it! Sounds like the perfect guift to me! Available at TheBillableHour.com (along with other great gifts) or in paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon.

For more ideas, visit the past nine editions of this gift guide, as many of the ideas are timeless and still available across the internet.

Here's hoping you and your favorite lawyer have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a safe and prosperous New Year!

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Top Ten Takeaways from ABA TECHSHOW 2014

    TECHSHOW Week is always great fun. This was my 16th year in attendance and my 10th as part of the faculty. Despite being diligent to answer emails and voicemails during TECHSHOW, it takes a few days to clear the Inbox and my desktop of messages and tasks. With much of that now behind me, I’ve had time to organize my top takeaways from the conference:

1. Lawyers-turned-software developers showcasing new cloud-based practice management systems were prominent throughout the Exhibit Hall. Many were confident their personal workflow processes memorialized in professional software would find an audience with TECHSHOW attendees—most of whom are solo and small firm practitioners. I was impressed with what I saw on the computer screens, but scratched my head at their ability to support their software if more than a few firms subscribed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they were there, and wish them the best was they grow. I think the rise of such vendors shows the value proposition of cloud-based software, and that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive in SmallFirm law.

2. Application host providers also populated the Exhibit Hall, and I think this bodes well for traditional software providers such as Amicus and TABS. A big cost of installing software in a law office has been the need for consultants to spend days and weeks on-site to install and configure the applications. With application hosts, the software can be installed, customized, virtualized, and maintained remotely, thereby substantially reducing the cost of this software option. While cloud-based software has the momentum and buzz at the moment, I expect this to be muted as law firms rediscover that “old” may be new again!

3. Workflow was front and center in the educational sessions and in the Exhibit Hall. Actually, I believe the correct term is “Business Process Improvement”. Remember that term, as it is finally becoming mainstream in 2014. Business process improvement (BPI) refers to the desire of lawyers to change the way they do their work, seeking improved efficiency, greater productivity, and increased mobility. Yes, some of this is being forced on lawyers, but the lawyers attending TECHSHOW are choosing their
solutions to a changing marketplace. The top tools that impressed me included Doxsera from The Form Tool. Their first product was (and is) impressive, but their latest, Doxsera is a game-changer. Jim Figel of Wordrake was also there showcasing this amazing editing software that can save lawyers time rewriting and editing their documents. I was also impressed with newcomer Bellefield with their iTimeKeep mobile app—a simple yet powerful tool to capture more billable time—that integrates with most legal time & billing software. 

4. Speaking of new, a group of us had a good first look at Lexis-Nexis’ totally-rebuilt practice management application, FirmManager. I hope to test-drive this cloud-based management and billing product more soon, but I was very impressed with what I saw in this new version. Kudos to Mike Lipps, Chris Anderson, Loretta Ruppert, and the whole the Lexis team overseeing this product, who had the guts to toss out the old version and start from scratch. The old FirmManager was limited by it’s own design, but the new one has started well and will get better throughout 2014 as additional features come on-line.

5. It was good to see an expanded presence from Clio, giving me and many other attendees a chance to ask detailed questions about the product. On the other hand, I was wondering why RocketMatter didn’t have an exhibit floor presence, although I did see my friend, Larry Port at the conference. Hats off to Matt Spiegel for tapping a keg in the MyCase booth on Thursday afternoon. I don’t always drink beer, but when I do . . .

6. I co-presented two seminars at TECHSHOW on mobile workflow (Less Paper, More Mobility and 60  iOS Apps in 60 Minutes). These sessions and others on working from outside the traditional four-walled law office shows the continuing desire of today’s lawyer to work wherever they want and need to work. Improving business processes to work effectively at home or on the road is a key part meeting the needs of today’s legal consumer as well as meeting the needs of lawyers who can’t (or won’t) be tied to just an office to complete their work.

7. I noted there was only one seminar offered on the topic of law firm websites—how to build one yourself—yet none on website best practices, search engine marketing, etc. I think lawyers need to take more interest to understand how consumers use websites and how websites can be used in their business processes with clients. I hope ABA TECHSHOW 2015 will address this need.

8. As always, I enjoy the latest gadgets, apps, and tools I see and play with at TECHSHOW, and this year was no exception—in fact, it was exceptional. Kudos to Worldox President Ray Zwiefelhofer for partnering with Sony to unveil the new Sony Digital Paper tablet--released nationally during ABA TECHSHOW. It really caught my eye, and I can see where this tool could have a home in large discovery projects and with lawyers who want to take digital notes and annotate PDFs but don’t like the feel of iPads or other tablets. I also liked the new jury app entry from Second Chair Mobile. It is well-positioned in the market to be easy-to-use at trial with robust features yet priced at $24.95. Fujitsu exhibited a new "contactless" scanner that scans both pages of an open book or magazine, and then flattens the curved image, meaning you don’t have to hold down the book to do so. 

9. There was definitely a larger crowd this year—among the largest ever. It’s not just the improved economy boosting attendance, but the growing interest of more lawyers to go beyond the traditional technology in their office. More lawyers are getting the message—improve, enhance, and change now—or let other market forces drive you out of business.

10. Congrats to Natalie Kelly, who is the first law student to chair this 28-year-old conference! You read that right—law student. Natalie is the long-time Director of the Law Practice Management Program at the Georgia Bar, and well-known legal technology guru. However, she returned to law school in 2012 to achieve her goal of becoming a lawyer. Keep up the good work, Natalie!

    I never cease to be amazed at the genuinely nice people I meet, including Eli Udell of Ottawa, Canada who joined us for a Taste of TECHSHOW dinner. Eli and a colleague in his firm were at their first TECHSHOW, having been tasked with developing a plan to improve the firm’s technology. We had a great dinner at Harry Carey’s and a great discussion throughout.

    Can't wait for ABA TECHSHOW 2015--April 16-18 at the Chicago Hilton!

Five Must-Have iPhone/iPad Apps for ABA TECHSHOW 2014

 With hundreds of thousands of apps in the Apple App Store, how can busy lawyers know which ones are the best without sorting through them all? The best way is to attend ABA TECHSHOW and come to the session 60 iOS Apps in 60 Minutes.  I’ll be co-presenting with three of the best iPhone/iPad gurus in the legal profession--Bret Burney, Chad Burton, and Jeff Richardson, to highlight the best productivity apps, showcase helpful apps you may have overlooked, and we’ll even throw in a few you can share with your colleagues and friends for a good laugh or two.

But you don’t have to wait until our session at ABA TECHSHOW. Here are five apps you’ll want to download and install now to be prepared for a great conference:

ABA TECHSHOW Conference App

The ABA TECHSHOW App is your mobile guide to the entire ABA TECHSHOW Conference and EXPO. Download it now to view the schedule and bookmark your favorite sessions, exhibitors, and speakers so you can plan your time accordingly. Keep it handy during the conference to see what sessions are underway or are next on your schedule. Use it to reserve your spot at one of several dozen Taste of TECHSHOW dinners. I’m co-hosting a dinner with my usual cohort, Dan Pinnington on Friday night. We always have a fun and interesting time! Also use the app to see what everyone is talking about on the Twitter feed and add your voice using #ABATECHSHOW. Plus the app gives attendees exclusive access to the conference materials on their mobile device. Download it now or get more information before you do.

Notability

This is one of the more robust and flexible note-taking apps on the market.  It allows for importing of web images (and maintains the external link), PDF images, graphs and tables.  It also has a strong handwriting capability and typing so you can take notes throughout the ABA TECHSHOW with a stylus or your favorite Bluetooth keyboard.  Notes can be exported to other platforms for storage.  For example, the integration with Box is such that a note from Notability can be saved into Box in the proprietary Notability format and be shifted between the apps so that editing is easy.  PDF and rich text are other options. You can also import and open any of the conference materials (in PDF format) to annotate and highlight key information. Or, engage the built-in audio recorder to capture the entire presentation for playback later.  $2.99 in the App Store.

Scanner Pro

If you’re like me and have a nasty habit of losing travel expense receipts before you can organize and log those slippery slips of paper. Enter ScannerPro. Simply snap a photo (within the app) of a paper receipt, and the app coverts it to a PDF that can easily be emailed or sent to Dropbox or Google Drive from within the app. Print them whenever you need them. I’ve also used JotNot Pro for several years, which now uploads directly to Box, but give the slight edge to ScannerPro. Not just for business receipts but for all types of documents—black & white or color—including business cards. A must for every lawyer. $6.99 in the App Store (and worth every penny)!

Box

Most everyone is familiar with Dropbox, but Box is becoming a excellent solution in the solo small legal market, thanks to a deal with the ABA for 50G of free storage. Like Dropbox, Box can be installed on all your computers and devices, so that any file you drop into Box is available on all other mobile devices and computers where Box is installed. Many apps are now include full functionality for Box, and Box is adding more apps with more functionality, quickly making it a very popular alternative for your mobile workflow. Speaking of mobile workflow, you’ll want to attend my session Less Paper, More Mobility on Friday afternoon at ABA TECHSHOW. Tom Mighell and I have put together a great presentation in this fast-changing area of legal technology. The Box app is free in the App Store.

Namerick

Do you find yourself meeting someone new at a bar event, having a great conversation but then can't seem to recall their name to follow up later? When we get more than a few business cards, how do we recall one person from another? You’re going to have plenty of new acquaintances at ABA TECHSHOW, so you’ll want to be prepared to have the right tools to expand your professional network. Good thing there's an app for that! Namerick's slogan "Become a better leader" is based on influential public figures such as Abe Lincoln and Bill Clinton, who were known for their keen ability to remember names. So how does Namerick help you do that? Enter the names of your new acquaintances in the app, using on-board features to add memorable characteristics of each person. Namerick's technology creates memory mnemonics of the person you've just met, and allows you to quickly set several reminder alarms to recall the person’s name over the next 24 hours to 2 weeks. You’ll be ready the next time you see them or when you want to put a face to that business card in your pocket to contact them later. The only thing you need to remember their name long enough to add it in your iPhone! $0.99.

And one more just for the fun of it . . . 

Wake Up and Smell the Bacon Alarm

ABA TECHSHOW is a great conference that starts early each day, so you won’t want to miss a second. One downside of the conference is that the continental breakfast served to attendees each morning lacks bacon. So to make up for that oversight, download this new app from Oscar Meyer. It will wake you to the sound of sizzling bacon each morning. And, if you are a lucky winner in this contest, Oscar Meyer will send you a limited edition device to add to your iPhone that gives off the smell of bacon too.

Attorney at Large: The New Must-Have Field Guide for Lawyers

The folks at Attorney at Work have published Attorney at Large, a terrific new resource for lawyers to help make business and leisure travel more productive and less of a hassle.  Filled with first-hand tips from frequent travelers in our profession, including yours truly, this free guide is well worth downloading and keeping on file to help make travel easier, but to help make your work easier and more productive when on the road.

No longer is it necessary to leave the office behind when on business or leisure travel. With many of the tools and ideas in this guide, you can be more efficient dealing with matters back at the office, and won't feel as frustrated when you do. Furthermore, when you are on leisure travel, you can be connected as much or as little as you want without worrying whether there is an emergency back at the office. 

Although I have read the Guide--and commend it to you--it is now in my Dropbox for further reading via my iPad on my next flight. Buffalo, Los Angeles, and Chicago all coming up in the next month!

Finally, a Real Beer App for your iPad

Where was this during Beer for Blawgers at ABA TECHSHOW 2012? I want one!

What is ABA TECHSHOW?

    For more than 25 years, ABA TECHSHOW has been the premier national conference for lawyers to share and learn about current and emerging technology for the legal profession.

    ABA TECHSHOW 2012 (March 29-31 in Chicago) comes at an important juncture in time where the confluence of societal, economic and technology trends are changing how we practice law and deliver legal services. Now, more than ever, ABA TECHSHOW 2012 is about your future in the legal profession.

    Although computer technology has been in law offices for over 30 years, it has finally achieved a tipping point. Lawyers now have more technology tools at their disposal than ever before: Affordable, reliable, and simple tools that can change the way you communicate with clients or transform your entire way of doing business.

    Lawyers can practice wherever it is most convenient, meet with clients via video from almost anywhere, remotely collaborate and draft documents in real-time, and market legal services any time, day or night. Lawyers can now deliver the services their clients want, yet in a manner that gives them the freedom to have the lifestyle they want.

    Does your firm have the right technology and do your lawyers and staff members have the necessary technology skills to compete in this new future?

    To help you, ABA TECHSHOW 2012 will offer more than 50 educational sessions across three days on the most important technology topics in our profession today: cloud computing, paperless offices, digital advertising, and iPads in the courtroom, to name just a few. All educational sessions are specifically developed for the legal profession by legal professionals. And, if you want to test-drive the latest legal products and services, ABA TECHSHOW hosts a huge exposition hall. You will be able to talk, touch, and learn how these technologies can benefit your firm.

    Don’t be nervous if this is your first ABA TECHSHOW. The Conference is designed for every lawyer and legal professional–from beginner to power user. No question is too basic. No question is too difficult to answer. There are several social events including the Taste of TECHSHOW dinners especially designed to extend the learning, sharing, and fun beyond the CLE sessions and expo hall. 

    And if that isn’t enough, ABA TECHSHOW 2012 is pleased to welcome lawyer, actor, economist, and political commentator, Ben Stein as our keynote speaker.

    Create your future by attending ABA TECHSHOW 2012 at the Hilton Chicago, March 29-31, 2012.

 

Even More 60 iPad/iPhone Apps in 60 Minutes

Several years ago, I created the 60 iPhone Apps in 60 Minutes seminar for the 2010 ABA TECHSHOW, based on the "60 Tips in 60 Minutes" format pioneered at that conference. I was joined that year by Jeff Richardson (iPhoneJD), and when we updated the session at the 2011 TECHSHOW, Tom Mighell (iPad4Lawyers) and Josh Barrett (TabletLegal) joined the faculty (along with the iPad).

We have now presented upated versions of the program to several on-line audiences of over 200 lawyers, most recently this past Wednesday. They audience has some great questions, so we thought we'd publish them across our blogs.

Question #1 from S.F. from Anchorage, AK:  What is the best way for lawyers to use Dropbox or a similar service with an iPhone or iPad, assuming the need to access client information occasionally?

Answer:  Dropbox is a useful service for sharing documents between multiple computers and between a computer and an iPhone and/or iPad.  Because Dropbox is run by a third party, however, you need to be conscious of security issues.  Jeff's solution is that he only uses Dropbox for non-confidential documents, such as copies of pleadings, depositions and exhibits.  For confidential attorney-client documents, Jeff keeps those documents in an app like GoodReader or Quickoffice that allows you to password-protect documents.

Tom also uses Dropbox, but understands that SpiderOak provides better security.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t integrate with as many iPad apps as Dropbox, which limits its utliity.  Tom also recommends GoodReader as a good app for downloading and accessing your Dropbox files - it is relatively simple to connect your Dropbox account to GoodReader, and start downloading files to your iPad.  Tom says "Whenever I download a new app, one of the first things I do is check to see whether it integrates with Dropbox - you may find you have a lot of apps that do so, and it may be easier to download into those apps directly from Dropbox, rather than into GoodReader."

Josh often uses the file manager built into LogMeIn Ignition to grab confidential client files left on the computer back at the office. The transfer from desktop to iPad is encrypted end-to-end and doesn't let the document sit on a cloud based service so the confidentiality concerns some raise about services like Dropbox don't apply. The key to using any cloud based service with your device is setting up a good workflow to help keep track of document revisions, versions and originals.

Reid uses the Dropbox-GoodReader combo, and also uses DropBox to transfer PDFs to the Apple iBooks app for reading. 

Alternate Calendar Apps

Question #2 from J.H. from San Francisco, CA: Does entering an event in Calvetica simultaneously make the entry in the iPhone Calendar app?

Answer:  Yes.  One of the nice features of third party calendar apps such as Calvetica, Easy Calendar or Agenda is that the all use the iPhone and iPad's built-in calendar database.  Thus, you can use one app to enter an event, another app to edit the event, another app to view the event, and they are all working from the same database. 

Question #3 from C.P. from Greenwood Village, CO:  Do the calendar apps interface with Microsoft Outlook calendars?

Question #4 from L.L. from Saint Louis, MO:  Do the calendar apps interface with MS Outlook?  We use an Exchange server to coordinate with our iPhones.

Answer:  Again, yes,  Because all iPhone and iPad calendar apps use the built-in calendar database, if you have your iPhone and iPad configured to synchronize with your office's Exchange server, you can add an event in a third-party app and then the change will be synced to Exchange and will show up in Outlook on your computer.

Stylus

Question #5 from C.McD. from Blue Bell, PA: What stylus do you like for Penultimate?

Question #6 from M.M. from Reno, NV:  What is the name of the suggested stylus?

Answer:  Jeff's current favorite stylus is the Kensington Virtuoso Stylus for Tablet which he reviewed on iPhone J.D. here.  Tom's current favorite stylus is the Adonit Jotpro Stylus.  If you go to the iPhone J.D. website and do a search at the top right for “stylus” you will find lots of reviews pointing out the advantages and shortcomings of many different options. Josh uses the MORE/REAL Stylus cap (http://uncrate.com/stuff/morereal-stylus-caps/) because it has the weight and balance of a regular pen. That said, Josh recommends waiting until version 2 is released with the faster tip. 

Accessing Online Legal Resources

Question #7 from: M.S. from Shawnee Mission, KS: Two general questions regarding the iPad.  First, do you have any suggestions on how to access electronic dockets and pleadings etc. in federal court?  I can access it through my browser on the iPad but cannot scroll within documents that are retrieved.  Do any apps help?  Second, and similarly, I cannot scroll down within the web browser when accessing Lexis on my iPad.  Do any apps help for this?

Answer: When you access PACER from an iPad, once you select a document from the docket, if you click the button to view a document you only see the first part of the first page and cannot scroll down.  However, there is a workaround.  Instead of clicking the button that says "view" click the button that says "download."  This will send a .zip file to your iPad, and your iPad will ask what app you want to open the zip file in.  One such app is GoodReader, an app that Jeff recommended. Josh recommends ReaddleDocs for the same functionality.  Either app will allow you to unzip a .zip file and view all of the PDF files contained in that file.

As for accessing Lexis on the iPad, Lexis is supposed to be updating Lexis.com so that it can be accessed from an iPad.  Moreover, before the end of this year, Lexis will be releasing a Lexis Advance app for the iPad.  For more information on the upcoming Lexis app, see this post from Jeff on iPhone J.D.

Voice transcription

Question #9: S.E. From Draper, UT: Can the Dragon Diction app be download to an iPad?

Answer:  Yes.  The Dragon Dictation app works on both the iPhone and iPad.

Remote access

Question #10 from R.H. from Milwaukee, WI:  Is there an app to allow my iPad to connect to my desktop remotely?  I use Time Matters.

Answer:  Yes, any of the remote access apps that we discussed today will let you do this — Citrix Receiver, LogMeIn Ignition or GoToMyPC.

 Question #11 from P.O. from Austin, TX: Is LogMeIn Igntion better than iTap RDP?

Question #12 from P.dB. from Stuart, FL: Do you recommend LogMeIn more than iTeleport? 

Answer:  None of the presenters have used the iTap RDP, but in Tom’s opinion, it looks like a good option.  It uses Windows’ Remote Desktop Protocol, which is a solid method for remotely accessing your computer.  Tom thinks that LogMeIn might be better for one reason:  ease of configuration.  With LogMeIn, it “just works,” and requires very little configuration.  It looks like the iTap RDP requires a little more work under the hood, which might limit the app’s appeal to more advanced users.  Further, with LogMeIn you can access your desktop from any computer using just a browser, with no configuration; with the Remote Desktop Protocol, you’d have to configure it on any computer you plan to use. 

Likewise, none of the presenters use iTeleport, which also looks like a solid remote desktop application.  However, like iTap, it does not appear that you can use iTeleport on regular computers to remotely access your desktop - LogMeIn’s universal capabilities give it an advantage here.

Reid’s office has a corporate GoToMyPC account, so he has to use their iPad app. He finds it works well on his iPad2, although sometimes a bit balky.

First generation iPad

Question #13 from J.G. from Pocatello, ID: Do most or all of the apps discussed work with the first generation iPad?

Answer:  Very few apps that work with the iPad require the iPad 2, although some do exist.  All of the apps that we discussed work on the original iPad and the iPad 2, although some of these apps are designed for the iPhone and therefore run on the iPad/iPad 2 in iPhone emulation mode.

Accessing Word documents

Question #14 from M.H. from Lubbock, TX: What is the best app to read and edit Microsoft Word documents?

Answer:  The most popular apps for reading and editing Word documents are Documents to Go, Quickoffice and Office2.  Jeff's current favorite is Documents to Go because it is the only app of the three that shows you footnotes and shows you redline edits (although it will not let you create footnotes or create redlines).  But these apps are updated frequently, so hopefully the other apps will add this feature soon.

Apps for transactional law

Question #15 from D.C. from Naperville, IL: I am a transactional lawyer, with a specialty in business law, estate planning, tax and some business litigation.  What are the apps you would consider important for a lawyer with that type of practice to have?

Answer:  As a transactional lawyer you deal with a lot of documents.  If those documents are in PDF format, GoodReader or PDF Expert are essential app's for managing and annotating those documents. Josh prefers PDF Expert because of the easy to use document signing too, the ability to reorder/move/delete pages from a PDF and the ability to fill PDF forms. You also need one of the Microsoft Office compatible app's like Documents to Go or QuickOffice. 

Josh recommends creating a folder on your Dropbox with your principal forms. This will give you access to your key drafting inspirations from anywhere.

If you use a Mac in the Office, also consider TextExpander Touch (with the desktop companion TextExpander) which allows you to expand text snippets into words, sentences or even paragraphs. With this app, Josh types "attfee1" and TextExpander types his preferred attorney fee clause. The snippet "simplemisc" expands into my preferred miscellaneous clauses for a basic contract that I can then edit. "engageltr" expands into the text I start with when drafting my engagement letter or email.  Note that iOS 5 will also provide a shortcut feature like this but it is unclear whether you can sync the shortcuts to a computer.

One key to making the iPad work well for transactional lawyers is to have some flexibility or be willing to try new things in your workflow. For example, Josh does lots of drafting in plain text on the iPad and only worries about formatting when back in front of a desktop computer. Even with the Word compatible apps mentioned here, they aren't WYSIWYG. You will still need to fine tune back at the office on your own or send to an assistant to format. Plain text is also necessary to take advantage of TextExpander since at this time the Word compatible apps do not support it but app's like Elements or Plaintext do support TextExpander.

iPad Impact: Going Where No Lawyer Has Gone Before?

As I passed through airport security last Wednesday, and reached in the gray bin for my iPad as it rolled out the x-ray machine, I realized it was not mine but the traveler ahead of me. Moments later, as several new bins came rolling at me, the passenger behind me reached for my iPad, mistaking it for hers. That never happened with my laptop before! On my flight that day--and on many flights recently, there are quite a few more iPads in use than even just a few months ago. 

Just last week I shared an article on Google+ about the consumerization of enterprise IT by iPad users and smart phone users.  I also tweeted about an article sent to me by Susan Traylor of the Arizona Bar about a personal injury law firm handing out customized iPads to clients to facilitate communication and case collaboration.

Today, I picked up the August issue of Law Technology News that contains an article by Alabama trial lawyer, James Moncus III, about his firm's decision to use the iPad 2 and the TrialPad app in a high profile wrongful death suit of a police officer, instead of more mature and expensive trial technology. The articles details this decision and their use of the TrialPad app to help them win a $37.5 million verdict. 

Two weeks ago I served as faculty with Jeff Richardson, Josh Barrett, and Tom Mighell, on a ALI-ABA webcast, 60 iPhone/iPad Apps in 60 Minutes, that attracted over 200 lawyers to the on-line seminar. We have similar crowds when we do this live at the ABA TECHSHOW.

And there were countless lawyers toting and using iPads in Toronto last week at the ABA Annual Meeting.

In January 2010, I blogged about the iPad being a tipping point in legal technology. It fulfills the need caused by a confluence of economic, technological, and professional changes that are taking place in the world around us. However, the rapid adoption of the iPad as a serious legal tool has even surprised me. From client communication to trial presentation, from reading and marking up depositions on a plane flight to Skyping with a client halfway around the world, the iPad has changed the way we do business as lawyers. That trend will only accelerate: The iPad is allowing lawyers to be more nimble, mobile, responsive, and productive.

About the only thing holding lawyers back are the strictures imposed by IT professionals who are not keeping up with the innovation that is tablet computing. Yes, we have to be mindful of our professional responsibilities, but we also need to keep innovating to keep up with our clients and the ever-present demands to lower the costs of delivering legal services.

Confessions of a TECHSHOW Chair

I am excited to be leading a wonderful group of nine people who are planning the 2012 ABA TECHSHOW next March. It is a small collection of volunteer lawyers and legal professionals who plan all facets of this premier technology conference for the legal profession. We held our second 2-day planning meeting last weekend (the first being in May) to develop the "grid" of over 70 educational sessions over 3 days, review the expo hall for over 100 vendors, select and engage a keynote speaker, and dozens of other details. Despite the work, it is really a terrific professional experience to build the next edition of this twenty-five year tradition.

But it does cut into my freetime, and as you can see from the lack of blog posts in the last few months, it really cuts into my blogging time.

Yet I wouldn't trade the experience. Besides working with my colleagues on the TECHSHOW Planning Board, I am being introduced to many new people who contact me to be a part of the ABA TECHSHOW 2012, mostly as a speaker. It's time consuming, but worth it.  I am corresponding with lawyers from acroos the U.S. and Canada. The planning board works to incorporate up to 30% new speakers each year, so I welcome these inquiries. 

The Board also has its ear to the ground for new ideas, topics, and the Next Big Thing. We continue to keep offering popular topics such as the Paperless Track that are well-attended each year, as well as new tracks and sessions--yep, iPads in the law office (and at trial) will be an expanded topic this year.

We are well into our planning, but always have time for few more good suggestions--in addition to the ones we get from past conference attendees and others. So feel free to email me with your suggestions. And while I can't promise positive results, if you would like to be a speaker, include a brief synopsis of your past technology and speaking experience. We always have the top legal speakers at this conference, so the competition is tough.

Anyway, I'll blog when I can, but be sure to check out the ABA TECHSHOW blog too, for updates throughout the coming months leading to the conference on March 29-31, 2012 in Chicago. 

More iPad and iPhone Apps for Lawyers

Josh Barrett , Jeff Richardson, and I will present 60 iPhone/iPad Apps for Lawyers at the 2011 ABA TECHSHOW in April. I recently highlighted several translation apps, but I am blown away by the 8-part series Josh is blogging on his blog, TabletLegal. He covers the following types of iPad apps:

• File Storage and Access
• Writing
• Calculator
• PDF Annotation
• Presentations
• Microsoft Word and Excel Compatibility
• File Management and Use
• Remote Desktop Connection

Hats off to Josh for a valuable series of posts. We'll cover some of those plus many others at our TECHSHOW presentation. Hope to see you there!