There is an interesting article by Alan Cohen in The American Lawyer about the increasing use of iPhones in law firms. (The same article also appeared in the AmLaw Daily blog.) The article notes that there are about 160 attorneys using iPhones at Chapman & Cutler, a few hundred users at Sonneschein Nath & Rosenthal, and about 100 users at Howrey. All of these firms give attorneys the choice to use an iPhone or something else, like a Treo or a Blackberry. I think that is the right approach. At my law firm, where we have around 30 attorneys using iPhones right now, I am frequently asked by my partners whether they should get an iPhone or a Blackberry. For those who are never going to use anything beyond e-mail, I think that the Blackberry Bold is a fine choice. But quite often, once I start talking about everything that one can do with an iPhone, they decide that they want an iPhone.
The article notes that Howrey does something that is pretty smart -- they will loan an attorney an iPod Touch (which is just an iPhone without the phone) so that the attorney can get a feel for the interface and the virtual keyboard while deciding whether to get an iPhone. I know several attorneys who first used an iPod Touch -- often because their child or a relative had one -- and then decided to get an iPhone.
The article also talks about how many law firms are making it easier for attorneys to access document management systems using the iPhone:
At Sonnenschein, iPhone users can securely access the firm's network and--via Safari, the iPhone’s browser--search and retrieve more than 6 million documents. "The nicest thing about the iPhone is that all the formatting, indenting, and styles display on the screen," says Jurczyk. "[Apple] really nailed it on mobile browsing with Safari." Chapman and Cutler also provides remote access to its document management system. "Because the browser works so well, attorneys can go into our private Google search engine and pull any [file] they need," says Nugent.
Check out the article. It is a good read.
[UPDATE on 3/8/09: Here is a short, similar article from The Industry Standard on lawyers moving from Blackberries to iPhones.]
[UPDATE on 3/9/09: Boston attorney Martha Sperry shares an interesting perspective on the AmLaw article on her blog Advocate's Studio.]
