Many attorneys who read iPhone J.D. write to tell me how they are using their iPhone or iPad in their practice. I love to read these stories, and from time to time I like to share them here on iPhone J.D. I find that when I hear what others are doing, it usually gives me more ideas for making the most of my iPhone or iPad in my practice. Hopefully you find that the same is true for you.
Al Saikali is a partner in the Miami office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, a law firm with 500 attorneys that started in Kansas City and now also has offices in Geneva, Houston, London, Miami, Orange County, San Francisco, Tampa, Florida, and Washington, D.C. Saikali's practice mostly involves representing companies at trial and on appeal in products liability, personal injury and commercial litigation. He uses both the iPhone and iPad in his practice. After reading my post from last week about using my iPhone and iPad in a class certification hearing, he shared this story about using his iPhone and iPad in the non-billable portion of his practice:
I serve on the committee that drafts Florida’s Rules of Civil Procedure. Recently, we were considering changing Florida’s rules on expert witness disclosures to make them more consistent with the federal rule. Someone at the general committee meeting asked for the exact language of the federal rule we’d be modeling. I quickly pulled the rule up from a FRCP app on my iPhone and read the relevant provision to the entire committee.
Also, I recently delivered two presentations to different local bar organizations about recent changes to Florida’s Rules of Civil Procedure. During the first presentation, I used Keynote on my MacBook and then used my iPhone as a remote control (through the iPhone Keynote app) to change the slides from the other side of the room. It really impressed the crowd. Separately, I delivered the same Keynote presentation from my iPad. It was equally cool. I was able to view the presenter notes and use my stylus like a red laser (when you hold a finger or stylus on the iPad screen during a presentation, Keynote creates a small red circle you can use to point to and circle information on the slide).
On a recent flight from Miami to Kansas City, I drafted an entire Keynote presentation about how lawyers can use the iPad and iPhone for work. I used the internet connection on the plane to download images and incorporate them into the presentation. I delivered the presentation the following day flawlessly.
I'm glad that Saikali (who is pictured at right with another happy iPad user) shared this with me. When I think about items to post on iPhone J.D., I often find myself focusing on ways to use the iPhone or iPad in connection with the representation of a client. Saikali's e-mail reminded me that I frequently use both devices during important non-billable activities. For example, I often give presentations to attorneys and others and I really love using the Keynote app on my iPad to do so. I actually find that it is often easier to create a presentation from scratch using the iPad, but it is also nice that you can start a presentation in Keynote on a Mac or in PowerPoint on a PC or Mac and then move the presentation to Keynote on the iPad for final polishing and presenting.
Please keep those e-mails coming! Just send them to jeff@iphonejd.com. I'd love to hear how you are using your iPhone and/or iPad in your practice, and with your permission I'd love to share some of those stories here on iPhone J.D.