Lawyers often write me to share stories of how they use their iPhone or iPad in their law practice. Those emails frequently result in an item in my Friday In the news posts, and occasionally those emails turn into guest posts that I call Lawyer iPhone Stories. Hearing about how other attorneys use their iPhones and iPads always gives me new ideas for making better use of thoe devices in my own practice.
I recently heard from Joe Suhre, a former police officer who is now a criminal defense attorney in Ohio and Kentucky. (His firm also has an office in Chicago.) Joe told me about the four apps that he uses the most on his iPhone, and he turned his recommendations into a guest post. Take it away, Joe!
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It used to be that a law office was a suite in an office building. It had big windows, offices in the back, a receptionist out front, and a conference room in the middle — end of story. iPhones and iPads are beginning to play an integral role in my law practice as cloud computing has become increasingly popular. Here’s what’s changing — your law office could also be your car, your client’s home, a hospital room, the courtroom, or the cafe where you stopped for lunch.
Having a mobile office allows better service and a more convenient experience for the attorney. There are several apps available to help you manage your information in this new environment. However, with thousands of legal apps available, which are the best for your practice? I can’t answer that for you, but here are a few apps we use successfully in my firm. They are certainly worth checking out.
Clio by Themis Solutions Inc.: The Clio app is an entire practice management system all in one place. Need a fast, easy place to organize your calendar? Done. What about a list of all your contacts? No problem. How about storing boat loads of files all neatly organized in one place? That’s right here, too. It also has all of your task lists, and has convenient billing features, which is key for us. If you haven’t started using Clio at your firm, it’s time to get with the game.
[Note from Jeff: Clio is a current sponsor of iPhone J.D., and I appreciate their support!]
Dropbox by Dropbox, Inc.: It has never been easier to use and share documents. With Dropbox, we’re able to upload a file and access it on computers, phones and tablets. Document sharing is faster and more eco-friendly now than it’s ever been at Suhre Law. This software is also great for sharing those files that are too large or cumbersome to send as an email attachment.
Genius Scan by The Grizzly Labs: Genius Scan allows us to take a picture of the document using an iPhone, and quickly convert it to a PDF so that it can quickly be added to a client’s file. You can group pages to make multi-page PDFs, give them tags to organize them, or quickly share them to your computer, or with colleagues through email.
Dictate + Connect by Jotomi: Obviously, talking is faster than typing. The Dictate + Connect app allows us to quickly hash out a rough draft for a client or the opposing counsel, or dictate a brief or a motion. The dictation is electronically shared with someone who can then type and edit the dictation. A good reason to use Dicatate + Connect is its portability. You can dictate a file memo or client correspondence in between court appearances. The app lets you record the information quickly while it’s still fresh in your mind. For example, I may have five or six court appearances in one morning. If I were to go to room 174 and appear for a client, I can dictate a memo about that appearance or correspondence to send to the client while I’m walking to the next courtroom. Then, for example, if I have an appearance in room 280, I could dictate a note, memo, or client letter immediately. Those files can be emailed to our secretary while I’m still in court, and by the time I get back to the office the letters will be ready for my review and signature so they can be mailed out.
My office is no longer defined (confined rather) by four walls and a desk. With the use of these and other apps, I carry my firm’s business in my pocket and I am able to work surprisingly efficiently from just about anywhere.
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Thanks, Joe, for sharing some of your favorite apps with iPhone J.D. readers!
If you are willing to share your experiences using an iPhone or iPad in your law practice with other iPhone J.D. readers, I’d love to hear from you too. And in case you missed them, here are reports that I previously shared from other attorneys:
Joe, aren’t you concerned with security issues when using Dropbox? Or does usability trump security concerns in your opinion?
Sid Allen
http://www.agilelaw.com
Sid,
That’s a great question and I think one of the more (if not most) important considerations when deciding to use Dropbox or any other cloud-based storage service. The short answer to your question is that usability never trumps security. I believe that security has to be first priority. The question then becomes, will the security measures that exist be sufficient and if sufficient, will they be overly cumbersome to utilize, making the implementation of cloud-based storage not worth the time time and effort.
I’ve found that using cloud-based storage can be done both securely and conveniently. There are two factors to consider when discussing storage security – user security and site security. By user security I mean the ipad, iphone, laptop, etc, that has access to the account. What has been done to secure the device?
Here’s what I do – the first thing I do on my laptop is activate encryption. I’m a 100% Mac user, so for me the encryption process is pretty simple. Legal blogger Sam Glover posted a great how-to here: http://lawyerist.com/encryption-enabling-basic-client-file-security/
I also use common sense security practices like not leaving my laptop in the car at the mall or my driveway. If I do have to leave it in the car, then is goes out of sight – like in the trunk.
The next thing I do is use password protection – both for mobile devices and computers. I require a high-complexity password for all computers and strongly recommend an 8-digit passcode an an iphone/ipad. On the mobile device I have ‘find my iphone’ enabled – which allows you to track and ‘brick’ your phone, have auto-lock set to 1-minute, & passcode lock set to ‘immediately’. I also have the dropbox app set with a different password, and the setting activated that will erase all data after the wrong password is entered 10 times.
There are additional considerations for local network, physical location, and virus/malware security – too in depth for my comment here. But suffice it to say that there is an ethical obligation for attorneys to educate themselves and to use reasonable care in securing the data. (Why not use extraordinary care? After all, there’s really important and personal information there).
The other consideration is provider security. I cannot control what Dropbox does to secure my data – but I can educate myself on their policies and procedures and then make a decision if they are sufficient enough for me to store my clients’ data there. Here’s a snippet from dropbox’s site about their security policies:
Dropbox uses Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3). Dropbox’s storage on Amazon S3 is ISO27001 certified which means that it has been audited and found to have complied with the standard requirements of Information Security Management System (ISMS). Again, this is out of the control of the attorney – but by reviewing the polices and procedures in place at the cloud provider, the attorney can make an educated and well reasoned decision on implementing cloud storage in their practice.