As you may already know, Clio, a current sponsor of iPhone J.D., offers web-based practice management, time & billing and client collaboration services (including document management) for small and mid-sized law firms. As a company that helps lawyers make the most of out of their technology, Clio is obviously interested in the technology that lawyers use, so for the last four years, Clio has conducted an annual survey on the use of Apple products being used by lawyers. The 2013 Apple in Law Offices report is being released today, and I was interested to see what the survey reveals about iPhone and iPad use
Clio survey respondents are primarily attorneys at small law firms. 85% of the 835 individuals surveyed in 2013 work in law firms with 1 to 10 attorneys, primarily in the U.S. And two-thirds of the survey respondents use Macintosh (the rest use Windows), which is in part because many of the survey respondents are folks who attend the annual MILOfest (Macs in Law Office) conference.
The new report reveals that about 75% of the attorneys reported that they use an iPhone, and another 5% said that they plan to switch to an iPhone in 2014. Almost 18% use Android, and a very small percentage use Windows or Blackberry phones. This reflects an increase from the 2012 survey, when 62% were using an iPhone and more people were using Android (25%) and BlackBerry (7%).
The new report also reveals that about 71% of the attorneys reported that they use an iPad. This a slight increase from the 2012 survey, when about 70% reported that they used an iPad. The 2012 numbers were a huge increase from the previous years: in 2011 only 15% reported using an iPad, and in 2010 (the year that the iPad debuted) only 10% reported using an iPad.
Putting the numbers together, the Clio survey shows a greater percentage of attorneys using iPhones and iPads every year.
Even though the Clio survey speaks mostly to what attorneys in solo and small law firms are using, especially those who use Macs, the Clio data is consistent with data that I see from other sources, such as the annual ABA Tech Survey and the annual ILTA Survey, in that it shows more and more lawyers using iPhones and iPads every year. The main difference between the Clio survey and those others is that there is more iPad use in the population of attorneys responding to the Clo survey.
I’m tempted to suggest that the difference is a result of the large number of Mac-using attorneys in the Clio survey population, but frankly I see such a large number of attorneys who use a PC in their law office (often because they are not given a choice) but who also use an iPad and/or an iPhone (that they typically choose t0 purchase on their own) that I think that the iPad and iPhone are just as attractive to attorneys who use PCs and they are to attorneys who use Macs.