Month: July 2021

Security is one of the most pressing technological challenges for lawyers and law firms.  Even if you ensure that everything in your physical law office is safe and secure, you need to worry about avoiding risks when lawyers need remote access.  I'm thrilled to welcome a new sponsor to iPhone J.D. this month that has a solution:  Mobile Helix, the maker of the LINK app.  LINK from Mobile Helix is a secure system that allows attorneys to use the LINK app, available on the App Store, on either an iPad or iPhone to access email, document management systems, intranet portals, and more.  At your firm, you run LINK server software deployed on-premises behind your firm's firewall.  I've had a chance to see how LINK works, and it is quite impressive.

How does LINK improve security?  The key is that everything that an attorney does with firm resources on an iPad or iPhone is done within a secure container app.  All communications between the LINK app and your law firm are encrypted.  Data is encrypted at-rest with AES-256 and in-transit with TLS over HTTPS.  And the encryption is built-in to the app and does not depend upon iOS security.  Thus, even if an iPad or iPhone were to be jail-broken or hacked, the data in the LINK app would remain secure.  LINK uses both first and second factor authentication to ensure that only authorized people have access to your firm's confidential information.  And the LINK app can be remotely wiped if a device is lost or if a person leaves your firm.  LINK is compatible with Mobile Device Management (MDM) software if your firm uses that.  As a result, documents and information remain safe within the LINK app itself.  LINK also works with Microsoft Office apps on the iPad so that you can, for example, view and edit a document using the Microsoft Word app, but the document itself is safely saved within the LINK system. 

The main screen of the LINK app has tiles that correspond to the different resources that can be accessed from within the app.  This is something that you configure for your particular law firm.  First, there is a section devoted to Documents — your document management system.  In many of the screenshots in this post, the DMS being used is iManage, but other DMS systems are supported, such as NetDocuments and OpenText eDOCS.

The next section of the home screen provides access to email.  For example, you may have a tile on the home screen that can be tapped to view your Outlook email:

The third part of the home screen provides access to Intranet resources, which can be used for access to time and billing systems, expense systems, firm-specific knowledge management intranets, or any other firm software that has a browser interface.

Attorneys using LINK will commonly want to access documents from a DMS.  Here is an example of looking at a list of documents in the iManage document worklist from within the LINK app:

The LINK app works well in a split-screen mode so that you can see a list of documents on one side of the screen while you view a specific document on another part of the screen.  You can split the screen 50-50 or use a slider to make one part bigger or smaller.

When working with a PDF document, an attorney can annotate from within the LINK app itself.

When working with a Microsoft Office document, an attorney can view the document within LINK.  LINK even has a built-in document comparison system so you can create a redline of different versions of a document.  You can also use the Microsoft Office app (sold separately) to edit the document.

You can also take a file that is on your iPad or iPhone and import it into LINK to add it to your firm's document management system.

The above screenshots show LINK being used on an iPad, but it also works on the iPhone.  Here are some examples of what that looks like:

 
The default setting is that all documents and email stay within the LINK app itself.  That provides the most security.  But for your particular law firm, you might decide to allow attorneys to take documents out of LINK so that documents can be used with another app on the iPhone or iPad or exported off of the iPhone or iPad.  That reduces security somewhat, but you can make the decision that is right for your law firm.  You can also decide whether you want to let attorneys use AirPrint or disable that feature to keep the documents safely within the LINK app.

The LINK app has been available since 2014, and the app has seen numerous updates since its original release.  The LINK app is currently in use at law firms as small as 30 attorneys and as large as the Top 20 of the AmLaw 100.  The pricing is per user, per year, and a free trial is available so that you can easily see how the LINK app works in your own law firm environment.  The iPhone and iPad apps are available now, an Android client is in beta, and Mobile Helix also has plans to develop clients for the Mac, Windows, and Chromebook.

Thank you to Mobile Helix for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month and for developing powerful software that lawyers can use to protect confidential information on their mobile devices.

Click here to learn more about LINK from Mobile Helix

Episode 9 of the In the News podcast is now available.  In this week’s episode, Brett Burney and I begin by discussing using an app such as GoodNotes to prepare to give a presentation.  We then discuss Apple’s built-in Notes app on the iPhone and iPad.  Then we discuss CarPlay, including new features coming later this year, and the health aspects of the Apple Watch

Finally, in our In the Know segment, Brett and I both discuss tips for using the Keynote app on an iPad or a Mac.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast.  Or you can watch the episode on YouTube:

Appellate practice is a big part of my law practice, which means that I often have the opportunity to present an appellate oral argument.  For many years now, I’ve found that my favorite way to prepare is to use the GoodNotes app on my iPad to write an outline, adding quotes from statutes or jurisprudence, along with my notes for answers to likely questions.  (I described some of what I do in this post from 2017.)  As the last step, I convert my notes to PDF and print them on a color laser printer.  For the last few years, I have mostly used the paper version at the podium when presenting oral arguments.  (My iPad is still nearby, in case I need to look at the briefs or the record.)  For example, I used the paper notes last week when I had my first in-person Louisiana state court appellate oral argument since the pandemic started.  But yesterday I had a U.S. Fifth Circuit oral argument, and I found it better to present from my iPad.  I was in the En Banc Courtroom in New Orleans, a beautiful courtroom with very high ceilings and lots of wood.  If you were going to invite your parents to watch you give an oral argument, you would want it to be in an impressive courtroom like this.  But it is also a darker courtroom, with dimmed lighting somewhat similar to a restaurant at night.  While there is a light at the podium that would have illuminated most of the printed-out version of my notes, I was glad to have my iPad in the courtroom with me so that I could make the quick decision to use the GoodNotes app — tapping the button at the top right to turn off edit mode so that I didn’t accidentally change anything on the screen while I was swiping through pages.  The large, backlit screen of my 12.9″ iPad Pro turned to portrait orientation was perfect for giving my oral argument, making it incredibly easy to glance at my electronic notes on the podium.  As it turned out, I didn’t actually consult my notes very often because it was pretty much non-stop questions, but when I wanted to quote something from a case or a statute, GoodNotes and the iPad made it incredibly fast and easy to find exactly what I wanted to quote to the court.  If you use an iPad to prepare for oral argument at the trial or appellate court level, I recommend that you always have both the iPad and paper notes available so that you can use whatever makes the most sense.  And so that you have a backup if your iPad isn’t working for some reason.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• In the latest episode of the Apps in Law podcast, Brett Burney talks with Tara Cheever, co-founder of LitSoftware, the maker of great iPad apps for lawyers including TrialPad and TranscriptPad.  Click here to listen to the podcast or watch the video version.
• Here an interesting intersection between smartphones and copyright law.  Zoe Schiffer and Adi Robertson of The Verge report that some police officers who are upset about bystanders taking videos of what police officers do and then posting the videos to YouTube have started to take out their own phone so that they could play a song — in one example, “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift — so that if a person’s video is posted to YouTube, YouTube would automatically take down the video as a copyright violation because of the unauthorized song playing in the video.  The article doesn’t explain whether police officers utilizing this tactic have been successful, but it is interesting that some even thought to try it.
• Apple’s built-in Notes app on the iPhone and iPad is excellent, and Apple continues to make it better.  Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac explains how Notes in iOS 15 will support tags to make it easier to sort and organize your notes.
• Apple’s Vice President of Health, Sumbul Desai, MD, is responsible for many health features in the Apple Watch and iPhone.  She is the guest on the latest episode of the Second Life podcast, a podcast spotlighting successful women who have made major career changes.  In the podcast, she shares with host Hillary Kerr a very dramatic life experience that led her to leave Disney and go into the medical field.  She also shares interesting thoughts on working from home during the pandemic, and she talks about some of the health additions coming to iOS 15, including the ability to share health data with trusted friends and family and the ability to share health data with your physician.
• When you use CarPlay in your car, your car provides the screen but the brains of the operation come from your iPhone.  Thus, when there is an update to the iOS, there is often also an update to CarPlay.  CarPlay Life reports on the new CarPlay features in iOS 15, including the ability to have Siri announce messages.  I use this feature all the time with Siri on my AirPods, and I’m a big fan.  The way it works is that when you are driving and someone sends you a text, Siri can just start speaking and let you know that so-and-so sent you a text saying such-and-such.  You can turn off the feature whenever you don’t want it, but since I typically am by myself when I am driving, I love that I will no longer have to take some action when a new text arrives to hear who it is from and what they want to say.
• Meredith TerHaar of ABC13 news in Michigan shares the story of Diane Feenstra.  Her husband gave her an Apple Watch, and she noticed one day on her watch that her heart rate was 169 beats per minute, even though she had not been doing anything strenuous.  She had noticed some other minor symptoms, such as indigestion and pain in her shoulder, but didn’t think much of them.  But once she saw her elevated heart rate, she went to the hospital and learned that she had experienced a heart attack because of a blockage in the “Widow maker artery.”  She had a stent procedure, she is now doing better, and she credits the Apple Watch for helping her to avoid a second heart attack that would have likely been fatal.  After typing those sentences, I decided to use my own Apple Watch to check my heart rate, and I see that I have 63 BPM.  Whew.
• And finally, if you have the new 2021 version of the iPad Pro 12.9″ or a new iPhone that can do a great job displaying HDR content — or if you are looking for something impressive to watch on an HDR television — here are two video recommendations.  You can watch these videos on any device, but on a device that does a good job displaying HDR, they look outstanding.  First, here is an impressive video from Sony showing glass blowing.  Second, here is an amazing video from LG in which musicians play Jazz and colors pop around them.  I’ve embedded below the LG video:

Episode 8 of the In the News podcast is now available.  In this week’s episode, Brett Burney and I begin by discussing the 14th anniversary of the iPhone going on sale and how much the iPhone was a major change, not only for smartphones but for many other aspects of life.  Next, we discuss watch bands for the Apple Watch, including the new choices for the International Collection Sport Loop that Apple released this week.  Then we talk about the Apple TV 4K and the public beta of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. 

Finally, in our In the Know segment, Brett recommends the free iExit app, a great road-trip companion because it tells you what’s coming up on the next exits on U.S. Interstate Highways.  I recommend the free Google Voice app as a way to have an extra phone number that you can give to a store or organization when you don’t want to give them your real phone number.  By turning off notifications for that app, people can call or text you at that number and leave you messages without interrupting you.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast.  Or you can watch the episode on YouTube:

July and August are typically slow months for iPhone and iPad news, but there are still things to note this week.  For example, it was 14 years ago this past week that the iPhone first went on sale, and Parker Ortolani at 9to5Mac put together a great article looking back at what a big deal that was at the time.  We also started the second half of 2021 this week, which is a little hard to fathom.  And for those who practice law in federal court, I saw people on Twitter noting for the first time this week that we are now done with the Federal Reporter, Third Series which means we are starting the Fourth Series.  Yes, that means that you are going to be typing “F.4th” soon, which looks very weird.  Or maybe it will be “F. 4th” with a space since “th” has two letters.  I don’t know if the Bluebook has weighed in yet, but I hope it is the former, without the space.  I still remember when we started F.3d in 1993, when I was in law school.  We don’t know yet which case will be 1 F.4th 1, but it might possibly end up being this case that seems to have the lowest Westlaw citation number:  Nat’l Labor Relations Bd. v. NP Palace LLC, No. 20-1008, __ F.4th __, 2021 WL 2324983 (D.C. Cir. June 8, 2021).  [UPDATE 7/15/21:  I was close.  That case is 1 F.4th 12.  The award for the first case in the F.4th goes to Khochinsky v. Republic of Poland, 1 F.4th 1 (D.C. Cir. 2021)]  And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:

• I’m a big fan of using an eero Pro system to improve the WiFi in your house.  I upgraded to three eero Pro units this time last year, and my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner so that I would have had excellent WiFi throughout my house when the pandemic started.  California attorney David Sparks used to have six of the older eero units in his house, and as he describes in this post, he recently upgraded to the newest eero Pro 6 system, which can provide even faster WiFi speeds with only three units instead of his original six units.  Right now you can get the eero Pro 3-pack that I use for $499 and the eero Pro 6 3-pack that David uses for $599.  Both are excellent.  If you are paying for Gigabit Internet at your house and/or you want to future-proof, I’d probably spend the extra $100 for the eero Pro 6 if I had to do it again now.  But either system is almost certainly a major upgrade from whatever WiFi you currently have in your house.
• This week, Apple released the first public beta of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.  I strongly urge you not to install beta system software on a device that you use to get your work done to avoid crashes and data loss, but if you have a spare iPhone or iPad and don’t mind living on the edge a bit, then you should be OK to check out the public beta version.  Federici Viticci of MacStories wrote a good overview of what to expect if you upgrade to the public beta.  For example, he notes:  “If you’re installing the iOS 15 public beta today and want to show it off to your friends, know this: Live Text in the Camera and custom Focus modes make for the best demos, followed by the new Weather app and rethought multitasking controls on iPad. SharePlay is neat but can feel already dated now that more countries are rolling out vaccinations and returning to a semi-regular social life; the new Safari needs more work; Mail is surprisingly unchanged despite the rise of remote work in the past year.”
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac also reported on Apple’s release of a public beta.
• Yoni Heisler of BGR reports that one of the new features of iOS 15 is that if you ever forget your Apple ID password, you can still access your account if you have previously designated someone else as a trusted contact to help you unlock your account.
• I’ve written in the past about state-sponsored apps that one can use to verify that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.  According to an article by David Lieb of the Associated Press, in the United States, only New York, Louisiana, and California have such apps right now. “By contrast, at least 18 states led by Republican governors or legislatures prohibit the creation of so-called vaccine passports or ban public entities from requiring proof of vaccination.”  Lieb reports that in Louisiana, where this function is part of a digital driver’s license app (which I reviewed in 2018) 105,000 people have activated the COVID-19 verification function of the app, which is 14% of those who use the app and less than 4% of the 3.1 million people in Louisiana with a valid driver’s license.  Lieb also notes that even if states do not provide this function in an app, many vaccine providers are making digital vaccination records available to customers, and Apple will incorporate a vaccination verification feature in iOS 15 later this year.  As Michael Simon of Macworld explains:  “iOS 15 will let you scan a QR code from your healthcare provider and securely store your COVID-19 immunizations and test results in the Health app.”
• If you are curious whether T-Mobile would be a better carrier for your iPhone Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac notes that there is a new test drive program that uses your eSim in your iPhone so that you can see what T-Mobile service would be like without having to cancel the other carrier on your iPhone.  That’s a smart way to do it.
• David Howley of Yahoo Finance discusses the new digital ID card system coming to watchOS 8 this Fall.
• Taylor Hall of 9to5Mac discusses the new Portraits watch face coming to watchOS 8 this Fall.
• Parker Ortolani of 9to5Mac shows off some of the new Apple Watch bands in the International Collection, which I discussed yesterday.
• Allison Smith of Fox 8 News in North Carolina reports that a man fell down and became unconscious, but fortunately, his Apple Watch called for help and he was saved.  Afterward, he said:  “The first thing I asked him was, ‘How did you guys know to get here?’ and he said, ‘Your watch sent us a message,’ and I said ‘What?'”
• If you charge your Apple Watch on your nightstand at night, you might be interested in this review by Michael Strange of The Gadgeteer of NightWatch, which uses a solid piece of lucite to magnify the clock on the Apple Watch.
• Earlier this week, I reviewed the Apple TV 4K (2nd generation).  Jason Cross of Macworld explains how you can use the Channels feature of the TV app on the Apple TV, iPhone, or iPad to subscribe to dozens of premium streaming services.
• If you are looking for a wall calendar for the Apple fan in your life — which might be yourself — Stephen Hackett of the Mac Power Users podcast has a Kickstarter campaign that you should check out.  I pledged for one as soon as I learned about it, and it has already doubled the pledge goal so it looks like this one Kickstarter that will definitely be produced.
• And finally, when the original iPhone debuted in 2007, David Pogue, who at the time wrote for the New York Times, produced a fun video in which he sang about the brand new iPhone.  I’ve linked to this video in the past on iPhone J.D., but it is fun to watch again even if you have seen it before, especially if you have not seen it in a long time.  It reminds me of the excitement for the original model, but it also reminds me how far we have come as we celebrate the 14th anniversary of the iPhone’s debut.

With the Summer Olympics just around the corner, Apple has introduced a new line of watch bands for the Apple Watch called the International Collection Sport Loop.  The Sport Loop, which I reviewed in 2019, is one of my favorite Apple Watch bands because it is so comfortable and so easily adjustable with the hook-and-loop closure.  It is also very durable and easy to clean when necessary.  I own two different models of the Sport Loop just to have different color combinations.  I don’t consider the Sport Loop quite formal enough to wear to work, but after hours and on the weekend, this is one of my two favorite styles of watch bands to wear.  (The other one that I really like is the Solo Loop, which I reviewed earlier this year.) 

The International Collection Sport Loop comes in colors that match different countries.  Or, to be more specific, it matches the colors typically used by the Olympic teams for different countries.  And for each different watch band, there is also a new watch face that matches the band.  Here are the new designs.

Australia, Belgium, and Brazil:

Canada, China, and Denmark:

France, Germany, and Great Britain:

Greece, Italy, and Jamaica:

Japan, Mexico, and the Netherlands:

New Zealand, Russia, and South Africa:

South Korea, Spain, and Sweden:

And the United States:

Note that many countries have similar color schemes, so you might choose to get a band associated with another country to celebrate your own country.  For example, if you are a fan of red, white, and blue, you could purchase the USA Sport Loop, but you could also purchase the one for France, Great Britain, or Russia.  I think I actually prefer the Great Britain band with the USA face over the USA band with the USA face.

When you purchase the watch band, it uses Apple’s App Clips feature to help you to download the matching watch face.  But anyone can download any of these watch faces without buying the watch band.  For example, you might want to download the USA watch face right now to use it for the Fourth of July in a few days.  To do so, using the iPhone that is paired with your Apple Watch, go to the Apple Watch page on the Apple website.  Scroll down until you see the International Collection part of the web page and you will see a button that says “See the countries.”  Tap that button.

This will bring you to a page that has circles corresponding to each country.  Tap a circle for a country and then, at the bottom of the page, tap the button that says “Add Apple Watch Face.”  That will download the watch face to your iPhone, install it on your Apple Watch, and make it the active watch face.  (To switch back to the watch face that you had been using, just swipe your finger from the left side of the Apple Watch screen across to the right to change faces.)

In fact, you don’t even need to download one of these faces to use it.  You can create one yourself.  Each of these is simply a watch face created using the built-in Stripes style of watch face.  For example, the USA watch face is simply a Stripes watch face in the fullscreen mode with 9 stripes.  The first six stripes alternate brick red and white, and the last three stripes are all deep navy.  The position is set as 150° to put it at an angle.  Whether you create a watch face yourself or download it from Apple, you can adjust the face however you want, such as placing the stripes at a different angle or changing the colors.  For some time now, I’ve used a purple, green, and gold watch face during Mardi Gras season in New Orleans.  And I have a black-and-gold one that I often use when I’m watching a Saints football game.

 

You may want to create your own Stripes watch face with colors that match a school, team, season, organization, charity, etc.  Note that the Stripes watch face doesn’t support complications so it is very much form over function.  But that makes sense because whenever I use this watch face, my goal is to show off the colors.

Each of these bands costs $49, the same price as other Sport Loop bands sold by Apple.  You can buy them on the Apple website or at your local Apple Store.