Legal Currents: IPad resources for lawyers grow plentiful

By Nicole Black Dolan Media Newswires ROCHESTER, NY--In just a few short years, iPads have become ubiquitous. Although the first iPad was released just 2 years ago, iPads are popping up everywhere, from coffee shops and airports to the boardroom and the courtroom. It seems indisputable--the tablet computing revolution has begun and, just like everyone else, lawyers are quickly joining the ranks of iPad owners. In fact, according to the American Bar Association's 2011 legal technology survey, the iPad is used by 89 percent of those lawyers who use a tablet device for work-related tasks and 15 percent of respondents used a tablet to conduct work while outside of their primary workplace. For firms with more than 500 attorneys, that number increased to 26 percent. The problem with tablet computers like the iPad is that it's difficult to know where to start. Sure it's easy to turn it on and use it for media consumption and sending emails, but iPads can be used for much more than that. iPads are full of unrealized potential; the trick is figuring out how take full advantage of them. Fortunately for iPad-toting lawyers, there are a number of great resources available to help you learn how to make the most of the iPad in your law practice. First, the American Bar Association recently published 2 books ideal for lawyers seeking to learn how to put their iPads to use: "iPad in One Hour for Lawyers" and "iPad Apps in One Hour for Lawyers." Both books were written by Tom Mighell and are available for purchase at the American Bar Association's website (http:/ /apps. americanbar. org/ abastore). There are also a number of blogs devoted to lawyers and their iPads, including: 1) Tablet Legal, a blog written by attorney Josh Barrett (http://tabletlegal.com/), 2) iPad Notebook, a blog written by Justin Khan, an attorney and Adjunct Professor at the Charleston School of Law (http://ipadnotebook.wordpress.com/), 3) iPad 4 Lawyers, a blog written by Tom Mighell, author of the two books listed above (http://ipad4 lawyers. squarespace.com/), and 4) Legal iPad, which is one of my blogs (http://legal-ipad.com). Two other blogs are worth mentioning as well, since even though not devoted solely to iPads, they provide a wealth of information about iPads for lawyers: 1) iPhone JD, written by attorney Jeff Richardson( www.iphonejd.com/iphone_jd/) and 2) Trial Technology, a blog written by trial consultant Ted Brooks (http://trial-technology. blogspot.com/). Another great resource which should not be overlooked is the Macs in Law Offices (MILO) online Google group (https:// groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/milogroup). Although this online forum originally started as a place for lawyers to discuss the use of Macintosh computers in their law practices, over time it has morphed into a forum dedicated to the discussion of topics of interest to lawyers who use any type of Apple product in their law offices, including iPads. At MILO you'll find a very engaged, knowledgeable, and friendly group of lawyers and technology consultants who provide a wealth of useful information. And, if you enjoy participating in MILO, then you'll love MILOfest (www.milo fest.com), an offshoot project of the message board which is a conference devoted to lawyers who use Apple products. Last year there was at least one session focused on how lawyers can use iPads in their practice and I have no doubt that there will be more this year as well. MILOFest will be held in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 8 to 10, although the specifics regarding the conference haven't yet been released. So, there you have it! Now you have no more excuses. Grab your iPad and type in a few of the URLs listed above. Start learning how to make better use of your iPad in your law practice and put that high-priced "toy" to work! Nicole Black is VP at MyCaseInc.com, a cloud-based law practice management platform. She is also of counsel to Fiandach & Fiandach in Rochester and is a GigaOM Pro analyst. She is the author of the ABA book Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a West-Thomson treatise. She speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes three legal blogs and can be reached at niki@my caseinc. com. Entire contents copyrighted © 2012 by The Dolan Company. Published: Thu, May 17, 2012