The Mac Lawyer : Ben Stevens : Using Macs In The Practice Of Law

Jeff Richardson, my friend and co-presenter at this year's ABA TechShow, wrote the following excellent and insightful article addressing this very question:

Apple released a software update for all iPhones, version 2.1. With this latest update, a strong case can be made that the iPhone is the best smartphone for lawyers.

When the original iPhone was released in 2007, it was a breakthrough product because it was both one of the most advanced smartphones ever created and also the easiest to use. But it had some limitations that were critical for many lawyers. Most importantly, it lacked integration with Microsoft Exchange, a feature that lawyers with Blackberries, Windows Mobile and Treos running Goodlink have depended upon for years. When a lawyer doesn't have full access to his or her law firm e-mail, a smartphone just isn't that smart. The original iPhone also lacked 3G, which made web browsing slow when you were away from WiFi, and lacked the ability to add third party software (unless you hacked it). The original iPhone was still a marvel of design and amazingly stable for a 1.0 release, but the missing features caused many lawyers -- like me -- to wait on the sidelines.

On July 11, 2008, Apple released the new 3G iPhone and updated the software to version 2.0. This hardware and software update added what lawyers need: excellent integration with Microsoft Exchange, the speedy 3G AT&T network, and the ability to easily download third party software using Apple's App Store. But unfortunately, there were some shortcomings with the 2.0 software that took away from the iPhone experience. Battery life was limited (a problem that, to be fair, exists on all 3G phones), syncing to a computer was sometimes painfully slow, callers in some areas of the country had problems with dropped calls, etc. And unlike the very solid first generation iPhone, the 3G iPhone with the 2.0 software had many bugs and would often crash. The crashes were very graceful -- there were no "blue screens of death;" you simply return to the home screen -- but bugs are always annoying, no matter how small or well handled. So as a result, the iPhone 3G gave lawyers the features that they wanted, but the bugs, battery life issues and other problems detracted from the experience.

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I wanted to let my readers know that the lack of posts last week and this week are due to my being involved in a very complex child custody case that is being tried this week in Greenville County, South Carolina.  Please bear with me, and I will resume my regular posting schedule once this trial has completed.

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Eric Rhodes of Triangle Immigration recently switched from PCs to Macs for his practice.  He wrote the following about his "conversion experience" on his Visa Tech Law Blog:

As a working attorney from 1999 onward, I gradually became more and more frustrated with Windows constantly crashing.  Other shortcomings of the operating system (security issues, frequent updates requiring a reboot, installation hassles) were apparent, and I was beginning to use more and more non-Microsoft products such as Mozilla's Firefox web browser.

More importantly, many software applications that were previously Windows-only were migrating to an online subscription model accessible to computers running a variety of operating systems.  As an immigration lawyer, it is now possible for me to access AILALink (a compilation of statutory, regulatory, and secondary materials compiled by the American Immigration Lawyers Association) online, and most online case management systems are also accessible by Mac, including the system I use at my firm - LawLogix.

The tipping point for me was the discovery of a truly amazing software product called Parallels Desktop for Mac. Parallels allow you to create a virtual Windows machine on you Mac this is accessible while running the Mac operating system.  Thus, with the new Intel-based iMacs, it is possible run Windows programs using XP or Vista from a partitioned drive on Boot Camp (built into the Leopard OS) by rebooting or instantly by running Parallels.

I now own my first iMac, a maxed out 24" 3.06GHz machine with 4GB of RAM.  It's been two months and my Leopard operating system hasn't crashed once, although XP has crashed several times when accessed via both Boot Camp and Parallels.   My iMac is also extremely quiet when running - a nice quality touch - and it has been easy to learn the new keyboard shortcuts in Leopard.  But, when I really need to access a Windows program, I still have that option.

If you have been dissatisfied with your PC, I encourage you to consider a switch to an Intel-based iMac - you can always launch Windows using Boot Camp or Parallels (and even use it as a purely Windows machine, although Apple purists would cringe!).

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What exactly do those numbers mean?  As of last week, the Macs In Law Offices (MILO) forum has now surpassed 800 members, and it had its 10,000th post around the same time.  These numbers are pretty impressive, considering that it has been a little less than 18 months since Grant Griffiths and I founded MILO.  During its young lifespan, MILO has become the "go to" resource for Mac-using attorneys, and we are very proud of all of our members and their helpful participation.  If you are interested in learning more about MILO, simply click HERE.

Update:  MILO saw 29 new members join its ranks on Sept. 10th, the date this post was published. A hearty welcome is extended to all our new members, and if you're not yet a member of MILO, don't wait any longer!

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Once upon a time back in the late summer of 2007, there was a Mac-using attorney was preparing to make a big presentation to a statewide legal association.  Everything was going well, until his hard drive spontaneously committed suicide only days before his presentation.  To make matters worse, this lawyer didn't have a recent backup of his hard drive.

After talking with the folks at AppleCare and visiting a Genius at his local Apple Store, this poor soul faced the sad reality that it seemed as though all of his data was lost.  Then, he learned about DriveSavers, and after discussing his situation with them, he decided to give them a try.  The ailing hard drive was shipped to California for diagnosis and testing, and after a few days, some of the once-lost data was recovered and returned to the lawyer.

There are many morals to this story:

1. Backup all of your critical data, and do it regularly.  There are several excellent backup programs, but I prefer SuperDuper! because it is very easy to use and it makes bootable copies of your hard drive.
2. Have a second alternative to your backups, such as OS X's built-in Time Machine.  Trust me, you can never be too safe with your data, and this second method is quick, easy, and invisible.
3. If you are faced with data loss, despite the two recommendations above, utlize a top-notch data recovery service, like DriveSavers.  They are not inexpensive by any means, but how much is your data worth to you?
4. Never admit that you were dumb enough to not have a backup of your data, even if it's blatantly obvious that your blog post was about yourself...

If you are interested in learning more about what goes into a data recovery company, you should read Macworld's interesting profile of DriveSavers, which was published last week.  It closely examines all aspects of the company, from its roots to its newest complex, and it features its use of Macs throughout its history.

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The following Guest Post is from William A. Jackson, M.D., a Radiologist with Beaufort Medical Imaging at Beaufort Memorial Hospital:

Why is a physician writing on an attorney's blog?  First, I have been a Mac user for fourteen years, and this blog is about Mac use.  The inspiration for this particular post came from a discussion with a fellow physician who is currently involved in a medical malpractice case.  He was asked for the medical images involved in the case, which he provided on a CD.  The requesting attorney was unfamiliar with the viewing software on the CD, and he did not realize all of the images were there but needed to be scrolled through.  Accusations were then made that information was deliberately withheld, which had its own set of hearings and unnecessarily increased the cost, time and stress for all involved.  As an impartial party, I saw an opportunity to contribute information that could have prevented this misunderstanding and offer an advantage to fellow Mac users.

Modern digital medical images are stored in DICOM format.  DICOM (Digital Imaging and COmmunications in Medicine) is a standardized format based on a lossless JPEG format that can carry additional medical data about the images.  The data identifies the type of study, patient name and date, much like the metadata tags that people are now applying to their digital photos.  In order to view the DICOM images, you must have a DICOM viewer.  At the hospital (or office) that took the images, they will have PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System).  These systems can stores thousands of images and allow for viewing of the images at multiple locations.  The images can be printed on conventional film or burned onto a CD or DVD.  Due to cost savings and convenience, the CD/DVD format is preferred.  Most CD/DVD's will include a copy of a free DICOM viewer; however, most assume that a Windows PC will be used and that Internet Explorer will be the default browser, often with ActiveX turned on.

So what are Mac users to do?  Of course, they can opt to use Boot camp, virtualization or a spare PC, but they can still have problems based on the assumptions already mentioned.  The best option for Mac users is OsiriX.  OsiriX is an open source DICOM viewer for Mac OS X.  It can open CD's and DVD's that contain DICOM images.  This allows you to view the images just as a radiologist or other physician would view them on a PACS.  The settings can be adjusted and areas of interest measured if desired.  OsiriX has the capability if working as a 3-D work station which is likely well above the needs of most attorneys.  The most important aspect, I feel, is the ability to view the images in a familiar format.  If you rely on the software included on the CD/DVD, each will have its own user interface.  This means that you must learn multiple ways of doing the same thing, often with contradictory results for the same action on different viewers.  This consistent user interface will make you more efficient at handling the images and less likely to over look some of the images.

OsiriX can allow you to store a copy of the images so you will still have them if the CD/DVD is damaged or lost.  You can make your own discs to distribute to your colleagues or witnesses.  You can store the images on a hard drive, locally or networked.  You can then export the images in a variety of formats.  You can burn CD's or DVD's.  You can also export to other drives or iPods.  They can be upload to web servers or iDisks.  Images can be exported in standard JPEG for incorporation into presentations.

As a radiologist, I find OsiriX useful even though I work at a hospital with a good PACS.  OsiriX is better at finding the DICOM images than our PACS, although some of that is due to protective settings on the PACS.  OsiriX opens nearly every disc that comes in.  There is one office that formats the disc in such a way that I have to manually find and load the images, which is fortunately the rare exception.  In fact OsiriX is so powerful, that there have even been a couple of times when it saved the day.  A referring physician wanted the outside images loaded onto our PACS and even with a $150,000 imaging work station designed to import images,  I had to extract the images from the disc, burn a new one using OsiriX, and then we could load the images onto PACS through the work station.  Not bad for free software!

William A. Jackson, M.D.
Beaufort Medical Imaging
Beaufort Memorial Hospital

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Late last week, I finally got the 3G iPhone -- 16 GB black version.  I have wanted one since they were released, but I had simply been too busy to go pick one up.  I had several opportunities to get one, as out local AT&T Store has gotten a good supply of them, but between working for my clients, coaching little league fall baseball, and trying to be a father/husband, my time has been very limited.  Fortunately, AppleInsider reports that that Apple is now supplying enough units to meet its demand.

My impressions over these first several days has been quite favorable.  The main difference is that I have found the 3G network to be noticeably faster than the EDGE network.  Other than that (and having much more storage space for my music, etc.), it works just like my first generation iPhone -- that is to say that it works great.  Due to the increased speed, I have found myself using it more often to look things up on the 'net and to access my client information via my web-based case management program, Rocket Matter.  If you're considering making the jump to the 3G iPhone, now is the time!

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