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

My friend and noted legal technologist, David Bilinsky, recently posted a review of a task management program called Things Mac.  He prefers this program to Entourage for "looking after To-Do’s, errands, repeating appointments and matters that need to be done."  If you're looking for an excellent task management program, you should check out David's review here.

Source:  "A Good Thing…" by David J. Bilinsky, published at his Thoughtful Legal Management blog.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks

The Legal Mac section of the February 2009 Law Practice Today features the article "Marketing & Macs" by Victor J. Medina:

Not just for creative types anymore! A long-time staple of the technology needs of designers, ad agencies, etc., Macs are now worthy opponents of PCs when it comes to the needs of "serious" people. Read more about the ever-growing list of applications designed to help you market your business.

Marketing can mean a lot of things when you are dealing with a law practice these days. Technology has given rise to a new class of marketing activities and the flattening of the world has allowed many attorneys to handle most of their marketing from their living room (or office desk). With all of the services offered on the Internet, lawyers can now design and print their own business cards and brochures online - and many are doing so. More importantly, those attorneys who can create things that are decidedly in the talented-amateur level of design will be able to distinguish themselves from their competition. That’s where Macs come in.

It is well-known that Macs have been, and are, the go-to computer choice for people in the creative world. Most of the notable bloggers, ad agencies, and writers all use Mac computers. (Tom Clancy is even credited with saying, “Never ask a man what kind of computer he drives. If it’s a Mac, he’ll tell you. If not, why embarrass him.”) What’s lesser known is the fact that Macs are becoming the go-to computer for “serious” people who want to separate themselves from the pack in business.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (2)
• Trackbacks

Today, I had the pleasure to speak at Law Tech 2009 :: Marketing, Management and Technology Solutions for Your Firm, sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association.  Specifically, I participated in the panel discussion on "Macs for Lawyers" along with Caesar Cirigliano, Eddie Davidson, Jim Moore, and Steve Weaver.  We had a good crowd and I believe that everyone enjoyed this session.  Thanks to the Tennessee Bar for inviting me back to speak again this year.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Two weeks ago, I mentioned that I was featured in a Lawyers USA article which discussed "Should you switch to a Mac?"  Part Two of that article has now been published, and you can read it here.  This portion discusses the "pitfalls" of making the move to Macs.

I placed that word in quotation marks, because these "pitfalls" are relatively minor and can easily be accommodated.  The main pitfall mentioned is that "a lot of software is Windows-only."  However, as has been discussed many times on this blog, virtualization software (among other options) allows you to easily run any Windows software on your Mac.

Source:  "Should lawyers switch from their PC to a Mac? Part II: The pitfalls" by Sylvia Hsieh, published in the Wisconsin Law Journal and in Lawyers USA.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (2)
• Trackbacks

One of the better Mac legal technology blogs is the Esquire | Mac blog, which recently published a great analysis of the ways to record audio while taking notes.  This skill can benefit almost every attorney, particularly those with an active trial practice.  The article is well worth a read, as it examines the following programs/topics:

• Audio Notes in Microsoft Word
• Voice Annotating in Circus Ponies Notebook
• Paper and Pen with the Pulse Smart Pen from LiveScribe

Source:  "Practice Tip: Record Audio While Taking Notes" by Adam Greivell, published at his Esquire | Mac blog.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (6)
• Trackbacks

Lawyers USA has begun a series this week on "Should you switch to a Mac?"  In Part One, the article discusses the advantages that Macs offer, and it features interviews with me (The Mac Lawyer), Victor Medina (who publishes Another Thing To Do), and Kevin Morton (who publishes A Mac Lawyer's Notebook).  

Some of the key quotes from this article are:

"Concededly, you can buy a PC for less, but it wouldn't operate the way a Mac does.  If you built a Dell machine equivalent to a Mac machine, the price is not far off at all."  ::  Victor Medina

"You can create your own presentations, beyond simple PowerPoints. We can make really dynamic moving video, moving images that are a powerful marketing tool. I don't outsource marketing to anyone else."  ::  Kevin Morton

"There are a lot of stories of people who have switched from a PC to a Mac, but you don't find anybody that has switched back, other than one or two odd examples. There's a reason for that: life is so much easier with a Mac"  ::  Ben Stevens

Source:  "Should You Switch to a Mac? Part I: The Advantages" by Sylvia Hsieh, published in Lawyers USA.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

The following Guest Post is from Dale Strauss, and it is written in response to my recent post about the iPhone vs. Blackberry debate.  Let it never be said that I'm not willing to air both sides of a debate, even if one of them is not pro-Apple (LOL).  I hope that you find it helpful and informative, and I'd like to thank Dale for allowing me to publish his great article:

Reading Ben’s references to the great articles by Jeff Richardson and Lee Rosen gave rise to one of my long-winded comments, which Ben graciously suggested we turn it into this Guest Post. I would like to make a plug for a different alternative to the iPhone, the Blackberry Bold. No doubt the Storm is RIM's direct analog for the iPhone, however I believe the Bold is a more compelling alternative, particularly for lawyers.

I've tried the iPhone 3g twice (and my son has my original iPhone) so I believe I've given it a fair shake. It is undoubtedly one of the best electronic gadgets ever invented. It has no equal as a media device, whether music, videos, gaming, or even the internet. I hesitated a bit on that last one, because Safari on the iPhone is the best internet experience on a phone size device, but it is still too small. No matter how good the interface and translation of a full page may be, it is still an annoying WINDOW on the real thing. Even netbooks at 8" stretch the true usability of the internet. No device with a 3" +/- window on the internet world delivers the goods.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks