The Mac Lawyer Using Macs in Law Firms | Attorney Ben Stevens

Response to TechnoLawyer’s Misleading Article About Macs in Law Firms

By J. Benjamin Stevens on Posted in Switching to Macs

On Tuesday, TechnoLawyer published "TechnoFeature:  Mythbusters:  Should Your Law Firm Switch From Windows to Mac?" by Christel Burris.  Upon seeing the title, I was interested, particularl since I have written for TechnoLawyer in the past.  However, upon reading the article, I was quite disappointed.  The article by Ms. Burris, a former receptionist turned technology consultant, did nothing more than regurgitate many long-disproven myths that PC loyalists have used against Macs for years.  Further, after seeing the many factual inaccuracies in it, I’m very disappointed that TechnoLawyer would even publish this article.  To set the record straight, I present the following response from William L. Wilson, an attorney and MILO member:

An Open Letter to TechnoLawyer

I read Ms. Burris’s article with interest as the title suggested that some of the long-debunked Macintosh myths might be busted for the legal community. I was disappointed to find that Ms. Burris continued to propagate these myths. I am a lone Mac user in a law firm of 13 attorneys with plenty of support staff.

The biggest error in her article was that there are viruses that can infect Mac systems. The list of viruses she provided affect Macs that use the old OS 9. Since Apple moved to OS X, viruses are practically nonexistent. In fact, I do not run any anti-virus software on my MacBook Pro or any of the other Macs I own and use.

Ms. Burris continues her unfair attack by arguing that the Mac is not a secure platform. She is correct that the Mac OS is not 100% secure. Neither is Windows. Human beings are imperfect and software will always have some way that it can be exploited. The question is not whether a contestant was able to surprise people by hacking into a Mac quickly. The question is whether everyday users will experience problems caused by security holes. Microsoft issues a new security patch for Windows on the second Tuesday of each month. Apple releases security patches as soon as the problem is identified and solved. Unfortunately, Ms. Burris left the impression that the Mac OS is less secure than Windows. The fact that trojan horses, viruses, worms and so on regularly infest the Windows world while we Mac owners do not worry about these issues so much speaks for itself.

Ms. Burris also complained that some software was not as robust as other options available on the Windows platform. I do not have the level of experience she does in working with various pieces of legal software, but I can say that VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop, and other options provide a seamless experience in running Windows applications on my Mac. Our firm uses PracticeMaster and Tabs 3, and I have no problem accessing the software.

Ms. Burris implies that Macs are somehow more prone to hardware failures by citing the example that she once had to replace a dead hard drive in an iMac while she’s had relatively few failures in Dell systems. One cannot logically draw a conclusion from this faulty analogy. With the proper tools and some brief online research for a set of instructions, she could have easily replaced the hard drive herself and upgraded its size at the same time in a few hours (if that). That alone may have been worth the cost of having the repair done under warranty. I have replaced hard drives in Macs and PCs, both laptops and desktops, and have found that they are equally simple.

As for the claim that there’s some software that can’t run on a Mac, with the aforementioned VMware Fusion or Parallels, this claim fails. It is true that the Mac platform lacks some "native" software applications, but with virtual machines running on Mac’s Intel processors, there’s no issue. Sadly, Ms. Burris’s attack on the Mac platform may discourage developers from considering and building more specialized Mac applications.

With respect to efficiency, I can count on one hand the number of times my MacBook Pro has locked up in the past six months. In fact, I only need one finger. One cannot be efficient if the computer has contracted a virus or run into some other problem that continues to plague the Windows platform. The infamous "blue screen of death" is not a ghost of past crashes. Lawyers should consider how often they have their IT specialist come in to fix a problem on the Windows platform. Our IT contractor comes in probably monthly (at a cost that I am not privy to) in order to provide some remedy (most often a virus or similar issue). As he said after one of our attorney’s computers was taken over by a spambot last month, "If you want to avoid this type of problem, you buy a Mac."

There is plenty of room to debate the merits of each platform in the legal world. Ms. Burris flatly concludes that the Mac cannot outperform Windows in a law practice. This may be her opinion, but it shouldn’t be presented as a proven fact. I am hopeful that my rebuttal (which is my opinion) has helped readers see the merits of a system that Ms. Burris has unfairly dismissed.

William L. Wilson, Attorney at Law
Anderson, Agostino & Keller, P.C.
South Bend, Indiana

  • Max manshel

    Boy, Macs have viruses… that shows how little she knows. The reports of Dell hard dive crashes are endless. What a poor job of editing by TL

  • http://www.formaceyesonly.com Mike Potter

    Well said.
    Using skills acquired in college when under pressure to produce a “term paper” at the last minute would seem to serve her well (that the article begins with the word “Introduction” and ends with “Conclusion” is a good indicator).
    And, as with many college term papers, it’s clear that actual “research” need not apply. Unfortunately, her inferences based on what may be a limited knowledge of Macs and OS X led to an article that would get a failing grade in most classes.
    As a technology consultant, she may earn her paycheck entirely by supporting the Windows platform, so I could imagine that the idea of selling a computer to a client that wouldn’t always need her services a quick phone call away (24/7) would be a scary thought to her.
    Mike

  • http://Www.willworsham.com Will Worsham

    I’ve run a mac only law firm for 4 years. So MUCH better than the Microsoft we had to deal with before.
    -Will Worsham
    Attorney at law
    Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Internet

  • http://www.opveonuniversity.com/ Jason Wietholter

    It amazes me just how many “technology consultants” criticize that which they have not thoroughly tested themselves.
    I use both Macs and PCs. My personal preference is a Mac for all of the reasons that she cites as being a poor choice. I have zero viruses, zero crashes, zero problems with software compatibility and zero security holes.
    Maybe the reason she has so little experience with Macs – and therefore, criticizes them – is that she does not ever have the occasion to work on them as they don’t have problems.
    Her article really is an unfair comparison and I wish people would stop publishing these baseless opinions.

  • Stephanie Dall

    Hear! Hear! In fact, Mr. Wilson modestly understates the shortcomings in the Burris piece.
    If a PC were the only computer option, I would still be using my old Olivetti, an abacus, and 3″x5″ note cards — and don’t even get me started on Windows.
    Thanks to NeoOffice, interface with our hopelessly Gated colleagues is seamless without fear of freezing or crashing on our end in the face of fast-approaching deadlines. If you can envision a more perfect world than PC/Windows, throw off your chains and get a Mac! Note: Other converts in my circle swear by Larry Pogue’s “Mac OS X – The Missing Manual” to facilitate a smooth transition while learning to cope with a system that actually works (or plays!) as intended.

  • http://www.gracesuarez Grace Suarez

    I used PC’s for 34 years, both at work and at home. Two years ago I switched to Macs. I have never been happier with technology in my life. I’m disappointed that TechnoLawyer would allow such a poorly-vetted piece to be published.

  • allen turner

    Used PCs since 1975? wow, where was I? oh yes, waiting for someone to invent something smaller than a VW bus.

  • Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax)

    I have been a PC user since 1984 (before that CP/M!) Technolawyer has published many articles about Macs and their advantages/disadvantages. Both work in a law office. If you want to use a Mac, fine, but please stop evangelizing!
    Ron Cappuccio

  • http://HoudiniESQ.com Frank Rivera

    That article Burris wrote exclaims fear. Fear of the new, the stable, the secure and the productive.
    We run nothing but Macs on this end. Our up-times say it all, we rarely apply updates because we simply don’t have to. We eventually get around to it. Try that with ANY machine running Windows. If it isn’t NT then you will have to reboot it every 15-30 days.
    LOGICBIt-Server1:bin Rhino$ uptime
    19:45 up 118 days, 9:14, 17 users, load averages: 0.93 0.87 0.75
    LOGICBIt-Server3:bin XServ$ uptime
    19:45 up 82 days, 9:14, 9 users, load averages: 0.45 0.97 0.22
    and my small laptop we use to develop the enterprise components of our products last update was long ago
    LOGICBIt-BlackBook:bin LOGICBit$ uptime
    19:46 up 98 days, 9:15, 2 users, load averages: 0.73 0.67 0.91
    Just close the lid when not using your Mac laptop. I think I used the power button once, wen I purchsed it.

  • Ron

    It’s pretty obvious Christel only superficially used a Mac, and used single instance scenarios to come to her faulty conclusions.
    If she was actually an IT person that worked in a team that had to support thousands of computers, both Mac and PC, she would quickly realize that it takes teams of people to support the problems on PC’s, and only one or two to support the Mac.
    Hardware issues are mostly related to the organization that takes care of the service. Had she dealt with a service centre that knew the high priority of her concern and took the initiative to take care of her, she would have had much better satisfaction.
    This is EXACTLY the same on the PC. If you deal with someone that is slow in repairing your computer, how can you blame the computer or the manufacturer?
    As for software, I have seen many more problems on PCs not able to run Windows software due to incorrect patches, DLLs and incompatibilities with drivers than anything else. Fixing these problems can take days and weeks… and in an environment where you count on your computer for high profile cases, you can’t be spending hours trying to reinstall software.
    Removing software on a PC inevitable leaves dozens of system files, which cause instability. Microsoft even had to build a comprehensive application and set of very detailed standards for application developers to properly remove their applications and all of their dependant files from the operating system. It has NEVER properly worked… hopefully it’s better on Windows 7.
    On the Mac, 99.9% of software gets removed by dragging the application to the trash! Nothing is left lingering in your operating system that is going to slow down or cause instability.
    I guess the thing that bothered me the most about her article was the lack of basic facts to support her case. Unfortunately, some people may believe her conclusions, and that is the biggest crime.

  • http://clarklawfirm.com Dave Clark

    In mid-2006 we switched to all-Mac at my one-lawyer law firm, and my wife and I each have one at home. Multiple large cases later, we couldn’t be happier. Chucking my anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-whatever was a genuine pleasure. With new Mac-native billing software, I’ve even given up Parallels and Fusion as unnecessary. And, we’re well on our way to paperless.
    Why did the lady spread such false tales herself? I can only guess that somebody at Redmond pays her handsome fees to fix their boxes, or she makes so much money doing so has become addicted. Bring on Rehab for the poor soul!!

  • Michael Kehoe

    My experience directly conflicts with the article. I switched from PC to Mac over a year ago and find that there are significantly less problems with the Mac then I had with a PC. As a lawyer, I only wish there were better programming options available. Our firm has used Timeslips for years so I am kind of “wedded” to it but I find it works much better with Parallels than when I used it on a PC. My experience with a MAC leads me to believe the author wasn’t well versed with the Mac platform or wanted to write a non-objective article. I just ordered a Mac mini for my secretary to make a complete move to the Mac platform for my office. It is so nice to not have a frozen program, need to reboot, bsod, etc. One last thing is that since I use Parallels, I am more acutely aware of how often I have to reboot Windows due to various patches, etc. as opposed to how really rare that is with a Mac.

  • Richard Alan Lehrman

    This was my unpublished post to Technolawyer on the same subject
    —————————————————————–
    I resisted moving to Mac for years for the same reasons almost everyone else does:
    1. Windows-based software unavailable in OSX (TimeMatters, HotDocs, etc.)
    2. familiarity with, as Mark puts it, the “next layer down” of Windows
    3. the PITA (can I say that in this group?) of the move
    Sorry to say but I have many negative comments. My wife (we have had a mixed marriage for years, with her office on Mac and mine on Windows) finally converted me. I have a MacBook Pro running Windows on VMWare Fusion, with the following complaints:
    1. I miss my blue screen of death – nothing takes over the monitor so completely
    2. I am still restarting my Mac a couple of times a day out of habit to regain lost RAM, causing my wife to roll her eyes or laugh at me
    3. I am deprived of numerous cultural exchanges with tech support in Mumbai advising me to “reinstall Windows”
    4. my considerable investment in antivirus, firewall, synching, defragging, registry cleaning, backup and 78 other pieces of memory hogging software helping Windows to load in under 6 minutes is down the drain
    5. any idiot can drag and drop a graphic from a website onto the desktop – I prefer the challenge of navigating through a bunch of challenging dialogue boxes (culminating in my personal favorite, the “Are you sure?” box)
    6. Where is my hourglass?
    7. Finding things is so annoying on the Mac – click the Spotlight, type a couple of letters, and “boom!” (like John Madden would say) – every conceivable result in a nanosecond; no time for the coffee breaks I used to enjoy while Windows Search uselessly plowed through folder after folder
    8. It’s way too pedestrian to view the contents of any file by clicking the Mac “eye;” I’d much rather enjoy the mystery, wait half a minute while loading the appropriate program or buy a file viewing utility that gobbles memory and becomes obsolete a few months later
    9. No more coffee breaks during installing, uninstalling, restarting, closing programs one by one with Task Manager when they hang or waiting for the backup program that works “in the background” while causing a 10 second delay after every keystroke or mouse click.
    10. Mac has no Windows Genuine Advantage, a boon to those of us with hours to kill convincing someone at Microsoft that the copy of Windows we paid for is actually ours (in exchange for the 25 digit code entitling you to apply the antivirus patch of the day)
    11. I miss all that time “under the hood,” messing around with the registry, loading device drivers or searching for corrupted ones, futzing around in Control Panel to see which of the 47 programs and utilities loaded into memory to make Windows “just like” a Mac is causing Windows to hang or conflicting with some other program
    Believe it or not, the most stable version of Windows I ever had is the XP I run on the Fusion virtual drive. It may well be that I only run the programs I absolutely have to (i.e. Timematters, HotDocs, ATX and other legal-specific software not ported to Mac), and they all fit nicely within the 1MB RAM I allocate to the virtual drive (I still run antivirus/firewall software because those programs, as well as Windows, require updating). The Word documents created by HotDocs open perfectly in Mac Word, and I can spray all the information I want from TimeMatters directly into any Mac program.
    If you kept your computer for less than a month, those trade articles showing how a comparable Windows box is either cheaper or more powerful would be more relevant. But I’ve yet to see a version of Windows (and I’ve used it since 3.1) that ages well. Even the morning AM radio sports show has dozens of ads for Windows registry cleaners.
    As usual, my wife was right

  • http://lawyerist.com Sam Glover

    Macs are perfectly good law office computers. In fact, 5 of the 7 lawyers in my office share use Macs.
    I happen to prefer Windows (and sometimes, Linux), but it is a preference, not a religious conviction. I can’t imagine how the TechnoLawyer author could have concluded that Macs’ suitability for the law office is a “myth” that could be “debunked.”

  • Brian Fraiser

    Macs are NOT secure in any fashion.
    The latest security competitions have macs being hacked within minutes, not hour or days, but minutes!
    Macs are great for simple tasks, however you will find most of the time people booting into windows on their macs to use most legal software… which only has them booting to OSX to do those simple tasks.
    In the end, having OSX and insisting that the simple tasks be done on a mac, is a huge waste of time!
    Most people I support that insist on having a mac are using it with a citrix interface to the networks servers. I can’t help but wonder of the intelligence of some lawyers on their macs that exclaim how wonderful it is. They dont realize that their are doing their work on a network server that’s running a Microsoft operating system!!!
    And this doesnt even cover the incompatibilities between different legal softwares on a mac or the just-off-enough formatting to cause serious headaches for the clients they are dealing with.
    So while an attorney smugly thinks they are smart for using a mac for legal work, the rest of the people they deal with putting up with it, don’t!

  • Andy Satori

    THough I am posting this personally, the company I work for (and part own) writes legal software for the bankruptcy market. It runs on Windows. Most of our development staff uses Macs and we are considering adding Mac’s as targets. The problem is that right now, we aren’t getting any push to target the Mac, though we would like to.
    Needless to say, we are watching this discussion avidly.

  • Jason E. Havens

    I agree with most of the other postings, including the humorous — but true — one from my friend Richard Lehrman. He and I are both trusts and estates lawyers, and we evidently both now use Macs. Other than our servers, which will eventually be Macs, and a couple of remaining workstations, all of our law firm’s computers are now Macs. If anyone has any interest, I have written a couple of recent Probate & Property (ABA RPTE Section) columns on using Macs in a law office, with particular emphasis on remote computing and also practice management systems. I still use and will likely continue to use Microsoft Office for Mac, which functions seamlessly with its Windows counterpart. Most of the T & E drafting systems are Word-oriented and extensively utilize styles, which is why I probably will not migrate to Apple’s office suite or an alternative such as OpenOffice. From a stability standpoint, the Mac operating system clearly outperforms Windows in my experience. Yet the Mac OS can work well in a Windows environment, as outlined in the May issue of MacWorld magazine and plenty of resources that Ben and others have made available. My remote computing column included a review of LogMeIn, which allows even more ways to use Macs alongside Windows-based PCs. In view of the Windows 7 transition, which sounds challenging at best, I will likely take more bites out of Apple….