Thoughts About How Lawyers Can Use Scrivener
One question that I am frequently asked is "What's the best word processing program for the Mac?" Niki Black published an article last week giving her thoughts about Scrivener, which is described on its website as a "word processor and project management tool created specifically for writers of long texts."
Niki wrote that she finds Scrivener to be an invaluable tool that helps make the process of writing and organizing the information she collects so much simpler and streamlined, and she explained how this might benefit attorneys. For instance, each portion of a legal document could be treated as a “chapter,” which is simply a folder within the document that can have the supportive documentation (exhibits, cases, etc.) alongside and able to be opened with a click. The associated files could be text files, image files, websites, audio files, or even video files, and they can be linked, or associated, with different sections to be referenced more than once.
Of course, as my readers already know, I am a big fan of Pages (which I use in my practice) and I dislike Word (because I try to avoid all things Microsoft). However, it sounds as though Scrivener could be useful in certain types of cases – particularly if an iPad compatible version becomes available. If you're still undecided about which word processing program is best for you, you may want to check out Scrivener.
Source: "Using Scrivener for Legal Writing" by Niki Black, published at Lawyerist.com.
According to the creator of Scrivener, he doesn't plan on releasing an iPad version of the software. It's on his blog :(
I am using Scrivener now to work on a legal thesis and it's great. Having the separate "chapters" really fits the way I think of the sections of my paper as distinct pieces, and the ease of rearranging things is very helpful. My favorite thing about the program is being able to pull up my references in the same window - especially when using the split screen. It's much faster than loading them elsewhere and having to switch from window to window.
James Fallows has an interesting article about Scrivener in the Atlantic online, which praises its features for organizing documents .
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/06/interesting-software-more-on-scrivener/57686/