Current tech trends at US law firms are clear: BlackBerry 
dominance is out, flexibility and Apple are in. Dan Kaplan reports

After years of barely registering a pulse on The American Lawyer's annual associate technology survey, New York's Proskauer Rose jumped 47 spots in this year's rankings to land in 26th place. What happened? The firm attributes the spike to its new technology programme, implemented in April, which lets lawyers choose between a laptop computer or a combination of a desktop and an iPad. More than 600 of the firm's 700 lawyers have opted for the latter. The iPad "is a very versatile device, and our lawyers are using it in all kinds of ways," says Steven Kayman, a senior litigation partner at Proskauer and head of the firm's technology committee.

As one of the first firms to roll out the iPad on a mass scale, Proskauer had to do its homework. "There just wasn't the template out there to copy anyone else," Kayman says. "We had to specifically create training for our lawyers so that they could get the most out of the devices." So Malcolm Collingwood, the firm's head of information services, drafted a manual covering policies such as purchasing apps and personal use of the iPad. The firm also preinstalled apps like the PDF viewer GoodReader, document viewer Documents to Go and remote access portal Citrix Receiver, and instructed lawyers on how to use them.

Proskauer isn't the only firm taking a second look at its approach to mobile computing. For years many big firms have relied on the BlackBerry for its email and data encryption features. But in recent years, the smartphone and tablet markets have exploded, leading to the acceptance of Apple and, to a lesser extent, Android devices. The bottom line: lawyers have more mobile technology options than ever before, and when firms take advantage of those options, lawyers are more satisfied with their firms.

The associate technology survey is based on four questions that appear in The American Lawyer's annual Mid-level Associates Survey. In this year's survey – conducted in March, April, and May – it asked 5,361 third-, fourth- and fifth-year associates from 149 large and midsize firms to rate their firm's technology on a 1-to-5 scale (with a 5 being the top mark). The questions ask about overall quality, training, support and use of technology on behalf of clients. Each firm's score on all four questions was then averaged to arrive at a composite technology score, which was used to rank the firms. While the survey didn't specifically ask about smartphones, tablets and mobile technology, many respondents chose to discuss their firm's efforts in this area in their responses to the survey's open-ended questions.

Four of last year's top 10 firms remained in the top 10 this year, with only two dropping more than 10 places: Robins Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, which fell to number 21 from number three, and Gibbons, which fell to number 13 from number two.

At the bottom, Boies Schiller & Flexner finished in last place for the second year in a row and the third year out of five. As was the case with the top of the list, cellar dwellers showed little movement: Four of last year's bottom-10 firms remained in the bottom 10 this year – two of last year's bottom-10 firms did not participate in this year's survey. In all, the composite technology scores for the bottom-10 firms averaged 2.792, about 1.5 points lower than the 4.345 points averaged by top-10 firms.

One notable rise was at Cozen O'Connor. After finishing 143rd – fourth from last place – two years 















ago and 50th a year ago, the firm moved to number two this year. Cozen supports a variety of mobile phone options – offering its lawyers the choice between BlackBerrys, iPhones and Android-based devices – and it has also begun to allow iPads and other tablet devices.

These changes are part of a more flexible approach at Cozen generally, says chief information officer Brian Gillam. "If you want dual, 22-inch computer monitors, you've got it," he says. "If you want an iPhone or an iPad or a Droid… we were one of the early firms to adopt those. We just try to be as flexible as possible."

Holland & Knight also climbed the ranks thanks to an overhauled approach to technology. The firm jumped 75 places, to number 39 in the rankings. Last December, Holland gave its associates iPads as year-end gifts – a perk that four associates mentioned in their open-ended responses. The idea, says chief information officer Donald Sternfeld, was for lawyers to use their iPads as they pleased; the firm has no immediate plans to start deploying the devices in place of desktop or laptop computers. Still, Sternfeld estimates that 40-50% of the 400 lawyers who received iPads use them for work purposes. "If a lawyer finds it effective to use an iPad to do some work, we want to make it easy for them to do so," Sternfeld says. "If someone wants to use their own device with the firm, they have 
our policies. The only thing is, 
[the iPads] are attractive devices to be stolen, but we can remotely wipe the data from them should anything happen."

Ending its BlackBerry-only policy in the past year also helped O'Melveny & Myers jump 35 spots from last year's technology rankings to number 10 this year– the firm's first top-10 finish. David Eberhart, a San Francisco-based partner who heads the firm's technology committee, estimates that more than 15% of the firm's lawyers have made the switch to non-BlackBerry devices since the change was announced, with all associated costs subsidised by the firm. Like Cozen, O'Melveny supports Android phones for its lawyers – a move Eberhart says reflects the firm's goal to give people "the broadest possible set of options".

If more firms begin to expand their horizons and offer their mid-levels more choices in the next year, further jumps in The American Lawyer's rankings are a good bet. When it comes to mobile technology, it seems, you can never have too many options.

This article first appeared in The American Lawyer, a US affiliate title of Legal Week.