Trend for cutting-edge consumer technology sees mounting pressure on firms to adapt

Many of the UK's leading law firms are overhauling their IT strategies as the rapid rise of mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad and increased demand for mobile working pushes firms to rethink the way their lawyers use technology.

The proliferation of mobile technology has blurred the distinction between professional and personal for many lawyers, prompting firms to look at ways to boost their mobile working capacity as increasing numbers of lawyers use their own devices for work purposes.

A key driver behind this trend is the rise of the iPad, Apple's tablet device, which has now been trialled at a raft of UK top 50 firms including Eversheds, Bird & Bird, Shoosmiths and Addleshaw Goddard.

Eversheds has since deployed 500 iPads to staff across its UK and international offices, while Bird & Bird has given out 60 to partners and Addleshaws 20.

Meanwhile, firms including Norton Rose, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Wragge & Co and Burges Salmon are either considering providing iPads to staff or enabling them to use their own securely in the office.

BLP is currently moving towards a 'virtualisation' of the firm's desktop infrastructure that will allow its 1,500 lawyers to work remotely and securely on both laptops and handheld devices, while Norton Rose is planning to phase in iPads across its Dubai, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Paris and Singapore bases before rolling them out more widely.

BLP IT director Janet Day said: "Mobile working is a fact of life now. Everything we can do to support it can only be a good thing as the benefits outweigh the costs. We just have to ensure that it happens in a secure environment."

However, mitigating the risk of data loss remains an overriding concern, as was starkly highlighted last month, when millions of BlackBerry users were left without email, web browsing and messaging capabilities due to server problems at Research In Motion's Slough data centre.

DLA Piper Americas chief information officer (CIO) Don Jaycox said last month that the shutdown had brought a switch from BlackBerrys to iPhones and Android devices "to the front burner".

DLA Piper International CIO Daniel Pollick (pictured) commented: "Firms are under pressure from lawyers to use devices such as iPads and smart phones at work. These devices were never designed with enterprise in mind, so the big challenge is dealing with this consumer-driven demand without compromising IT security."

Legal Week Intelligence's recent IT survey, which canvassed employees at 54 major law firms, showed that lawyers believe their firms' capacity for mobile working has improved over the past year, with firms' average rating out of five by its staff rising from 3.6 last year to 3.8.

BLP placed top of the rankings of how staff rate their firms' mobile and home working provisions, securing an average rating of 4.5, followed by Eversheds, Hogan Lovells, Latham & Watkins and Addleshaw Goddard.

Norton Rose technology and innovation manager Vlad Botic said: "There has been a mental shift in the way we think about IT. Whereas the home user and the enterprise user were always separate, the line is now blurred. It won't be going away any time soon, either, so we need to embrace it."