The practice of law in the future—the near future—will surely include wearable technology, apps for your iPhone or cloud computing. With technology changing at a faster pace than cherry blossoms, Julie Sobowale wrote in the Canadian Bar Association’s National magazine some tips and picks on what tools lawyers of the future can employ today.
- Wearable technology: With respect to wearable technology—and the most popular piece to date, Google Glass—Sobowale said the reviews are mixed for lawyers. Notably, there are privacy and security concerns, she said, such as taking photos and recording video without consent. Recently, however, a lawyer in California used Google Glass to record depositions during a trial, with court’s permission of course. Look for such uses in the future.
- Apps: Sobowale has some ideas about the best apps for your iPhone or Android devices when it comes to the practice of law—put Angry Birds down and load these up instead. With oneSafe you can load all passwords into one database secured with a master password; the one password will show you everything, as well as PIN numbers, and with a Dropbox sync you can save the data to multiple devices. SignNow lets clients sign documents with their fingers and allows you to complete PDF forms on the go. JotNot Scanner Pro scans and converts documents to PDFs.
- Consumer legal services: One way of marketing your legal services is to develop custom products that clients can use. For instance, a lawyer in Canada created Severance Calculator, which allows people to input information and find out what kind of severance they’re entitled to. Another lawyer created My Legal Briefcase, a website that gives clients instructions on creating legal documents. “The old way of marketing … is outdated,” Lior Safiru, the founder of Severance Calculator, told Sobowale. “You need to be more creative.”
Attorney Marlisse Silver Sweeney is a freelance writer based in Vancouver. [email protected]. Twitter: @MarlisseSS. LTN: @lawtechnews.
