The cracked cradle of Alan Mendelson’s BlackBerry is a tell-tale sign of itsimportance to the Latham & Watkins rainmaker.

He’s carried it with him all over the globe and even admits to having jogged upthe jetway to retrieve it from his airplane seat after a long flight.

“My wife would tell me that she hates it at times,” he said. “Butif she needs to get a hold of me, it’s great.”

Kevin Fisher, a partner in the San Francisco office of White & Case,considers himself a BlackBerry addict. He recalled his wife protesting as heconsulted it while stepping into a gondola while on vacation in Venice. “Itwas either I put it away, or it was going into the canal,” Fisher said.

Indeed these ever-present devices — be they BlackBerry or its competitor Treo– have carved a special place into the lives of lawyers.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton partner P. Craig Cardon said he’sdeveloped calluses on his thumbs from using his Treo, and he can type with themfaster than he can with 10 fingers.

Attorneys say that the handheld devices have transformed the practice of law –making them more responsive to clients.

Joshua Masur is a devotee of the Treo. The Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Mawassociate did some work for the device’s maker, PalmOne. He said its softwaremakes accessible various e-book readers, including federal rules of evidence andcivil procedures.

“You can also get Westlaw access off a Palm,” said Masur. “Youwouldn’t do major in-depth research, but there are times when it is good to lookup a case.”

He’s used software to transform his Treo into a wireless modem for his laptopcomputer — and finds other features handy for out-of-town trips. A programcalled Vindigo provides information on a city’s restaurants, complete withreviews, maps and directions with details about public transportation. He alsoconsults a Wine Enthusiast magazine database on the device.

Masur recalled a senior partner on a business trip suggested simply asking theconcierge for wining and dining tips. But by the end of the trip the partner wasasking, “Where does your Treo say we should eat, what wine does it say weshould have, and how do we get there?”

While recognizing the value of the gadgets, attorneys also see their pitfalls.

“I was at a symposium, and there were a significant number of peopleattending that were on their BlackBerry the whole time,” commented Anthonyde Alcuaz, partner in charge of McDermott, Will & Emery’s Palo Alto office.”One wonders how much they absorbed of their CLE credit.”

For litigators, the difficulty with the most recent incarnation of the Treo isthat it contains a camera telephone, which isn’t allowed in most federalcourtrooms.

“I’ve had trouble in New York Superior Court and federal district court inFlorida,” said Cardon. “They make you put it in a locker.”

While the gadgets might be seen as a source of constant stress, some lawyerssuggest they have the opposite effect.

“You could say that it’s a reflection of the culture crashing that peoplecan’t step away from a baseball game and not check their BlackBerry,” saidMendelson. “But the fact is that it makes me less nervous.”



Marie-Anne Hogarth is a staff writer for The Recorder.