Do Lawyers Really Use the Power of Mobile Technology?

March 2, 2012 - 2 minute read

John K. Etter, partner with the class action and contract litigation firm, Rodney & Etter, LLC, recently participated in a survey of lawyers about their use of smart phones, tablets and other mobile technologies for ALM Legal Intelligence.

The main conclusions from the survey – perhaps not surprisingly – were that smartphones and tablets are powerful, but their capabilities are underutilized by most lawyers.  The role of mobile technology in the legal profession is in its infancy, with technical support and security of data key issues that have yet to be addressed.  Rodney & Etter has been pushing the edges of paperless offices and digital connectivity for more than six years, learning from the difficult lessons of the post-Katrina flooding.  But even with the tools we have in place, the survey results and articles from the ABA and other sources make it clear that as an industry there is enormous potential to make our electronic, mobile tools do more and enable us to better serve our clients.

We wonder how you, our blog-readers, see mobile technology impacting your work, whether in the legal field or elsewhere, in the next few years?  What concerns do you have about increased reliance on mobile devices?  As a client, what are your concerns regarding the security of communications over mobile devices?  Let us know by commenting below.

About the survey:  a total of 27,134 attorneys were invited to take the survey, and 266 people responded, of which 84% were attorneys at law firms and 16% were attorneys at legal departments.  Among those who responded from law firms, 70% were partners.  Lawyers in legal departments had a broad range of titles, and 25 percent were chief legal officers or their deputies.

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