It was not that many years ago, after Lexis and Westlaw came on the scene, that many attorneys were heard to say “I don’t trust computer-based legal research,” and, “I like to hold books in my hands and spread books in front of me on a table.” Is there any attorney today who would like to go back to the paper-based law library days, or who thinks that form of legal research is more efficient?

Probably not, but there are those who are just as behind the times when it comes to the recent emergence of tablet-based computing as a tool for lawyers. Desktop and laptop computers are giving way to tablet computing, led by the iPad, and the numerous applications that are specifically being designed for the legal profession or that are easily adaptable to the practice of law. These devices and applications are game changing in their impact.

As a result, the days of carrying heavy trial bags and pushing dollies loaded with banker boxes are over. Despite the doubters, the iPad has arrived and has ushered in a new way for lawyers to manage, and to carry, information. Let me be clear about one thing, however: I am not suggesting that the iPad, or any other tablet-based device, is a complete substitute for a desktop or laptop computer.

As others have correctly pointed out, the iPad is an information consumption device, not an information creation device. For example, the information for this article was collected on an iPad, but the article was drafted on a laptop computer. In fact, I often work on a computer with an iPad at my side as a handy way to refer to research documents. In this way, I have the equivalent of a dual monitor setup that I can use anywhere.

I recently presented a CLE program to our firm to provide a basic introduction to the ways that a lawyer can use the iPad to become more efficient and to provide better service to clients. There can be no doubt that technology, alone, will not make someone a better lawyer; hard work and creative thinking are still the hallmarks of a successful attorney. Nevertheless, a lawyer gains nothing by lugging around briefcases and trial bags stuffed with documents; nor does the lawyer serve the client’s interests by taking hours to find something that a computer can locate in a few seconds. The strengths of the otherwise successful attorney, when enhanced by the effective use of tablet-based computer technology, can indeed be an awesome combination that will not go unnoticed by clients, the opposition or the courts.

via How the iPad Can Increase Lawyers’ Productivity.