If you haven’t heard yet, Apple announced the iPad 2 on March 2, 2011. The iPad was a revolutionary product when it was first announced, and the iPad 2 continues on with some revolutionary changes of its own. Apple’s little iPad is growing up.
There are two major upgrades that make this iPad a much more effective and useful tool for attorneys and paralegals in virtually every aspect of the legal field.
The Cameras :: The new iPad 2 has dual cameras, just like the iPhone 4. This opens up a lot of possibilities with Apple’s Face Time software. For example:
- Impromptu Video Conferences – Speaking with your expert witness is no longer an abstract conversation. Instead, you can see each other face to face from around the globe. You can get a feel for them as a witness and develop a rapport using more than just your voices.
- Tell AND Show – How many times have you tried to explain something over the phone, only to confirm by saying “See what I mean?” With dual cameras, you can communicate face to face, demonstrate complex ideas, or even use the back-facing camera and show some video of a document, diagram, or demonstrative while it is being marked up.
- Site Walkthroughs – How many times have you walked through the site of a loss only to leave with a few photographs? Don’t get me wrong, photographs are invaluable, but being able to take video adds temporal/spatial context to the photos. If a picture is worth 1000 words, then video is worth 30000 words… per second.
The HDMI Adapter :: Finally! HDMI monitors and projects are becoming the norm in conference rooms across the world, and now you can interface with those displays very easily. Here are some of the important changes and why they are so darn beneficial:
- You can charge your iPad while presenting – The new 30-pin to HDMI adapter allows for a standard 30-pin connection for power and video out via HDMI. No more worrying about your iPad’s battery dying. Turn off the sleep function and turn up the brightness!
- HDMI carries audio and video
– One connector makes all of the magic happen. Sharing multimedia presentations is easy because you just need to worry about one cable. - 1080p and 720p
– You’re not limited to 1024×768 anymore. All of your presentations, photos, and videos get the big screen treatment so you and your audience see every little detail. - Video Mirroring
– What you see on your iPad screen is what you get on the big screen. Apps, presentations, videos, everything.
If the success and features of the first iPad are any indication, the iPad 2 will definitely bring on some great innovation. The addition of the cameras and the HDMI adapter are huge, but this doesn’t even take into account the faster processors. But, I’m curious, how and why will the iPad 2 change your practice?
Source: Jason Wietholter is the Technology Director at Opveon, a litigation support and consulting firm. Jason and the team at Opveon are making litigation more efficient and effective through the use of technology.
I see this from a different perspective. I think the iPad 2 will make the original iPad much more sought after from lawyers. There are plenty of courts that will forbid devices with cameras in them. As such, the iPads without cameras will be admitted, and the new ones may not.
I think there should be a distinction drawn between lawyers and litigators for the purpose of this discussion. As Mr. Meyerson pointed out, many courts still forbid cameras.
Paul, Hunter, you make good points. Many courts do not allow cameras. I spend most of my time working with litigators, so my experience and thought process begins with them.
How would you use it in other practices of law?
Jason, I can’t give you a number, but I can tell you that it really depends on Federal v. State, the Judge and the security guards at the door. I’ve had attorneys say they weren’t allowed on Monday and then Tuesday they didn’t check(of course, talking about cell phones with cameras).
While I am not a practicing attorney, I can tell you I use it for client meetings, notes keeping, looking up quick rules or codes, and case law (with Fastcase).
There are a few companies (mine included) that are working on Apps for attorneys to be able to perform document review on the iPad. This will effectively allow the attorney to use the iPad from case inception all the way to trial.
Document review is a big one. I’ve been in a few trials where attorneys were using the Trial Presentation apps for the iPad for document review purposes. They work well.
It will not change my practice at all. For the most part, all the things I need are still on my laptop.
Frankly, Apple is promoting the iPad as a media tool, not really as a business tool. So all the tools I have seen for litigators pale in comparison to what I can find on my laptop.
I am a court reporter specializing in realtime transcription especially over the Internet. Now with my iPad2, I am offering iPad2 to iPad2s and or to IPad1s, free video conferencing using FaceTime or using Fuze Meeting. I cover the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland.