Criminal Defense Law With An Apple

Excellent new blog on iPad using lawyers. This blog already has some great content and we seem to share many of the same hopes for what the iPad will turn out to be. Go check it out.

Once again, unless you are living under a rock, you heard about the release of iPad.  Unfortunate on the naming decision and lack of research. There have been some that say this will revolutionize the netbook market, the digital print industry and mankind as we know it. Hyperbole aside, I am sure that I will have one and it will make my life in court better.

When I am standing in front of a Judge on a busy calendar, looking through my calendar on my iPhone, it is painful. Solution: iPad. Working on documents in Pages (while waiting my turn on that same busy calendar) is not even an option.  Solution: iPad. Taking notes with clients on a laptop creates a physical barrier. Solution: iPad.  I can think of a dozen other reasons to see this as a great addition to our all Apple office. It isn’t perfect but it is cheaper than the first iPhone and will be much more useful.

I would still love to see Circus Ponies work on iPhone/iPad. I am not quite sure how it would be implemented. I have a Notebook for each client matter and viewing those Notebooks in a cloud solution, without opening Notebook, leaves me looking in a folder of jumbled mess.  I am thinking of taking another pass at Evernote and seeing how that might work. I know Ben over at Mac Lawyer enjoys using Evernote. And Evernote already has an iPhone app (which means it will work on the iPad).

I look forward to sharing with my readers the adventures with this new piece of Mac Hardware and tracking the changes it will bring to our office life.

Because of a busy holiday schedule, I have not had a chance to run Houdini Esq. through its paces. I was supposed to get in on the Beta, but the owner never got back to me. If anyone else has tried Houdini’s Practice Managment software, please leave a comment on your experience. It is free to try if you are a solo.

In other news, another SaaS PM product popped up. According to Singer (The Mac Grand Daddy) this one is for Criminal Defense Practice (oh boy!). The company is Top Dog Legal. You can check it out here. If you have already taken this out for a spin, let me know in the comments or shoot me an email: apelley at gmail dot com.

So many new Law Practice Management Options, so little time.

Everyone is talking about Google Phones and Apple Slates. What about Windows Mobile? I know it is not nice to kick a guy when he is down. But I never really said I was nice. Another meanie, Brian Miller, from the Daily Weekly, wrote this top ten feature list for Windows Mobile that Ballmer can use at his Keynote address at CES.

1. When you lick the phone, it tastes like chocolate
2. New green light app overrides traffic signals for more efficient commute
3. Phone also works as keyless remote for Lamborghini included with purchase
4. No more porn filters
5. Phone cost: Free. Software cost: Free. And Ballmer pays half the monthly plan out of his own personal fortune
6. Puppy-cam offers live streaming of adorable golden retriever delivered free to your home
7. Embedded security chip allows user to bypass all airport security lines
8. Free replacement phone, no questions asked, if dropped in toilet
9. Remote control TV app digitally erases Justin Long from those annoying Mac ads
10. Dancing Ballmer screen saver (clothing optional)

You can read Brian’s article here.

Update: How about that? Turns out Ballmer just held up an Apple for the conference. Great call!

Not Apple related at all. But I wanted to share with my readers. Leave your request for an invite in the comments. Please specify whether you want voice or wave. I will take folks in order. I have only three Google Voice invites and about twenty Google Wave Invites. When the invites are gone, the invites are gone.

Update: Voice invites are gone.

My Time Capsule has been on the blink for the last few days. Not sure why. I spent hours combing through forums and banging my head against the wall trying to fix this. This was reminding me of exercises I engaged in when I was a PC user. Then, a lightbulb went off. Apple Care. I have it. Why not use it?

To be honest, I have mixed feeling about Apple Care. We have been through some good times, some bad. But I do pay for the service. They should be the first place I go. So I called. After some diagnostics, plugging, unplugging and restarts, it was settled: hardware failure. Apple is overnighting me a new one tomorrow. Hours wasted on something I had no hope of fixing in the first place.

I know from reading forums and list-serves that some of you have lost faith in Apple Care. It is insurance, and a choice. But this year, my experiences with this coverage has been great. So thanks Apple Care, that is the fourth time in a row you have either solved or delivered a solution to a problem I couldn’t fix. Next time, I will save some time and call you first.

Most folks agree this is fake. Here is hoping that when (of if) the tablet does come out, it is this cool.

Hooray! Google finally released Chrome for the Mac. It is beta. But that doesn’t mean much. I think gmail was beta until just recently. Check it out here.

Well things have been quiet at Law With an Apple. We have been clicking along without much to say but I thought I would give a quick update on what’s new (or the same).

I have been very happy with Dropbox and have nothing to report except smooth sailing. We still love our Scan Snap and Adobe tools. I was also given a nice workaround for my gripes with the Scan Snap courtesy of Finis Price. Thanks Finis. Check out his blog, Techno Esquire.

I ordered the new Magic Mouse. I love it. But mostly because I don’t have to worry about that track ball from getting all mucked up. As many others have reported, the left to right swiping leaves a lot to be desired.

We are still waiting to see when Houdini Esq. drops. We have made a few attempts to get an early look at this cloud based solution but, alas, nothing but the video.

I have also been trying to carve out some time to get another look at Rocket Matter with Larry Port. I know they have added a lot to the software that would have made the difference for me (including doc management and advanced calendaring).

I was a bit of a curmudgeon about iPhone apps when I first purchased my iPhone. I loved the phone. It kept everything in iCal, Mail, and Address Book in perfect sync. Other than that, I saw a lot of time wasting tools (and those are important) but nothing for my law practice. Well, since then, quite a few handy apps have popped. In particular, the entire Revised Code of Washington (check to see if they have your State). Go here for Federal. Dropbox cogged the iPhone has been great. And don’t forget DayFrom which is handy for counting from a particular date. Head over to Mac Lawyer for a few more handy apps.

Came across the blog Law On My Phone. The blog covers a iPhone hardware/software and shows a lot of promise. Most recent post was on Google Wave. Although I think Google Wave’s applications to Criminal Defense Lawyers is far more limited, I am still looking forward to checking out this new product from Google and seeing what tools can be integrated into our firm.