Dear Fellow Court Reporters and Attorneys, I Love My iPad

As a court reporter, I am seldom obsessed with technology.  Attached and thrilled, yes; obsessed, no.   Before I go on, let me start at the beginning here.  I really thought when I opened my iPad at Christmas that it would be a great novelty, fun around the house.  My husband and I could play Scrabble by the hours.  We do that as well, by the way.   But now I’ve realized that I’m deeply and emotionally attached to this sleek and cool device for my business as well.    I’ve always been a Windows gal, and although I still appreciate the business computers and software at my office, I get excited at the thought of a new application for my iPad.  I can just imagine all the possibilities for the legal community in the future. 

BTW, as I write this blog I am ordering a Wood & Randall app that will allow my clients and reporters to log on to our online office.  This new app will allow users to access their calendar, review invoices, and view transcripts and exhibits.

I know I’ve mentioned GoodReader in an earlier blog.  It’s my go-to for all my PDFs.  And, of course, Evernote is still at the top of my list for making notes.  But there are some apps that have caught my attention that I wanted to share with all of you because they can be very useful for reporters, attorneys and legal secretaries.  Let’s start with ShareFile and Dropbox.  ShareFile allows you to exchange files with clients or reporters.  This is a great app when you want to transfer files that are too large to transfer by email.  Through ShareFile you can create a custom and password-protected area for a secure exchange.  Dropbox is similar and also can do an automatic online backup.  You may want to look at both and do a comparison.   I am fond of ShareFile.

Two apps that have also caught my attention are TrialPad and iJuror.  I’d love to hear from anyone that has used these apps.  TrialPad, I understand, can be used for preparing trial presentations.  iJuror can be used for jury selection.  You can drag and drop to choose or dismiss jurors.  You can also do a seating arrangement for up to 60 jurors.  What is also nice is that you can email this info as well.  I can just imagine how helpful something like that would be at counsel table.

The possibilities are endless, I imagine, and I’m so excited to see what is coming next.  Thank you, Apple, for such a fun and useful device.  To those court reporters, attorneys, legal secretaries and paralegals, take a little time to try out an iPad and see how amazing they truly are.