Making the Case for Macs
By Jack Haggard

Information quality is something we often take for granted when working with known authoritative sources. More care is required when venturing away from familiar legal publishers and Web sites. Genie Tybruski, a law firm librarian at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP in Philadelphia, has put together an excellent tutorial detailing how to evaluate the quality of online information, available at www.virtualchase.com/quality. Some of her tips are fairly obvious and include evaluating the expertise of an author and assessing the objectivity and accuracy of information. Other tips involve more skill and are worth examining in detail.

Technology for the law office is advancing at a rapid pace. There are amazing software applications that make dictation secretaries a thing of the past; programs to organize all your clients, exhibits and discovery; and integrated solutions which tie your phones, billing and calendar into one seamless package.

If your office is large enough to need a dedicated IT department, there are much larger software and computer questions than this article addresses. However, if you are in a small firm and don’t have the budget for an IT professional to keep things up and running, you should consider putting a Macintosh on every desk.

An expert in law office technology took questions from the audience at the OBA 2005 Solo and Small Firm Conference. The questions ran the gamut from “ What is causing this error message?” to “Do all computers come with a retractable cup holder in the front?” The one constant among all questions was the computers were all running a version of Microsoft Windows as the operating system.

It felt a little awkward rubbing my colleagues’ noses in their own technological funk, but there was one question which I wanted to ask: “How am I managing to avoid all the problems everyone else has with their computers? “

My primary computer is a four-year-old laptop. It runs the latest version of my operating system, never crashes, always connects to the latest USB devices, doesn’t randomly ask for a device driver, and runs the newest applications without slowing down. I’ve never seen a popup window on the Internet, never had a virus, and never been frustrated with adware or spyware. And it runs just as well as the day I bought it.

It would be nice to have a computer network that runs as reliably as your refrigerator. It’s always on, it never requires you to turn it off and back on again for no apparent reason, and it doesn’t need two hours on the phone with technical support each time something new is placed inside. A Macintosh-based computer network does just that. There are a few drawbacks, but overall, the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages.

A few years ago, Apple adopted software that is very advanced and which has been continually developed for many, many years as the guts of the Macintosh operating system. The only place you’ll hear the word “Unix” used in casual conversation is when you mistakenly crash a party thrown by computer scientists. Unix is stable, powerful and in every Macintosh sold. Too often, a Windows machine will crash or show the “blue screen of death.” Unix is the reason why Macs don’t crash as often as Windows machines.

Viruses, infections, spyware, trojans and adware (or VISTA)1 are the bane of the typical Windows experience. There is one big reason why they don’t effect the Mac. The Macintosh Operating System was built with security in mind. Unix is more stable and it’s much more secure than Windows.

It’s only a matter of time before a Windows machine in your law office becomes infected with a virus. Experts in the security industry have found that, on average, it takes only 20 minutes for any new Windows machine to be infected once connected to the Internet.2 Imagine a malicious virus e-mailing everyone in your contacts list a confidential memo detailing trial strategies or that same virus e-mailing client information to opposing counsel. Using a Mac virtually eliminates that possibility.

There is a religious zeal behind much of the Mac versus Windows debate. Before approving this article for publication, the bar journal practically required me to submit an affidavit that I have never been a paid spokesperson for Apple computer. However, when it comes to running your business, the only questions that matter relate to compatibility, networking and available software.

A Mac can recognize and use many of the popular brands of printers, scanners, digital copy machines or portable hard drives without installing additional software. If the box says, “compatible with Macintosh,” you can most likely plug it in, turn it on and use it without installing any software. If you do happen to need to install software, it’s a simple matter of point, click and watch the computer do it for you. No need to call your IT department to do the install.

A few years ago, I purchased a digital copy machine. The technician for the dealer offered no help in connecting the copier to my wireless network. All he could do was hand me a Windows CD and wish me luck. After quick trip to the copier’s Web site, I downloaded everything I needed, and one hour later I could print, collate and sort from my Mac to my copy machine.

Macintosh uses the same standard networking and communications protocols found on most Windows machines: WiFi, Bluetooth, FireWire, USB, TCP/IP. Your Mac can connect to your cell phone or digital camera and use any of the wireless networks offered at airports and coffee houses around the country.

Hiring someone to run network cable in your office can cost a small fortune. Macintosh has a technology which allows you to run a secure, encrypted network in your office without the need for expensive network cable. If you want to connect a new laptop or desktop, turn it on and the computer will find the network for you. Macintosh will even guide you through the password and security setup, allowing you to choose how secure you want your network.

Ten years ago, there were hundreds of software applications available for Windows that were not available for Macintosh. Today, that is not as much of an issue. Most major software packages are available for both platforms, and if a particular applications isn’t available, there will most likely be a similar product available.

There is actually far more law office software for the Macintosh than there is for Windows. The ABA has published a book with more than 200 pages of law office software for the Mac. The publication is five years old, and now there is over double the amount of law office software available for the Mac. The Web site www.macattorney.com is devoted to law office software on the Mac. MacAttorney also publishes an e-mail newsletter which can be subscribed to at their Web site.

There are a number of specialized litigation programs for the Macintosh which do an excellent job of managing all of the essential information in a complex case. However, many sole practitioners such as myself can get by with several more general programs: a word processor, calendaring program, spreadsheet, address book, contact manager and presentation program.

Microsoft Office is the most well known suite of frequently used programs. You can purchase a version specifically for the Macintosh. Any file created by an Office program on a Windows computer can be opened on a Macintosh and vice versa.

Now Contact and Now Up To Date are equal halves of an outstanding contact management application suite. When you open a client file, you put in basic contact information. You can easily customize it to include spouses, children, witnesses, case numbers, etc. Every letter, call, e-mail, court date and office visit is calendared on a master office calendar and able to be backed up to the Internet or your iPod. I took all my legal forms and turned them into templates. After I created a client file, I could click a button and a new divorce petition, motion, subpoena, entry of appearance, etc., would be prepared for that client.

There is also a set of applications that come with the Mac OS which interact with each other in a way not possible on Windows machines. Apple has created an address book, its own Web browser, an audio/video instant message client that works with AOL Instant Messenger (iChatA/V), a calendar program and automatic backup for important files. Nothing about these programs individually is revolutionary; however, the way they interact with each other makes them an easy out-of-the-box solution for a small law office. I can take a new Macintosh Powerbook to any Starbucks, get online with my wireless Internet connection, sync with Apple’s online service and have client contacts, forms, archives, calendar, e-mail, and bookmarks up and running as if I were in my office, in as long as it takes the data to download.

Every attorney and secretary with a Macintosh on their desk has a built-in message system through Apple’s iChatA/V. The computers find each other automatically and give a list to choose from. Click on a name, and you can send phone messages, briefs, memos, etc., directly to your colleague. The newest computers even have a high resolution video camera built in to make instant video conferencing with clients or colleagues just as easy to use. Each of these messages is also saved and indexed, allowing the Mac’s revolutionary new search tool, Spotlight, to quickly sort through old messages.

The Macintosh calendar program works like most calendar applications. You create color-coded calendars for office visits, court appearances, personal business, etc., and add scheduled matters into the program. Adding any appearance to the calendar is a simple matter of double clicking the time slot and typing in what needs to be done. If you ever need to search through your calendar, type in (for example) a client’s name, and every single event or note that mentions that client is made available to you. The calendar can also be put on the Internet, shared with other computers in your office or placed on an iPod.

There was a joke told at the CLE seminar mentioned earlier. The presenter, a nationally known expert in law office technology, mused he wished he knew how to justify an iPod as a business expense. To any teenager, the iPod is the world’s coolest music player. In my office, the iPod is the world’s coolest office calendar. iCal, AddressBook and Now Contact all synchronize with the iPod. Every time I’m in court, I have my iPod to make sure new hearing dates do not conflict. When on the road, all my client contact information is stored on the iPod, and I can look up an address, phone number or e-mail addresses with ease. With a simple accessory, the iPod also becomes a digital audio recorder. Interviewing a witness or preserving a random thought that comes to you while you’re away from your desk are all possible with a quick voice memo in your iPod. This is possible because, unlike a PDA, the iPod contains a large hard drive for storage of a large number of contacts, photos or even video.

The latest iPod release adds video capability. You could carry a laptop, VCR, DVD, and projector to the courthouse to show your exhibits and PowerPoint presentations, or you could carry just your iPod and projector, accomplishing the same feat. The iPod also happens to be a handy device to keep all of your music and listen to it at your leisure. Just don’t tell your accountant it will play music and “Desperate Housewives” too.

The one feature that will change the way you and your office will use a computer is called Spotlight, and there is nothing in the Windows world like it, at least not until almost 2007 when the next great update is scheduled to come out of Microsoft. Spotlight automatically reads every single typed word in every file on your hard drive, indexes it all and makes it instantly searchable. If you remember creating a brief, but cannot remember what directory you put it in, or what you called it, your options are limited with a Windows machine. However, with spotlight, simply type in a few words which you know are in the document, and all the files with those words appear. If you have a large archive of case law, briefs and motions, you can type in (for example) “search and seizure,” “reasonable articulable suspicion” or “summary judgment, “ and all the files, e-mails, calendar events and instant messages with those terms appears in a list for you to narrow down what you’re looking for.

Since 1997, I have exclusively used Macintosh computers in my office. With the development of the tools in this article, my computer network has become much more powerful. When a client calls the office, my secretary sends me a message with ichat. She leaves the message details, preserving them in my computer, where they will always be easy to find with a quick search.

I found a sticky note on my desk a few weeks ago with a phone number on it. No name, just the number. But when I used Spotlight to search for the number, a list of instant messages appeared involving one client, and I was instantly reminded of the facts of the case, the messages left at the office and why the Post-it note was there in the first place. My office visits and court appearances are kept in iCal, on my iPod and on the Internet. No matter where I am, I can locate a calendar showing what I need to do the next week. If I ever have a need to find all files containing a client’s name, Spotlight is a quick, easy and powerful way of locating everything concerning that client.

Why purchase a Mac? Instant messaging, networking and searching are all automatic, and there is plenty of available software. No viruses, no popup windows and Spotlight searching that Microsoft can’t compete with. Macintosh computers just work the way you think a computer should work.

1. http://news.com.com/Windows+Vista+draws+jokes%2C+ scorn%2C+approval/2100-1016_3-5801300.html

2. http://isc.sans.org/survivalhistory.php

About the Author
Jack Haggard is a 1997 graduate of the OU College of Law. He recently relocated to Houston after working eight years as a solo practitioner in Durant, primarily representing children and as an OIDS contract attorney. A Mac user for more than 20 years, he has never had to learn to use a C: prompt, is totally unfamiliar with the blue screen of death and has yet to have adware installed on his computers.