THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
July 16, 2010 | 21
BUSINESS
CAREERS
LUIGI
BENETTON
Given the seemingly inescap-
able buzz surrounding Apple
Inc.’s iPad, you probably don’t
need it explained to you. It’s a
tablet/slate computing device, it
has a touch screen, no keyboard,
and Apple CEO Steve Jobs calls
it “magical.”
But what “magic” does it
bring to a law practice?
Early adopters in the legal
profession explain that magic in
several ways.
“It doesn’t change the way I
work,” says Toronto real estate
attorney David Feld, “but it adds
flexibility. It allows me to leave
the office without really leaving.”
“I don’t think it will replace a
laptop, but it can do many things
a lot faster,” adds David Stuckel,
a Peoria, Ill.-based workers
compensation and labour rela-
tions lawyer.
Here’s how Feld explains the
physical layout of this slate and
its effect on the computing
experience: “I call an iPhone a
small iPad. The iPad takes all the
apps that I wouldn’t bother with
on the iPhone and makes them
fun and usable.”
“You don’t have to be tied
down to a computer,” claims
Memphis, Tenn.-based bank-
ruptcy lawyer Arthur Ray. “It’s
easier than working on a com-
puter. I’ve had laptops, and this
is exponentially easier.”
Ray’s assertion may surprise
those who wonder how you use a
computing device that does not
have a physical keyboard.
Instead, the iPad displays a large
version of the virtual onscreen
keyboard which first gained
notoriety on Apple’s iPhone.
The virtual keyboard is an
acquired taste (note: this article
was drafted using said keyboard)
that not everybody wants to
acquire. Stuckel falls into this
camp, but it hasn’t stopped him
from finding workarounds. He
relies on an app called Penultimate, one of several that permit
“iPadders” to write notes directly
on the screen using their fingers.
The app saves notes as images
for later reference.
Feld’s getting used to the keyboard, though he finds it awkward to tap a screen instead of
clicking a mouse. “I also use dictation software with it to reduce
my typing when searching for
things on the Internet and when
sending e-mail,” he says of his
preferred workaround.
“(When using Google Voice
Search) I can just say ‘BP oil
spill’ while I’m holding my baby
and I get all the news on it,”
Feld continues, then sighs:
“Sometimes when you’re
changing a baby, all you can
think about are oil spills.”
Stuckel, who finds himself on
the road much of the time, calls
it a communication tool. “I need
something I can access quickly
when I’m on the road,” he says. “I
don’t want to wait three minutes
for a computer to boot up.
“I had a Kindle before this, but
that’s like comparing a Model T
Ford to a Ferrari,” says
Memphis, Tenn.-based
bankruptcy lawyer Arthur Ray.
“Going through a petition took
forever on the Kindle.”
IPAD COURTESY OF APPLE, KINDLE COURTESY OF AMAZON.COM, KEYBOARD BY DREAMSTIME.COM
The iPad does not have
traditional keyboard. Toronto
real estate attorney David Feld
finds iPad’s virtual keyboard
cumbersome, so has found
ways around using it. “I... use
dictation software with it to
reduce my typing when
searching for things on the
Internet and when sending
e-mail,” says Feld.
Law firms hiring students from all disciplines these days
DONALEE MOULTON
It will come as no surprise to
find law students toiling away in
law firms across this country. It
may raise a few eyebrows, however, to learn that slogging alongside them are engineering students, business majors and
undergraduates of all kinds.
“It really is a ‘win-win’ situa-
tion,” said Elana Ravas, human
resources counsellor with Ogilvy
Renault LLP in Toronto. “We feel
that we are fostering excellent
working relationships with post-
secondary education institutions,
promoting the firm, and giving
these candidates the experience
that is so important as they move
forward in their careers.”
For Ogilvy Renault, the stu-
dent body includes
co-op law clerk or legal adminis-
tration students, part-timers
who work throughout the school
year, and university students
hired to fill summer positions.
Practice Management
Canada’s legal online job board.
