The Mobile Lawyer: New on the Scene, Always in Demand

There are a lot of stereotypes that seem to haunt lawyers, including an inability to adapt to the changing times. But a failure to adapt to marketplace changes can be a big business mistake, especially for the solo attorney. As times change, you should be finding that you're spending more time on your mobile device. And that has both good and bad implications.

Going Mobile: Your Clients Are Demanding It

We hate to be morbid, but unless you're in elder law, there's a fair chance that your clients are young, healthy, and mad as hell. They're finding themselves in legal scenarios that likely involved contract issues from out of state or even out of the country. What's more, there's a good chance that they want you now and you won't even have the time to grab your usual device -- your computer -- before you go off to save the day.

More and more people have a mobile device these days. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, about two thirds of us have a smartphone, let alone a mobile device. And since younger people look at these devices as the de-facto means of contacting the world, this means that these things will only be taking up more attorney time in the future, not less. If you don't get with the time, you stand to lose a lot of clients who won't have the patience to wait for you to produce.

Sync Your Devices

A wireless mobile world means less office time -- at least physically. It's weird calling oneself a "law office" when one rents virtual space, but that's the kind of world we're living in. Fewer and fewer clients (especially the kind a typical solos see) will insist on seeing a client within a brick and mortar office. As time progresses, they will want to consume your work product and communications through their mobile devices, and you must be able to meet the demand.

Of course, this does not mean that you have to type on your phone. Link and sync your devices so that you'll be able to access documents through the cloud.

Don't Get Hacked

At this point, we should remind you again to never using a wireless network while you do this. You definitely don't want to be the poster child for a catastrophic breach of client confidential information. Fortunately, there are lots of ways lawyers can protect themselves from hackers.

Related Resources:

• As the World Goes Mobile, Is Your Marketing Up to Speed? (AmericanBar.org)
• Intro to Encryption for Lawyers and Small Firms (FindLaw's Technologist)
• Top 7 Things Lawyers Need to Know About Encryption (FindLaw's Technologist)
• 5 Reasons Why Encryption Won't Be Enough to Protect Your Data (FindLaw's Technologist)