The Power of Your Practice

Basically, two companies compete for your business in the note-taking/storage field: Microsoft and Evernote.

Microsoft offers an excellent utility, which I used all through law school, called OneNote. The main idea of the program is that you can clip and paste different stories, articles, pieces of research, etc., into the program, then use those "notebooks" to organize the information you need. My biggest problem with the program is that it ran slow (not dreadful), and that it relied on me to make sure accurate backups were in place to protect my information (never a problem for me, but I know several people who lost their entire semester's worth of notes because of a computer glitch.)

Enter Evernote, an online application that functions much like it's more costly counterpart. I LOVE EVERNOTE! I use it daily in my practice to organize materials, trial notebooks, etc. The greatest feature about Evernote is the price: FREE (although paid upgrades with more features are available). Even the paid or "premium" Evernote service is arguably more affordable and cost-effective than MS OneNote. At $45 per year (versus $99 for OneNote full version), Evernote is bound to save you costs & the time consuming hassles of having to manage your own information.

Evernote features an iPhone and BlackBerry app, a FireFox plugin, and a desktop program. Together, these provide more versatility to the program than it's competitor, OneNote. Where OneNote is designed to function more in the TablePC environment, Evernote's design encourages the familiar desktop/word processing atmosphere.

Using the program to improve your practice is like using any software. The important part is to find the niche for you. I like using the program when I'm researching case law, organizing trial notebooks, and managing the everyday functions of my law practice.

Evernote allows you to create "notebooks" that handle the subjects you'd like to manage. For each case  usually trial or litigation) I'm working on, I create a client notebook. From there, any notes regarding strategy, research, or special information gets placed into the client notebook. I do not use Evernote to manage the daily features of the practice or client matter, rather, Evernote is a tool to organize the big picture. The program is particularly useful in mapping issues and organizing thoughts. I've used it multiple times to organize and prepare for a deposition and trial. The utilities are endless!

Finally, some are critical about the confidentiality or risk of "cloud computing." For me, this isn't a big deal.  I don't store confidential information online, and I like to believe that most judges will recognize the benefits of these systems, and rule that any information released would still be protected by the attorney-client privilege. Maybe that's my naivete, but arguably, a cyber-attack or hacking doesn't result in losing the privilege.

That being said, I don't believe that Evernote's Terms of Service would cause a heightened concern. Unlike other providers who may claim an interest in your materials, Evernote doesn't, at least to a relevant extent of sharing the information. Evernote's TOS provides, "you retain all of the rights you had in your Content before you submitted it. In fact, unless you elect to enable others to view or have access to the Content you submit to the Service, no one else should see it without your consent." Concern averted. If you can see anything I'm missing, please let me know.

P.S.: I wrote here about using Evernote to build a Practice Manual, in case you're interested.