The verdict on the iPad 2

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Apple’s latest model is faster but might not be necessary

Could the iPad 2 be a trial lawyer’s best friend?

Brett Burney, founder of Cleveland-based legal technology consulting firm Burney Consulting, thinks it could.

“A lot more lawyers are using the iPad on the trial side,” said Burney, who blogs at MacsinLaw.com, “and more generally, for presentations, whether in trial or at a CLE or at a board meeting.”

Some of the features that make the iPad 2 better than the original are slimmer and lighter specs that make it feel like users are carrying only a yellow legal pad. In its second incarnation, the device shed a few ounces and half an inch in thickness, now weighing 1.3 pounds and measuring 0.35 inches.

The faster 1.2GHz processor in combination with the latest iOS 4.3 software improves the response time from the original iPad. That slight bump-up in speed eliminates the lag time when marking up PDF documents with a stylus, said Jeffrey Richardson, an attorney at Adams & Reese in New Orleans, who blogs at iPhone J.D.

Another hardware upgrade allows all applications to be projected onto an external screen, whether it’s a document, email or full presentation. In the past, this was only possible with certain apps such as Keynote or iAnnotate.

But some lawyers who snatched up the first generation iPad say the original is still enough for most legal needs.

“For a lawyer, unless you’re doing video conferencing, I don’t really think it’s beneficial to upgrade,” said Daniel Friedlander, an attorney at Jackson DeMarco Tidus & Peckenpaugh in Westlake Village, Calif. “The (first generation) iPad is sufficient for what I use it for: research, writing and browsing the Internet.

The new iPad’s projector capabilities are nice, but many lawyers simply pass around their device to share information with a client, colleague or opposing counsel.

One benefit of either version is access to legal research on the fly, which has revolutionized motion and trial practice.

“If you’re in court,” Burney said, “and the other side brings up a case you’ve never heard of, (by) using WiFi or a 3G connection and the Fastcase or Westlaw-

Next app, you’re able to get in there and look up the case and keycite it or shepardize it and argue against it.

“Having something like that is so incredibly helpful.”

Another new use for the iPad is signature capabilities, which many lawyers are using to sign up new clients.

“In the past, if you wanted to sign up a new client, you had to print out a document, sign it, send it back to your assistant and get it scanned and processed,” Burney said. “I see a lot of attorneys using apps like SignMyPad and PDF Expert and getting the client to sign right there.”

The regular version of SignMyPad costs $4, but there’s also a professional version for $19.99 that embeds a signature with a date and time stamp and GPS coordinates.

“From the legal profession’s standpoint,” Burney said, “digital signatures sometime need to be authenticated. It highlights yet another evolution of how the iPad is being used for professions like ours.”