Last week during my “iPractice on an iPad” session at the Ohio State Bar Association’s Legal Technology Conference, I was proclaiming how the iPad can be useful to pull up information from the web when you’re out of the office.

One gentleman asked about certain web sites that require you to use Internet Explorer or Firefox to navigate their site. His specific example was the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation at www.ohiobwc.com. He regularly visited the site to access claim documents for clients, which were usually PDF files. When you visit this site from Safari on a Mac, or Mobile Safari on an iPhone or iPad, you get a message that says “your Internet browser is not compatible with this site.”

It’s hard to tell how common this is, but it’s extremely frustrating when you run your practice from a Mac. I see it commonly on sites from government-type agencies (e.g. municipal sites, law enforcement, court sites, etc.).

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Large law firms hire full-time IT professionals to monitor and support their fleet of mobile devices. Part of their responsibility is to remotely “wipe” lost or stolen devices to protect confidential data. This is usually done via a centralized server or some other expensive setup.

It doesn’t matter if you’re solo or a 1,500 attorney firm, you MUST take the security of your mobile devices seriously. We carry around so much confidential information on our iPhones & iPads today that I argue it’s negligent to be flippant about their security. E-mail is the most pregnant source of confidential data, but today’s iOS devices store document drafts, access Dropbox accounts, log text messages, and so much more.

For MobileMe subscribers, Apple has been providing a service called “Find My iPhone.” The problem is that MobileMe costs $99 a year, and most people don’t feel it’s worth it. The “Find My iPhone” service, however, is a standout highlight because it provides an amazing ability to locate an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad on a map whenever it’s connected to the Internet (3G or WiFi).

Generously, a few weeks ago Apple made “Find My iPhone” free for anyone running iOS 4.2 on an iPhone or iPad. You don’t have to pay for a MobileMe subscription – all you need is an “Apple ID” which you already have if you’ve ever purchased music or apps from iTunes.

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A few months ago I was interviewed by Christy Burke for a story on Legal IT Professionals entitled “Are you an iLawyer yet?”

Christy did an excellent job covering spread of Macs and iOS devices in the legal world, even including some remarks from Jeff Allen of Graves & Allen, one of the “godfathers” of Mac-using lawyers.

Here are a few choice quotes from the article:

Burney says, “I’m seeing more lawyers switch from Windows to Mac for a number of reasons. The 2009 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report reported that 4% of respondents now use the Mac OS up from 3% in 2008. One major catalyst was when Apple switched the Macs from the IBM PowerPC processors to Intel-based processors in 2006. That opened up possibilities for lawyers to continue using legal-specific Windows software applications on their Macs, usually in a virtualized environment.”

He also notes that Apple’s success in the consumer market and the blurring of boundaries between home and office have contributed to the Mac trend in legal. “Since many lawyers have a Mac, iPhone or iPad for their home or family, they have gotten familiar with Macs in general. Also, since Apple has slowly but steadily increased its support for the business world over the last few years with the iWork software suite, file-sharing capabilities, Exchange support, security and more, lawyers than ever are talking about using a Mac more now.”

As a New Yorker, I am required to ask…”So what’s the catch?” Macs sound too good to be true – are they? Brett Burney says, “Many lawyers are swooned by ads for Apple and claims of how easy it is to switch to a Mac and that it promises a much better world than Windows. Many times, they’re calling me because they had a bad experience with Windows systems or just spent a lot of money on Windows software. Switching to Mac from Windows is not instant magic and will not happen overnight. As fantastic as Mac OS is, it is still a different environment than Windows. The rewards are plentiful and gratifying, but moving to the Mac requires a learning curve and lawyers must be prepared for that.” If you love Mac and Apple products feel free to proceed, but be sure to proceed with adequate caution, especially if you are a legal IT person with a large user base where the effects of migration are exponentially greater than for solos.

Read the entire “Are you an iLawyer yet?” article at Legal IT Professionals.