The results of the American Bar Association’s 2015 Legal Technology Report show that 73% of lawyers access the internet outside the office on a mobile device. Lawyers’ preferred mobile device is the smartphone, followed by the laptop, with the tablet coming in third. Although lawyers consistently use mobile devices in and out of the office, they’re turning to smartphones and tablets more frequently than in past years. In 2014, 92% of law firms reported tablet device in use, with 40% of lawyers using tablets in the firm on average.
Smartphones are an essential device for the mobile lawyer and tablets are on the rise, but what’s the preferred OS? The ABA survey shows that 70% of lawyers choose iOS for their smartphones with Android following at 24%. Although Blackberry was once the favored smartphone of lawyers, its popularity dropped from 45% in 2011 to just 5% in 2015. When it comes to tablets the Apple OS was again the most popular, with 80% of tablet users choosing iPads, followed by 12% choosing Android tablets. Rather than a choice of style or personal taste, lawyers prefer iOS because of the broad array of native legal and business apps available for Apple devices.
The majority of lawyers regularly use mobile devices to check email, but native app use is growing. Experts claim the future of law is integrated mobile apps. 45% of lawyers reported downloading a legal specific app, and 41% reported downloading a general business app in 2015. Lawyers’ use of mobile devices to check email has remained steady at 90% since 2010. In short, lawyers are using smartphones and tablets regularly, so the relatively low number of integrated mobile app users suggests a huge latent market.
The top ten legal apps of 2015 were Fastcase, Westlaw Next, the Legal Dictionary, Lexis Advance, Trialpad, LexisNexis Legal News, Transcriptpad, CourtLink, LexisNexis Get Cases, and HeinOnline. Both Fastcase and Lexis Advance are Boopsie star partners, which means lawyers can access these databases directly through the Boopsie mobile app. Having a go-to app like Boopsie lets lawyers access critical resources from any location through one convenient portal.
Given that 15% of practicing lawyers are millennials – a number that will only grow – it’s easy to make the case for embracing mobile technology in the legal profession. The numbers show that both firms and lawyers own plenty of mobile devices, so improving the efficiency of these devices is a cost-effective way to increase productivity at the firm. The Boopsie mobile library app consolidates your law library’s databases into one portal making the mobile research process faster and easier than ever. Learn more about how your law firm can increase the productivity of its attorney’s via Boopsie’s mobile platform by contacting our law firm sales team.
