More law firms use technology to improve their practice

Area lawyers say the new technology of smartphones, iPads, voice-activated dictation software, video conferencing and document management systems makes them more efficient and saves a lot of paper - and possibly lessens back pain.

There are downsides, such as initial investment, training and keeping up with the next IT gadget. But most agree it's beneficial in the long run to have documents and research at the touch of a screen in court, instead of digging in those banker boxes for that one needed file.

Tim Semelroth, a Cedar Rapids lawyer who handles personal injury cases, said the iPad is the tool he relies on the most, and everyone in his firm received a tablet in December. In his practice, he has to go through reams of paper for insurance documents and briefs, which usually meant carrying around three-ring binders and several heavy banker boxes into court.

“It saves time, money, a few trees and maybe a chiropractor's visit,” he said. “Everything is scanned into my iPad, and when I have to travel out of state I don't have to take those physical documents for a deposition and pay the baggage fees for boxes.”

Kevin Caster, a construction law lawyer with Shuttleworth and Ingersoll in Cedar Rapids, noted his iPad also allows him to view blueprints. He also uses presentation software in court to give jurors a look at the facts of the case.

Overall, the firm deals many times with electronic discovery, so hiring a forensic computer consultant has become more prevalent in the past several years to locate all the digital documents needed as evidence in a civil case, Caster said.

“E-discovery doesn't necessarily produce higher cost, if you can trust litigants to produce the documents,” Caster said. “With e-discovery, you just have to think about where to find the evidence.”

Dave O'Brien, with Willey O'Brien in Cedar Rapids, who handles many civil federal cases, started using the software called Summation, which allows lawyers to globally search, organize and analyze documents. He takes many depositions in his cases and can download them easily into this software to access and cross-reference information during a hearing or trial.

The software allows him to search his database for any keyword or subject.

Mary Hoefer of Hoefer Law Firm in Iowa City said videoconferencing changed her practice, which mostly consists of Social Security disability and workers' compensation claims.

Her hearings are before administrative judges who work out of Des Moines, so up until 4 or 5 years ago she would have to travel there several times a month. On average, she has 8 to 10 hearings a month.

Now, she walks two blocks from her office to the Iowa City Library for the videoconference hearing.

“It saved me gas, mileage and time,” Hoefer said.

“It was different at first. The video conference is set for an hour and when that hour's up, the machine turns off - you have to talk really fast to get it all in.”

Hoefer said the video hearings also benefit her clients because they are less intimidating than in-person courtroom appearances. At first, she was concerned because she didn't know if a person's credibility could be sized up in just seeing them on video “from waist up.”

“Maybe less eye contact would be taken as not being truthful,” she said. “But after doing some research, I found non-verbal cues (like less eye contact) are usually signs of being nervous.

“I think the judges consider those things because they have to make those kinds of judgments every day.”

Simmons Perrine Moyer and Bergman in Cedar Rapids invested in an internal electronic document management system this year.

“We can now access and organize all documents throughout the firm,” said Jake Koller, a family-law lawyer with Simmons Perrine. “It took a little time learning the system, but it lets anybody in the firm pull up documents filed by any lawyer.

“We're not totally paperless, but we're transitioning that way.”

Roger Stone, Simmons Perrine managing partner, said most of the larger cases they handle are paperless. For example, there is one case that has 75 parties throughout the nation and involves about 2,400 pleadings and filings, which are only filed electronically.

The documents, letter and briefs are posted to a file-and-serve program, which can be viewed by logging into the site.

“Also, the 50 defendants in that case have a Wiki database established for sharing information, comments and pleadings,” Stone said. “Any of the authorized representatives of the defendants can log in and comment on any item.”

Stone said his main timesaving tool he uses every day is Dragon Naturally Speaking, a voice-activated software, which prepares probably 90 percent of his written product - pleadings, outlines, memos and emails. The dictation software on his iPhone reduces most of his typing.

He said many of the lawyers in the firm also use it.

Stone said being prepared with new technology was highlighted after the 2008 flood. The firm fortunately had invested in some basic technology - Blackberries for all the lawyers - about six months before June 2008 that proved crucial during their displacement from the flooded downtown office.

The lawyers were able to communicate and share documents and information on cases.

One of the most common changes at most small and large firms has been to eliminate the law library. Many law libraries have been turned into more office space or conference rooms.

“There's no need to buy or replace law code books each year because online resources like LexisNexis and Westlaw are readily available for less,” O'Brien said. “I think I was paying about $1,000 a month in the mid-1980s to keep up a law library, and that's what we pay now for online services ....”

Lawyers at small and large firms also agreed that there are two things technology hasn't changed - their workloads and number of personnel.

“We're not working less, just more efficient, but an actual human still has to look at every page,” Semelroth said. “Paralegals and clerks are still needed to do research, conduct initial reviews.”

Technology in fact has helped his firm hold onto some valuable experience, which wouldn't have been possible years ago, Semelroth said. One woman who worked for more than 30 years retired to Florida but because of technology she is able to dictate and transcribe from the remote location.