The KwaZulu-Natal Law Society has replaced attorneys' trademark briefcases with tablet technology.
Since January this year, the Law Society's 30 councillors and senior management have been electronically accessing and managing documents such as agendas, minutes, reports and other matters through iPads.
Gavin John, director of the KZN Law Society, says the committees of the Society's council comprise geographically dispersed councillors and members who previously had to wait for bags and envelopes of documents to reach each committee member physically.
“The documents were wending their way relatively slowly around the province via postal and courier services from one committee member to the next,” he says.
“The introduction of iPads has brought significant savings in paper usage, postal distribution and courier costs, as well as in expediting operations and the response times of the various committees of the council.”
He adds that, in rolling out the programme, the Society had to train members, which took at least two hours, about the various apps they can use in the legal profession.
“We are also currently working with colleagues on some cyber crime and IT security education programmes for attorneys and others. We have had some promising discussions with Microsoft SA about providing us with information and possibly even lecturers on information security and cyber crime.”
Both in and out of court, lawyers rely on iPad apps like iAnnotate PDF, which allows them to make changes and corrections to PDFs, add highlights and notes, and capture digital signatures on important documents and release forms, McLachlan explains.
“Once a case is completed, these PDFs can be permanently archived as digital information - no more need for endless shelves of physical file storage. If there's one thing lawyers have too much of, it's paper; boxes and binders, folders and reams and piles of paper,” he notes.
In the courtroom, he adds, attorneys can connect their iPads to media systems with individual screens for jurors, the judge, and the opposition, giving everyone a perfect view of presentations and exhibits.
McLachlan encourages the wider adoption of tablet technology among the country's legal fraternity after experiencing the convenience of iPads.
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