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September 12th, 2012 by Gwynne Monahan

ABA Legal Technology Survey Report: iPhone and iPad in the Lead

Law Technology Today published a nice 10 highlights of the 2012 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report. Two things stuck out immediately:

• iPhone moves into the lead. In terms of the “big three” smartphone platforms — BlackBerry, iPhone and Android — BlackBerry devices have consistently come out on top in our annual surveys. The iPhone has made gains in each year since its launch, though, and this year it finally broke through: Forty-nine percent of respondents overall reported using the iPhone versus 31% who used BlackBerry and 18% who used Android. The numbers looked quite different at the biggest firms (500-plus lawyers): Just 39% of those respondents reported using the iPhone versus 57% who used BlackBerry and 6% who used Android.
• Preferred tablet: iPad. Tablet use grew in 2012, with 33% of respondents overall reporting that they use a tablet for work outside of the office. Large-firm lawyers (100 to 499 lawyers) were the most likely to report using a tablet, at 40%, while solo practitioners were the least likely, at 24%. It might be more accurate, however, to replace the word “tablet” with “iPad”: 91% of respondents reported that their tablet device was powered by Apple’s iOS.

Our annual Apple in Law Offices Survey has suggested iPhone dominance the last two years, and the ABA Legal Technology Survey Report further demonstrates this to be the case. Whether more lawyers are moving to Macs in law offices, are so used to iPhones in their personal lives or just prefer it over the rest, the iPhone has become the defacto choice for lawyers. 

It is not surprising, either, that the iPad is the preferred tablet. Though BlackBerry answered with a tablet, and there are Android-based tablets on the market, few lawyers have paid much attention to them. And with courtroom apps like TrialPad, and resources like iPhoneJD, it’s a good bet the iPhone and iPad will remain the dominant.