What will lawyers be doing with technology next year and in the next few years? Predicting trends is always risky. I can recall many years that were proclaimed “the year of the local area network.” Despite those proclamations more than 15 years ago, there still are a few small firms that don’t have their PCs connected.

Some trends are easy to extrapolate from current usage. For example, handheld devices are getting more useful with each new generation. One of the more dramatic tools to arrive in the past few years has been the personal digital assistant. Commonly known as Palm Pilots or Visors, they weigh several ounces and store calendar events, to-do’s, memos and contact lists. They’re greatly popular because they automate critical functions without a steep learning curve. The Apple New-ton, which preceded the Palm, never got a market share because it took too much time and effort to recognize the user’s handwriting. Designers of the Palm operating system learned their lessons well and developed Graffiti as its universal writing technique for entering information into the Palm de-vice.

The developers also encouraged the marketing of add-on programs, resulting in games, utilities and many practical uses for the Palm. There also are many add-ons that allow information to be downloaded from the Internet such as newspapers’ front pages. Fancier models include the ability to use wireless technology to check e-mail from a Palm. Rather than being tied to the office or dragging around a laptop, I can carry my Palm and a portable keyboard that together weigh less than 8 ounces and fit into my purse. While the Palm may not have all the options of my office computer, it enabled me to write part of this article while my daughter was taking an art class.

The ever-evolving Internet and broad use of e-mail has profoundly changed our world. Even though e-mail allows more efficient communication, there still are people who call to confirm their message was received. E-mail has some distinct advantages over other methods of communications. Documents or files can be attached, saving the cost of overnight de-livery and eliminating the concern over time zones. With distribution lists, it’s easy to send a single message to a large number of people. And while it might also be a disadvantage at times, e-mail leaves an audit trail to see where a message came from and where it went.

What changes can be expected in e-mail? One clear trend is toward port-ability and immediate access. Besides being able to check e-mail from a Palm with a wireless subscription, you also can use a RIM BlackBerry pager or one of the new generations of cell phones that incorporates a Palm-based device and a cell phone. Depending on which capabilities you want, you can combine many different functions into a single device. The BlackBerry com-bines e-mail and a pager. The newest generation of cell phones from companies like Kyocera SmartPhone have combined a Palm-based device with a cell phone. For people already carrying such equipment, combining them saves weight and space, but there are design compromises. However, a party can be called by clicking on a contact name on the Palm screen without having to enter a separate list of contacts into the cell phone. The list can be synchronized with desktop software. It’s easy to see this combination spells trouble for companies marketing Palm-only devices.

The other major player in the port-able market is Microsoft, whose Pocket PC 2002 replaces its Windows CE operating system and already has 10 well-known computer companies selling portable devices running on it. These devices are in the same price range as Palm and Handspring handhelds, but generally feature color and include pocket versions of the Micro-soft Office suite, including Word, Excel, Outlook and Internet Explorer.

Historically, as with early versions of Windows itself, it takes Microsoft several versions before its products are ready for prime time. Pocket PC 2002 is a more mature product than its predecessors. This has its rivals sufficiently worried, triggering rumors of a merger between the Palm and Visor folks, which would be interesting since they began together and the Hand-spring group broke away from the Palm people.

Research

The commercialization of the Inter-net has had a profound influence on how we work, learn and play. For ex-ample, 20 years ago, legal research was either done in books requiring ex-pensive subscriptions and shelf space, an office close to a law school or court library, or renting a dedicated terminal to access the Lexis database. Today, with Internet access and a web browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape, you can find both fee-based and free legal research. While some of this potential was obvious in the early 1990s when legal pioneers launched websites, the past few years have seen a burgeoning of information available through a browser.

Higher-speed connections also have dramatically changed how and when to use the Internet. For instance, suppose you receive papers from a defense counsel with whom you are unfamiliar. In pre-Internet days, you might have reached for the Martindale Hubbell directory to find out where the attorney went to law school and other information about her background that might be helpful in negotiating a settlement. Today, at your fingertips you can look up an attorney on any one of the online legal directories such as lawyers.com, wld.com and findlaw.com. In addition, you can use a search engine like google.com to search for either the lawyer’s name or her firm to access a web page or the lawyer’s name in other contexts.

Online continuing legal education is just one format for learning about new developments or an entire area of law. Interactive training materials and videos are available for many popular products and subjects. In terms of trends, I would anticipate that the for-mat, range of subjects and availability would continue to evolve, providing greater opportunities to stay current with CLE credits and locate information and resources to better service clients.

Management software

Along with the online world, soft-ware programs to manage legal practices also have matured in the past decade. Programs that primarily monitored a firm’s docket now can be used to manage case information, track e-mail, prepare and manage documents, link to Palm devices and pagers, and share address and record information with timekeeping and billing and ac-counting programs. The next generation will see these trends heading to-ward a common road.

The first of these new products is just beginning to come to market. One to watch is Datatxt’s Time Matters World Edition. Time Matters already is one of the leading practice management products. For in-office use on networks, desktop computers and lap-tops, firms can purchase either the Professional or Enterprise version. The Professional version can operate on a single computer, in a peer-to-peer net-work, or a Novell or Microsoft NT or 2000 Server-based network. The Enterprise version, which is more expensive, requires purchasing a Microsoft SQL (structured query language) license for each user and is intended for firms with larger amounts of data.

With the World Edition, lawyers will have access to their own firm’s data from a web browser. This means a lawyer who is out of town can use a client or hotel’s Internet connection, open a browser, look up contacts or make instantaneous additions and changes to her calendar. This also will enable lawyers working from home to operate as if they’re at the office. With the document management components, the attorney also will be able to access the firm’s documents. The World Edition requires use of the Enterprise version.

The solution for small firms may lie in Microsoft’s Small Business Server, which includes the SQL product. Larger firms may already have other SQL products so adding another will not present a major investment.
The first version of this product is intended for individual firms to access their own data. It is not hard to predict that future enhancements will include ways to let clients have limited access to specific information pertaining to their cases. Combining access to this information with wireless devices is not hard to imagine as a next step. Picture yourself sitting on a train or waiting in an airport and being able to view and respond to e-mail, look up and re-cord information about case status, re-turn telephone calls or handle any number of tasks that used to require a laptop computer and accessories.

Accounting

The other trends that will change how lawyers look at software were just announced last month. Accounting heavyweight, Intuit, the maker of Quicken and Quickbooks, entered into strategic alliances with many legal software vendors including Timeslips and Time Matters. One of the reasons for this sudden spirit of cooperation by Intuit toward companies it viewed as competitors is that Microsoft now is targeting accounting and check-writing functions and will challenge Intuit’s market share.

Finally, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, firms are focusing on backups, security and spreading their risks by not keeping all data or personnel in one location. While some of the urgency may fade with time, it is hoped the importance of having extra copies of critical data and files that can be used to start anew will not.

Those who finished college or law school before 1980 missed incorporating personal computers into their for-mal education. Today, it’s hard to imagine the work world without computers and it would take a real futurist to accurately predict what technology will look like in another 20 years.

Carol L. Schlein is president of Law Office Systems in Montclair, a training and consulting firm specializing in law firm automation. Copies of previous columns are on her company website, www.losinc.com. For information about her quarterly meetings for Time Matters users, check the website or e-mail info@losinc.com. Schlein formerly chaired the Computer and Technology Division of the ABA Law Practice Management Section.