How I Use My Android Tablet in Court

One of the best tools in my legal tech arsenal is my Viewsonic gTablet. While Id love to upgrade, and I will, I am satisfied with its stability, performance and capacity. I carry my gTablet almost everywhere I go (Ive left it home the past couple days because I havent had court). When Im in court, the gTablet is to me what Linus blue blanket (its Christmas-time after all) is to him a little piece of comfort.

The gTablet hasnt always been a comfort blanket. In fact, when I first started implementing the tablet, I printed out copies of my needed documents, just in case. My irrational behavior mimicked my reluctance when I implemented a paperless office.

Gradually, I became more comfortable with relying more on my tablet and apps, than on my chicken-scratch set of notes. I developed a functional and efficient method for transforming digital information into meaningful arguments.

Now, I mostly use my tablet in 2 scenarios: depositions and hearings. Heres my method:

1. All documents become PDF copies with OCR performed using Adobe Acrobat (we have version 9 & 10).
2. Documents get saved to a folder on the server using our practice management program.
3. At the office, I use Acrobat to comment, arrange, crop, and edit the particular document.
4. I save the document to a working folder for use at the deposition or hearing. Note: all documents are working copies of the original file.
5. Before hearing or deposition preparation time (usually at home), I copy the clients entire folder (or my working folder) from the server into my Dropbox folder. This keeps my original notes.
6. At home or away from the office, I use RepliGo Reader to read, edit, comment, and  highlight the PDF document. I can add comments, bookmarks, etc.
7. When finished, I save the document back into Dropbox.
8. Prior to the hearing or deposition, I print out any exhibits I want to present. I also (if I havent already) copy the clients entire folder to Dropbox for sync as I travel to the courthouse or deposition.
9. At the deposition or hearing, I open my working copy, and commence the arguments. When necessary, I present the printed exhibits. With RepliGo Reader, I can open other documents referred to by counsel, search the document, and add comments regarding the argument. I may also opt to use a note-taking program like Evernote to scratch notes about the other partys arguments.

The tablet has expanded my capacity to carry documents and information, and lessened the amount of excess documents I carry. Adjusting to using a tablet is slightly difficult, since a lot of people still focus on paper, but once youre using it, the tablet works great. I love my Android tablet, and only wish I could find more ways to use it.