They say an elephant never forgets. The problem is that with so much going on in our law practices, we’re often the exact opposite of the elephant. Tasks, phone messages, faxes and emails fly at us all day long and it makes it impossible to keep up. We see something useful and promptly file it in a mental “to be read later” stash, then we forget the stash.
If you’re like me, you’ve got enough on your plate. You’ve tried to-do lists, manila folders and a host of other methods designed to help you maintain order. In my entire legal career, however, I have yet to find a single tool as versatile as Evernote.
You may not know, but Evernote is a web-based application that allows you to take and organize all manner of notes, snippets and files for later retrieval. There is also a desktop application (Mac and Windows) and mobile versions (iPhone, iPad and Android) that synchronize your notes across all platforms. So if you’ve got Evernote on your computer and your iPad, both of the applications will remain in perfect harmony at all times. Not too shabby.
There’s a free version, but I found that the relatively inexpensive upgrade was well worth it because of the added storage space it gave me. Once I began to actively use Evernote in my practice, it became clear to me that this was a system that I didn’t want hampered by limitations. In fact, here are my top 9 uses for more effective use of Evernote by lawyers.
- Email Archive: Let’s say you get an important email you don’t want to lose. It could be an alert, a client email or something from a colleague or adversary. When you sign up for Evernote you get a special email address that you can use to send documents directly to Evernote without going to your application or the website. Just take that important message and forward it to your Evernote account.
- Courtroom Reading: We all get opinions, articles and clips to read. Many lawyers stash them into a manila folder to review during downtime in court. When you use Evernote (particularly the iPad version) you can just save these documents to your application and review them without the bulky manila folders.
- Instant Research: I do a significant amount of consumer protection work in my practice and rely on cutting-edge caselaw to help drive home my points. For each type of practice area I’ve got a special notebook (that’s what Evernote calls the folders into which you save things). When I come across a case or snippet of information, I save it to the relevant notebook for later use. I’ve also got copies of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and US Bankruptcy Code saved as separate documents in Evernote so I can have them handy at all times.
- To-Do Lists: I’m a project-oriented sort of guy, and keeping a to-do list in each notebook helps me streamline things. With one notebook per project I can easily look at what I’ve got to get done in each one, moving me along more quickly.
- Evidence Locker: Need to store photos of accidence scenes or injuries? How about surveillance photos of spouses slinking into seedy motel rooms? Evernote can hold your photos, so why not create an Evidence notebook for each case in which you’re associated?
- Collaboration: Lots of lawyers want to be able to share notes with their clients, co-counsel or other professionals associated with a particular matter. Evernote allows you to share notebooks with anyone – just add their email address and it’s done.
- Dictation: The mobile versions of Evernote allow you to upload voice memos to your account and save them as you see fit. If I’ve got a pressing need for dictation while on the road, all I do is record the voice memo and save it to a notebook I share with my assistant. She gets the audio, transcribes it, and we’re off to the races.
- Content Creation: Effective law firm marketing requires consistent content creation. One form of content is audio – podcasts and downloadable segments from your website. Some people think it’s got to be done with a professional recording studio, but the real clincher is that content has got to be created regularly. If you spend lots of time in the car you can either get a digital recorder or use the Voice Notes feature to record on-the-fly segments directly to Evernote. Upload it when you get back to the office and you’re good to go.
- Blogging Ideas: Sticking with the content creation line of thought, you should be reading other blogs to get inspiration. Not just blogs in your field of practice, but also those in related areas. For example, divorce lawyers should be reading what the mommy bloggers and family bloggers have to say. Bankruptcy lawyers need to keep up on personal finance blogs. See an idea you like? Just save it to Evernote and you’ll never have to wrack your brain to remember where you saw that really cool thing about that thing (you know what I’m talking about).
How are you using Evernote in your practice?
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