Nicole Black, BridgeTower Media Newswires
Thanksgiving is behind us and, like it or not, we’re smack dab in the middle of the holiday shopping season. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably got lots of people on your gift-gift-giving list, but choosing the right gift isn’t always easy.
For example, lawyers in particular can be a tough group to please when it comes to holiday gifts. The good news is that every year you can rely on my holiday gift guide for tech-savvy lawyers (or lawyers seeking to learn more about technology).* So whether you’re a lawyer in search of ideas for your gift list or are in the market for gifts to buy for the lawyer in your life, this list is for you. You’re sure to find one or two gifts that will be just the right fit!
First, if you’re in the market for an affordable tablet for the lawyer in your life, then consider the Amazon Fire HD 8 Tablet. The 32 GB tablet costs just $124.99 on Amazon, if you choose the ad-free option (i.e., without “special offers”). Given the low price point, you get a lot for your money. And if you’re already part of the Amazon ecosystem, it’s a great buy since it easily integrates with your Amazon accounts. A few business apps to consider downloading before you wrap it include: 1) Foxit, a free PDF reader, 2) Fast Scanner, a free scanner app, and 3) the OfficeSuite app, which allows sharing of Microsoft documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs across devices.
Next, if the lawyer on your list owns a lot of gadgets, then the udoq multi-device charging station is worth considering. This tool is great for charging devices from different brands, such as an iPhone and a Kindle tablet. It includes a combination of Apple connector cables and other types as well, and prices start at $100. Note that when you order it, you can customize your udoq charging station so that it works with whatever specific devices it will be used to charge.
If the lawyer on your list is a Mac devotee, then the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock is a great gift. This is a must-have device for lawyers who own one of the newer MacBook Pros that include a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port and often use their laptop at a desktop work station in their home or office. It costs $289 and provides 13 ports that connect an assortment of different devices to the newer MacBook Pros. This means that everything will connect through the dock and work seamlessly with newer MacBook Pros regardless of the peripherals used.
For lawyers who manage young lawyers and are struggling to understand their new millennial hires, a great option to consider is the book “What Millennial Lawyers Want.” This book was published a few months ago and is authored by Susan Smith Blakely. In it she explains what makes this generation tick and offers advice to help managing law firm partners understand millennials, so that they can take advantage of the many qualities that make this generation unique and valuable to law firms.
Another book to consider for lawyers interested in innovation in the legal space is “Legal Upheaval: A Guide to Creativity, Collaboration, and Innovation in the Law.” In this book, the author Michele DeStefano explains how and why the legal industry is in the middle of an unavoidable transformation, and offers tips to help lawyers innovate in order to succeed in the new world order.
Next, consider this book: “The 2018 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide,” by John Simek, Michael Maschke, and Sharon D. Nelson. In this comprehensive book, which is updated annually, the authors provide lots of great advice on choosing the right legal technology, ranging from hardware options to legal software tools designed to simplify the lives of solo and small firm lawyers.
Finally, there’s the newly published Second Edition of “The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together,” co-authored by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell. This book offers an in-depth review of collaboration tools, including a discussion of security issues and recommendations designed to help lawyers choose the right communication tools for their law firm’s needs.
So there you have it: lots of great gift ideas for lawyers who have an interest in technology. One of them is sure to be the ideal gift for the lawyer in your life!
Please note that I received complimentary access for review purposes to some of the items on this list.
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Nicole Black is a director at MyCase.com, a cloud-based law practice management platform. She is also of counsel to Fiandach & Fiandach in Rochester and is a GigaOM Pro analyst. She is the author of the ABA book “Cloud Computing for Lawyers,” coauthors the ABA book “Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier,” and co-authors “Criminal Law in New York,” a West-Thomson treatise. She speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes three legal blogs and can be reached at niki@mycase.com.
