SCANNABLE BY EVERNOTE - A LAWYER'S BEST FRIEND?
I am a DWI, Criminal Defense and Traffic Ticket attorney practicing in Rockland County, New York. What I am about to discuss today may sound like a paid product placement or a commercial, but in reality, it is a shout-out to something that has simplified and changed many areas of my law practice.In 2002, after years of working as a prosecutor in the Rockland County District Attorney's Office, I decided to "hang out a shingle" and venture into the world of private practice. When a potential client would contact me about a case, I would ask them to fax a copy of their charges or tickets to me. This generally meant that they would have to go to a store and pay to use their fax service, wait until after hours at work, or simply wait until they were back home or at their office. The time between speaking with the client and looking at their charges was usually measured in hours and days and was not good for business.
Once more people began having their own computer scanners, the time between speaking with them and reviewing their charges decreased. The one thing missing at that time was the need for instant gratification that we have in modern day 2015.
Today, it is not unusual that I get a call from a potential traffic ticket client almost immediately after the police officer handed them the ticket and while they are still on the side of the road. During these conversations, I generally ask them to email or fax the ticket and paperwork to me. The more people began to own Smartphones, the more I was told that they would take a picture of the ticket and email it to me.
From days, to hours to seconds, the amount of time between asking a client to send me their paperwork and having it right in front of me entered the realm of light speed. The only problem with taking and sending pictures of tickets and charges is that they are often blurry, cut off and at times, require multiple pictures of each part of the document to be able to read the whole thing. Printing was also another problem, as the images were generally dark and difficult to read.
This brings us to the September 2015. Less than a year ago, I was introduced to what I can only describe as a "game changing" iPhone App: "SCANNABLE"(click here), which is a mobile scanning App from Evernote (click here to see a short Scannable Youtube video).
The easiest way to explain how this works is that it's like having a scanner with you wherever you go. At first, I used it to scan documents given to my clients in court, so I wouldn't have to bother the already busy court clerks with making copies for me. I then found out that it worked great for making copies of the pictures I found at my parent's house. Most importantly, I could scan them right from the photo album without having to worry about ruining the pictures by removing them from the ancient photo albums. Once these documents were scanned by Scannable, I simply emailed them to myself or sent them directly to my Evernote account and printed them when I got back to my office.
During the past week, while speaking on the phone to a client, I had a revelation and asked a simple question: "Do you have an IPhone?" I then introduced the client to Scannable and in minutes, I was looking at a perfect scan of a speeding ticket. The client was impressed and all I could think of is why didn't I ask this question sooner?
Since first discovering Scannable, I have used it in both my personal and professional life. I have amazed my family, friends, colleagues, court employees and of course, clients with this amazing discovery. After speaking with the first "Scannable" client this week, I have asked the "Do you have an iPhone" question many more times and can only say that this App is now an integral part of my law practice.
This is the first time I have felt the need to blog about a product or service. The potential applications for Scannable seem endless and I highly recommend that anyone with a smartphone take a moment and download this incredibly useful App. Also, did I mention that it's free?
http://www.berklaw.com/DWI-Attorney-Blog/2015/September/SCANNABLE-BY-EVERNOTE-A-LAWYERS-BEST-FRIEND-.aspx
