There’s an interesting bit of detail in this post about legal tech from Brian Tannebaum, talking about the policies governing electronic devices brought into the courtroom:
In the Southern District of New York, you can bring in one device, but if you are not a member of the SDNY Bar, you have to file a motion to bring in your one device. Pick your poison – cell phone, iPad, laptop. […] So decide what’s more important – keeping in touch with the office, witnesses, opposing counsel, clients, or having your documents available electronically and the ability to type.
Let’s get past the fact that the court doesn’t seem to realize that lawyers bring electronic devices into the courtroom because they need them to do their job and go right to the real question: Do lawyers in the Southern District of New York hire stooges to carry additional devices for them?
(My wife and do something like that at the grocery. If a sale item has a limit of one per person, we buy two of them by telling the cashier we’re paying for them separately. I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out which one of us is the stooge.)
Actually, from a quick glance at the rules, it looks like only attorneys are allowed to bring in devices. This suggests to me that more than a few second or third chair lawyers aren’t really on the team because of their legal skills. In fact, this sounds like a perfect job for a law student: “Hey kid, you want to have front row seat at a federal trial? Great! Carry this.”
Granted, the rules do say that “The Personal Electronic Device may not be shared with any other person,” but these are lawyers we’re talking about. I’m sure they’ve figured out some way to game that rule by now.
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