Category Archives: The Future of Legal IT

Attorneys Love Their iPads. Must it be $2,000 Worth of Love?

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I work with many Am Law 100 (top 100 law firms in the US) who provide iPads to their attorneys. It’s public information that many of these firms achieve millions of dollars of profit per equity partner. Investing $2,000 to enable these profit-generating attorneys to work from anywhere and to be more responsive to their elite clients is a simple calculation.

iPads are fantastic. They are portable. The Pencil is fluid. It’s quick to get to work. Try comparing your time-to-work on an iPad with loading your Citrix desktop!

But what if your firm does not quite have the budget to put a $2,000 iPad Pro kit in each of your attorneys’ hands?

In 2024, there has been a new development in the iPad family. The processor in the iPad Air is now upgraded to the Apple M2, which puts it on par with the iPad Pro 2022. I’ve traveled with the 11″ iPad Air. The light weight is a breeze, and the screen size is perfect for my needs. I love it.

I sent this brief summary (below) of iPad Pro and iPad Air pricing to a law firm IT Director who is considering buying iPads. He told me that it presents possibilities. Feel free to share it, as it may open doors for you and your firm.

Sources: Apple Website and Tom’s Guide

The 11″ iPad Air starts at $599. However, that price is with 128GB of storage and supports WiFi-only. Above, I show relative iPad prices with 512GB of storage, where available, as I would not recommend anything below 512GB. I have also shown pricing for WiFi-only and Cellular-enabled models. The pricing above does not include cellular service.

As shown, you can opt for a 13″ iPad Pro with 512GB and Cellular-enabled for $1,699.
Or, an 11″ iPad Air with 512 GB, also Cellular-enabled, is $1,049.

With any iPad, a Pencil is a must-have. The ability to take notes and mark up documents and images with a Pencil is one of the joys and conveniences of working with an iPad. The Apple Pencil Pro is $129, the Apple Pencil is $79.

I also consider a keyboard necessary for real work. The Apple brand keyboards are pricey with the Apple 13″ Magic Keyboard at $349. There are many highly rated aftermarket keyboards, starting at $39. The Zagg Pro Keyboard with Case lists at $170 (13″) and $110 (11″). They are frequently discounted at 30% off.

In summary, let’s look at two options:

13″ iPad Pro, 512GB, Cellular-enabled, Pencil Pro, aftermarket keyboard ($170) = $1,998

11″ iPad Air, 512GB, Cellular-enable, Pencil Pro, aftermarket keyboard ($110) = $1,288

The delta is ~ $700 per kit.

You don’t have to rely on my analysis – read Jeff Richardson, aka, iPhoneJD. Jeff is an appellate attorney and an avid iPad Pro user. He also writes the best product reviews that any legal user could wish for. Jeff publishes a weekly “In the News” blog which you can subscribe to and receive in your inbox every Friday morning.

Here is the summary from Jeff’s May 2024 review of the new 13″ iPad Pro. For his practice, he prefers the 13″ iPad Pro, but he recommends the iPad Air to “most attorneys.”

With the nice new improvements to the iPad Air, very few users will have a reason to say that they truly need the iPad Pro versus the iPad Air. But anyone who enjoys using an iPad and does so regularly will have a reason to want a new iPad Pro because it is simply a better overall experience. The core of using an iPad is holding a screen in your hand and interacting with it. Making the iPad thinner and lighter, making the screen better, and giving you new accessories that improve the interaction with the screen are all improvements to the most important parts of the iPad. Add to that the M4 chip for even snappier performance and the other improvements and there is simply a lot to love. I’m sure that many people will decide to save several hundred dollars and go with an iPad Air, and that is a perfectly reasonable choice. It is even the choice that I would recommend to most attorneys. But if you are OK with spending more money for a premium experience, the new iPad Pro is not just the best iPad ever, it is one of the best Apple products ever. The iPad Pro 13″ M4 is incredible.
– Jeff Richardson, iPhone J.D.

Jeff captures it well.

It’s certainly worth it to take another look at the iPad Air.

-Maureen

App Authentication Gets Easier with Intune

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Remember the early days of MDM (Mobile Device Management)? You know, that company-mandated thing which black-listed your apps, tracked your movements, and monitored which websites you browsed?

We’ve come a long way from those days. Recent developments from Microsoft make authentication and data management easier for both users and for IT admins. Let’s take a look at these newer offerings from Microsoft and how you can benefit from them with our LINK App.

Integration with the Intune SDK and Microsoft Authentication Library

We have integrated the Microsoft Intune SDK and the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL) into our LINK App. If you are either an Azure Entra ID user, an Intune user, or both, our integration offers a simpler experience for users and IT alike.

Fewer sign-ins for both frequent and occasional LINK users

Integrating MSAL into our LINK App allows LINK to leverage Microsoft Authenticator as an authentication “broker.” This means that LINK employs the familiar federated sign-in process used by the Office apps from Microsoft. If you are signed-in to Office, you are signed-in to LINK without any additional password prompts. From the security and policy perspective, LINK supports all of your conditional access policies, including:

  • MFA requirements (either with MS Authenticator or a 3rd party such as Duo)
  • Device requirements (e.g., requiring Intune deployment)

Focused security of your data with MAM policies

LINK’s integration with the Intune SDK adds another layer of security and simplicity to managing and securing LINK. In addition to the standard MDM policies and management tools, Intune supports a different type of policy known as Mobile Application Management (MAM). These MAM policies apply to all apps that support the Intune SDK, including the Microsoft suite of apps and 3rd party apps like LINK. Many MAM policies are particularly focused on the careful treatment of corporate data.

Apps with MAM policies can be used together to enable secure workflows. For example, MAM policies allow our LINK App to share a document from a Document Management System to the Word app for secure, yet uncomplicated, editing.

MAM is a great way to ensure the security of your corporate data without asking users to give up any control of their personal devices.

Image Source: Microsoft

LINK for Intune

To add MAM support to LINK, we have released a new app – LINK for Intune. Deploying LINK for Intune offers the same functionality as the “regular” LINK app, and it adds in a deeper integration with Intune so that policies can be applied to LINK even when the device is not MDM-managed.

With these recent developments from Microsoft, we think that the optimal path going forward is:

  • Use the Microsoft Intune SDK and the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL) to simplify authentication
  • Advance from “managed devices” to “managed apps” using Intune MAM policies

Are you considering moving to these newer approaches? What questions or observations do you have? You may download our Intune brief here.

-Seth

Seth Hallem is the Mobile Helix CEO, Co-founder, and Chief Architect

Mobile Helix makes the LINK App which is used by attorneys and knowledge professionals to review, edit, annotate, compare, and email documents from a single, secure app.

Cybersecurity: The Workforce Gap & the Career Opportunity

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Recently, I came across a LinkedIn post from a friend who was #Hiring for a cybersecurity role. It got me thinking – just how challenging is it to find and crucially, to retain, experienced cybersecurity staff? According to my friend, it is very challenging. Intrigued, I decided to take a dive into the numbers.

World Economic Forum

71% of organizations are currently unable to fill cybersecurity positions, leading to a concerning skills gap in the workforce. This issue has been highlighted by The World Economic Forum, which warns of the potential impact on infrastructure and society as a whole.

2023 Global Cybersecurity Workforce Gap – ISC2

Globally, there is an estimated 4 million person cybersecurity workforce gap. According to ISC2, the shortfall in the United States alone amounts to half a million roles.

Per Fortinet’s 2023 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report, 68% of leaders agree that cybersecurity skills shortages create cyber risks for their organization.

An overwhelming 90% of leaders show a strong preference for hiring individuals with technology-focused certifications per the Fortinet report. Their study also brings encouraging news that 90% of leaders are willing to invest in their employees by covering the costs of certification. In alignment with this, the World Economic Forum advocates for the crucial processes of “reskilling and upskilling,” emphasizing the importance of narrowing the cybersecurity skills gap.

So, the next question is, what does it take to obtain an affordable cybersecurity certificate? This option seems promising: Google offers a Cybersecurity Certificate through Coursera suitable for these roles:

  • Cybersecurity analyst
  • Security analyst
  • SOC analyst
  • Information security analyst
  • IT security analyst
  • Cyber defense analyst

According to Google, this course can be finished in six months with less than 10 hours of part-time study per week. After a free 7-day trial, Coursera charges a monthly fee of $49, resulting in a total cost of just under $300 for the certificate.

If you’re considering a career change, be encouraged by the fact that the demand for cybersecurity professionals is high. There are even relatively low cost ways to achieve a Cybersecurity Certificate.

Good luck!

-Maureen

P.S. – Google says that the median salary in cybersecurity (with 0-5 years of experience) is $115,000 per year. 🙌

Okta Businesses at Work 2024 – Legal Applications are the Growth Leader

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Okta has application usage data which you simply will not find anywhere else. This year’s report draws data from their anonymized 18,800 global customer base. Okta is a leader in identity and access management products. You may download the full “Okta Businesses at Work 2024” report here.

Growth in app categories: Legal software is the leader in customer growth

Source: Okta (My Annotations) – Growth in App Categories

Okta kicks off this year’s report with a spotlight on Legal applications, which was the leading app category in growth of number of customers.

“There’s no time for deals or
contracts to get hung up in legal. So, as we look
across the most popular app categories, it’s no
surprise that legal tools have locked up a win,
claiming by far the highest growth by number
of customers (35% YoY) and substantial 34%
YoY growth by number of unique users. Apps
including Ironclad, LexisNexis, and LegalZoom
drive this remarkable growth story. (Fun fact:
Ironclad contract management software was
our eighth-fastest-growing app in 2022.)”

-Okta (my bold type)

Let’s look at those three applications:

Ironclad – Offers Contract Management software, which includes moving sales contracts through the processes of review and sign-off to speed the business process.

LexisNexis – Provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics, now including Generative AI. LexisNexis is a premier product in legal research.

LegalZoom – Its online platform for business formation helps entrepreneurs by providing legal, tax and compliance products and expertise.

With that promising look at the growth in Legal applications, let’s take a look at four more charts in the Okta report.

Growth of the 50 most popular apps

Source: Okta

There are two leaders here. 1Password is the fastest growing application by number of customers at 39% YoY. Amazon Business with the fastest growing by number of unique users at 89% YoY growth. Law firms are ramping up usage of password managers like 1Password as one of the essential tools to prevent phishing and social engineering exploits.

Not to be missed by law firms is the growth of KnowBe4 at over 20%. KnowBe4 is a Security Awareness Training product, with a focus on phishing awareness. In 2022 I cited that KnowBe4 was the leading Security Awareness solution used by 62% of law firms surveyed in the International Legal Technology Association’s 2022 Technology Survey.

Most popular apps

Source: Okta

It’s easy to see the trend of law firms in the “Overall” ranking. Microsoft 365 is rapidly being adopted, as firms migrate from other Microsoft on-prem products. Number five, Zoom, and number eight, DocuSign, are nearly ubiquitous at law firms. Number ten is KnowBe4, the Security Awareness training SaaS application.

Fastest-growing apps by number of customers

Source: Okta

Data compliance applications make a first time appearance in the fastest growing app ranking by number of customers. Vanta holds the number one position with 338% YoY growth. Drata ranks number six, with 91% YoY growth. Data compliance software is growing at law firms as firms are subject to regulatory and client requirements.

Most popular security tool categories

Source: Okta

Okta entitles this section: “The perimeter shifts.”

They observe that VPN/firewall continues to lead the security tool category, as it has since 2020. However, deployment of VPN/firewall grew 12% last year versus 31% in the prior year. 57% of customers have deployed VPN/firewall tools.

The second fastest growing category in security tools is Endpoint Management and Security, deployed by 43% of customers. This category has grown consistently since the emergence of work-from-home.

For those interested in legal or enterprise technology there is much more in the Okta report worth looking at in detail. You may find the report here.

– Maureen

2024 Report on the State of the US Legal Market – My Four Favorite Charts

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The catchy take-away from the Thomson Reuters “2024 Report on the State of the US Legal Market” is that law firm leaders who don’t respond to the shifts in the legal market in the past 15 years may share a destiny with Pan Am.

The US airline, Pan Am, was the largest international carrier in the mid-20th century. Pan Am filed for bankruptcy in 1991, after decades of tremendous growth in air travel. For those who recall Pan Am, it’s a vivid illustration. You will see the tie-in below.

Looking at today’s legal market, the Thomson Reuters report is full of data and graphs which quantify recent trends.

Key Trends:

  1. There is a shift from the “Transactional Decade” of the 2010’s. Money was easy to borrow and transactional practices, including Corporate, M&A, and Real Estate climbed.
  2. More recently, the majority of growth is in counter-cyclical practices such as Litigation, Bankruptcy, and Labor & Employment.
Practice demand growth in 2022 & 2023, Thomson Reuters

3. The past few years have seen an aggressive increase in law firm rate growth. “In 2023, the rates clients agreed to pay law firms for new matters grew by more than 6%…”

Worked rate growth, Thomson Reuters

4. At the same time, the collection rate on those fees is down. Clients are are moving tiered legal work to lower cost firms. This is where the Pan Am lesson comes in – respond to the market or get left behind.

Collected realization against worked rates, Thomson Reuters

While we are devouring graphs, let’s not stop there. If you are brave, take a look at a perennial favorite, profit per lawyer. The growth seen in the pandemic year of 2020 and the pandemic recovery year of 2021 have have not been repeated in the past two years.

Profit per lawyer growth, Thomson Reuters

I encourage you to download the report. The Thomson Reuters “2024 Report on the State of the US Legal Market” has 20 graphs and charts, including staffing, expenses, and, as you might expect, “Reaction to AI in the legal profession.”

Whether you are in a law firm, corporate legal, or legal tech, there is timely data here which you won’t find anywhere else. I’m sure that there are a couple of graphs which will be helpful in your next ops review.

-Maureen

Litera: The Legal Tech Juggernaut Takes a Breather

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Remember 2021 and 2022? Litera was buying so many companies that at times it was hard to keep track.

In August of 2022, I was at the ILTACON conference at National Harbor, Maryland. Litera had acquired two companies in the previous week, business intelligence company, BigSquare, and talent management software company, Micron Systems. These followed the substantial acquisitions of Foundation Software, Prosperoware, Workshare, and Kira Systems. Per Crunchbase, 15 acquisitions in the past 5 years.

I attended the Litera session, which was in a ballroom. Standing room only. The sense that something special was taking place was palpable. Litera’s new CEO, Sheryl Hoskins, introduced herself, mentioning her active duty in the Army. She was impressive .

Historically at ILTACON the companies with a big presence have been Thomson Reuters, Intapp, iManage, and NetDocuments. But in 2022, Litera had the momentum. They also had the ample pockets of Hg. And Hg was looking for growth.

A lot has changed in the economy in the past six months. The threat of a recession has loomed large. Interest rates are up. Law firms have laid-off associates. Many of the big tech companies have laid-off thousands of people.

From where I stand, legal tech appears to be holding strong. Very few legal tech dedicated companies are public, so we don’t get a quarterly window, or even an annual window, into revenues and profits. However, layoffs in legal tech have been limited thus far. At least two e-discovery companies have had layoffs. On the other hand, Exterro just acquired e-discovery rival Zapproved. Several legal tech firms, including NetDocuments, iManage, Aderant, and Litera are actively hiring.

It makes sense for Litera to take time to work on integrating all of the solutions which it has acquired in the past three years. Keep an eye on Litera. If we manage to have a soft landing, look for Litera and Hg to lead the way again.

-Maureen

What is Workflow Automation in Legal? A High School Internship

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This fall I have been fortunate to mentor an internship with Blake and Joaquin, two juniors at Design Tech High School, “DTech,” in San Mateo, California. The subject of this internship was Workflow Automation in Legal. Blake and Joaquin did the research, wrote the copy, and created the graphics. They did an outstanding job.

Take a look. Do you now know what Workflow Automation in Legal is?

What is Workflow Automation?

Workflow Automation is the use of process improvement and software to increase productivity and efficiency.

What is Workflow Automation in Legal?

Workflow automation in legal is the use of software to automate legal processes,

“Workflow Automation in legal is the automation and optimization of the legal team’s workflows to maximize efficiency, eliminate errors, and provide more value to the law firm or legal department.”

Jake Link, bryter

What are Examples of Workflow Automation in Legal?

  • Client Billing
  • Scheduling Appointments
  • Client Intake
  • NDA Generators
  • Employment Contract Generators

What Companies Provide Solutions for Workflow Automation in Legal?

  • ActionStep – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing and accounting software
  • Centerbase – cloud-based, legal accounting, billing, and practice management software
  • Clio – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing software
  • Rocket Matter – cloud-based, legal practice management and billing software
  • Zapier – used to connect different applications and integrate their workflow into a single application
  • BRYTER – development platform for legal, procurement, and compliance to automate workflows, build applications, and digitize contracting
  • Matter Suite – cloud-based legal practice management software
  • Mobile Helix – encrypted mobile app for document workflows for lawyers

Why is it Important for Legal Teams to Engage in Workflow Automation? 

Legal teams should engage in workflow automation because of the major impact it can bring to a firm, especially when it frees up the lawyers to bill more hours with clients. In addition, with workflow automation, lawyers and other employees can engage in higher level work which leads to greater job satisfaction and less stress.

Is Workflow Automation a Good or Bad Thing? 

It’s definitely a good thing as it enhances the efficiency of a firm to allow for increased profits.

Blake and Joaquin made a one minute video about the internship.

Authors: Blake and Joaquin

If you like this post, please let us know at contact at mobilehelix.com.

-Maureen

Resources

“Legal Workflow Automation Explained: Examples, Benefits, and Solutions”. Bryter. Jake Link. April 13, 2022. https://bryter.com/blog/legal-workflow-automation-transforms-legal-departments/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic   

  1. “Workflow Automation in legal is the automation and optimization of the legal team’s workflows to maximize efficiency, eliminate errors, and provide more value to the law firm or legal department.”
  2. Its benefits are increasing time and productivity for the workers that normally have to deal with manual paperwork/data processes. Examples of workflow automation tools are legal intake tools, automatic NDA generators, and data breach reporting, and client billing. 

“Everything You Need to Know About Legal Workflow Automation and Why You Should Have It”. Centerbase. Chelsea Huss. Apr 5, 2022. https://centerbase.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-legal-workflow-automation-and-why-you-should-have-it/   

  1. Basic overview of workflow automation along with a list of legal practice management software that includes workflow.
  2. “Workflow itself is defined as the sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.”

“Why Legal Workflow Automation is Important to Law Firm Success”. Mattersuite. July 27, 2021 https://www. mattersuite.com/blog/why-workflow-automation-important-to-law-firm-success

  1. Goes more into the ROI and the positive worth it brings to a firm, especially down the line in use of automation. Includes useful graphics that may be used for inspiration for future graphics or to source a quote from Mattersuite.
  2. “Legal automation is designed to streamline the law practice operations smoothly. Automating document management to gaining more clients, everything can be achieved with legal automation.”

My Four Favorite Charts from the ILTA 2022 Technology Survey

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The International Legal Technology Association’s 2022 survey is a broad treasure trove of data reported from 541 law firms.

There are 11 major topics including Infrastructure, Document Management, Practice Management, and Business Continuity.

My focus is on four of the twenty-seven questions surveyed in the Security section.

  1. Password Management
ILTA 2022 Technology Survey

Password managers are one of the most highly recommended solutions for security. They help with: using complex passwords, deterring repeat usage of passwords, and providing secure storage for passwords. There is a learning curve to using a password manager, but once I got up to speed, I wondered how I would live without it. We have so many passwords to juggle these days. I am surprised that 50% of respondents are not providing a password manager.

2. Multi-factor Authentication

ILTA 2022 Technology Survey

Perhaps the single most recommended security mitigation is multi-factor authentication (MFA). Here we see Duo Security (a Cisco company) is the leader at 45%. There are three Microsoft solutions listed which total 27%.

In legal tech, it’s notable when a third-party solution is more widely adopted than a Microsoft solution as most law firms operate on the Microsoft stack.

3. What do You Secure with MFA?

ILTA 2022 Technology Survey

The largest response is VPN/Remote Access. Then Office 365. It’s very good to see high adoption of MFA for these widely used applications.

4. Which Phishing, Vishing, Social Engineering, or Security Awareness Program?

ILTA 2022 Technology Survey

KnowBe4 is the stand-out at 62%. Others used are Mimecast, Traveling Coaches, Proofpoint, managed service providers, and solutions developed in-house. Only 7% reported “None.” As phishing and social engineering are the cause of about 90% of exploits, law firms are wise to have these programs in place.

You may access the full data-rich report or the executive report from ILTA. Here is the download page.

-Maureen

The Modern Lawyer Report from Above the Law and Litera

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How Technology, Mobile Devices, and AI Are Shaping the Legal Industry in 2022

In February of 2022, Above the Law interviewed 500 attorneys on their views on technology, mobile devices, artificial intelligence (AI), and more. Of those 500, Associates made up 32%, Partners were 26%, and in-house counsel were over 12%. Above the Law and Litera have published their findings in The Modern Lawyer Report.

Over 58% over these lawyers consider themselves to be slightly ahead of the curve or a trendsetter in terms of use of technology. The lawyers who agreed to participate in this technology survey appear to be more tech-savvy than the general lawyer population.

Above the Law / Litera

Mobile Device Usage

Roughly 57% of attorneys reported that they can do “many things” or “everything” on mobile devices. From our vantage point this seems high, but consider the point above, that the majority of the attorneys who responded self-report that they are ahead of the curve in using technology. From our view of law firms, the third option, “I can follow email on mobile but that’s about it,” is the the common state of the art in law firms today.

Above the Law / Litera

Document review and approval is certainly the greatest need which attorneys and legal professionals have on mobile devices. Our clients tell us that the ability to review, annotate, compare, sign, and email documents in order to have complete workflows is their goal.

Above the Law / Litera

What is delaying mobile device adoption?

The report cities, “One partner stated, “My vision is too poor to work on such small screens,” while an in-house respondent noted that “security risks preclude the ethical use of mobile for most legal tasks.”

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence or AI is a somewhat amorphous term, granted. Over 60% of these advanced technology users consider AI to be valuable to business success in legal services.

Above the Law / Litera

One of the conclusions of The Modern Lawyer Report is that, especially with respect to mobile devices and artificial intelligence, lawyers are not taking advantage of technology’s full capabilities. There is plenty of opportunity for them to adopt these technologies further.

Update: Here is a link to register and download the report from Litera.

If you have questions or comments, I’d like to hear from you. Write to: contact at mobilehelix dot com

-Maureen

Maureen Blando is the President and COO of Mobile Helix, the makers of the LINK encrypted app for lawyers. LINK provides simple workflows for Document Management and Email in a single, secure app. Note: the LINK App offers font sizes up to XXL. (See above. for relevance.)

Meet LINK: The Easy Way To Handle All Your Document Workflows On Your Mobile Device In A Single App

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By Stephanie Wilkins

From Above the Law, a new product profile on our LINK app.

Here’s an excerpt:

Do Everything, Everywhere With LINK

When you think about the tools you use most in your day-to-day work, your document management system (DMS) and Outlook are probably at the top of the list. Working in both on your mobile device, though, has historically been a huge struggle, if not impossible. LINK brings them together in a single, secure, easy-to-use app.

LINK is designed to support the workflows attorneys use all day, every day. The app works with today’s most popular mobile devices – iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets – and supports the three leading document management systems, iManage Work®, NetDocuments, and eDocs by OpenText.

LINK for Smartphones and Tablets

LINK is solving the pervasive problem of lawyers being unable to adequately work on their mobile devices. With LINK, lawyers can fully access their documents, compare them, mark them up, edit them, email them, and more, as easily and securely as they can on a computer.

Read the full profile here.

Questions? Write to us at: contact at mobilehelix dot com.

-Maureen