Evernote for Lawyers

In the legal profession, organization is a must. We all have some degree of organizational skill, but in many cases, our workload exceeds our capability to effectively keep tabs on every little detail – and we need to use tools to maintain high productivity.

The best productivity tools for lawyers center around three key features:

• they can be accessed from anywhere
• they are easy to use
• they are flexible enough to corral everything we need them to capture

As attorneys, we are always on the move. We work from home, from the car and from the office, so we need tools that synchronize with the devices we use in all our work locations. We rarely have time to fiddle around with confusing applications. Working with more than one productivity tool is actually counterproductive, so having all the features we need in one convenient location is best.

That’s where Evernote comes in.

What is Evernote?

Evernote is a web-based application that allows you to write yourself notes, clip articles from the web and store photographs from a computer or mobile device. No matter which platform you use, Evernote synchronizes itself so your data is available when you need it.

There are two versions of Evernote: basic and premium. The basic version is a free application that allows you to store up to 60MB of data each month; the premium version allows for 1GB of data every month. Both are equipped with the same basic features, but Evernote Premium has a few extra attributes that may help you further for a small monthly or annual fee.

Features That Benefit Lawyers

Evernote’s features benefit your practice because they save you valuable time, help you remember details and allow you to file things away for later use.Evernote Basic offers you the ability to:

• create separate notebooks (folders) for every case
• write notes and file them in the appropriate notebooks
• record audio snippets and file them in the appropriate notebooks
• take photographs with your mobile device and file them in the appropriate notebooks
• clip entire articles, blog posts or papers from the web and save them for later
• upload data (PDF files, photos and other media) into the notebooks you choose
• share notebooks with others
• tag all your data for easy search

Advanced features of Evernote Premium allow you to upload more data each month, add a security passcode, use notebooks offline, collaborate with others through editable notes and search PDF files for specific words or phrases.

Using Evernote to Enhance Productivity

In order to make Evernote work for you, you’ll need to install it on each device you use. The software is available through Evernote.com and device-specific app stores. You will be prompted to create a username the first time you use Evernote, which will connect each device you use, and will enable the program to synchronize your devices with the server each time you use it.

Notebooks

You can set up notebooks within Evernote to keep your documents organized. Notebooks can then be grouped into “stacks” and titled however you see fit. Notebooks themselves cannot contain other notebooks, however – they can only contain a collection of notes. Use the tagging function to make searching within notebooks easier.

• To create a notebook using your web browser, log in to your account. Click the downward-pointing arrow next to the heading “Notebooks,” and you will be presented with the option to create a new notebook.
• To create a notebook using your mobile device, create a new note by tapping the “+” key at the bottom of your screen. When you have written the note, tap the information button and select “Notebook.” In the search pane, enter your new notebook’s name and tap “Add.” Tap the “Save” button when you are finished.

With Evernote, you can choose which folders to share and which folders to keep private. Simply move any folder to the “Shared Notebooks” stack on your mobile device or click the downward-pointing arrow in your web browser labeled “Share.” From the “Share” menu, enter individual email addresses to invite others to view that notebook’s content.

Tags

Evernote allows users to create and store up to 10,000 tags. Each time you enter a note, whether on your mobile device or computer, you can add tags that help you search for that document. Rather than saving a document to multiple folders, tags minimize the amount of data you need to store and make searching more efficient.

• To add tags in your web browser, click “Show Details” and enter the tags, separated by commas, that you wish to use.
• To add tags on your mobile device, tap the “Tags” button under the information button. Create a new tag or select from your existing list to tag the note appropriately.

Web Clips

Send articles, blog posts and web pages directly to Evernote from your web browser for later review. If you prefer, send the URL to your notebook to save space.Offline notebooks can be accessed without an Internet connection; however, you must subscribe to Evernote Premium to use offline notebooks.

Audio Files

Record voice notes and save them to a shared notebook so everyone on your team can hear your thoughts, your assistant can capture them in text or you can listen to them later.

Photographs and Attachments

Like documents and audio files, photographs and other attachments can be tagged and filed in the appropriate notebooks so you can find them when you need them.

Evernote on the Go

Evernote assigns you a custom email address when you create an account. When you send something to Evernote through your Evernote-assigned email address, you can title it, automatically file it in the correct notebook and add tags to save yourself time later.

• The subject line of your email serves as the title of your note.
• To file a note to a specific notebook, add “@[notebook name]” to the end of the subject line of your email. For example, if you wanted to add it to a notebook named “John Smith,” you simply type “@John Smith” in the subject line.
• To add tags to your note, simply use the “#” key. You may only tag notes from your Evernote email with existing tags – you cannot create new tags via email. For example, if you send yourself something that applies to two separate clients and you have already created tags for them, add “#[divorce] #[bankruptcy].”

A sample subject line may look like this:

Bankruptcy and Divorce Blog Post @John Smith #divorce #bankruptcy

With Evernote email, you can choose which features to use. You can tag without assigning a notebook, or you can leave out the title and send it to any notebook you wish. You must enter the subject line in the correct order, however, regardless of which features you use: Title, Folder, Tags.

Evernote Add-Ons

On top of basic and premium features, Evernote allows you to choose multiple add-ons to enhance your experience. Some are free and others are paid services. Some that may help you in your practice include:

• Call Trunk:For a fee (per minute or monthly plan), Call Trunk allows you to record entire telephone conversations and store them within Evernote. Recorded calls can then be replayed, shared and stored until you choose to delete them.
• Evernote Clearly:As a free add-on, Evernote Clearly removes ads, links and navigation panes from your web browser with the click of a button to make online documents easier to read.
• Evernote Hello:A free application for mobile devices, Evernote Hello allows you to set up personal profiles for people you meet and include details about meetings, photos and contact information.(Evernote Hello requires an iOS 5.0 operating system to work.)
• OmniPage:For personal computers and Macs, OmniPage turns photographs, PDF files and scanned paper documents into editable files. You can replace, remove or edit text without changing the source document.

Familiarize yourself with Evernote’s basic functions before exploring add-ons. One of the biggest draws to Evernote is its simplicity, and you may be able to effectively manage all your files without adding extra applications.

Possible Configurations

The way you organize your information in Evernote should be based upon what works best for you. You may only want to use tags to sort your information, or you may wish to use both notebooks and tags. Stacks are handy when you store large volumes of information, like the US Bankruptcy Code and related research material, in addition to case files and notes.

Evernote has a variety of valuable tools that can be used individually, but when all those tools are used together, the program becomes an information powerhouse that helps you work with true mobility.

You can store entire case files – photographs, documents, audio files and emails – all in one notebook that you can access from anywhere, at any time. Those case files can be placed in a stack called “Current Cases,” for example, and titled with your clients’ names. If you use the tagging function, you will be able to use an additional notebook to store miscellaneous data that applies to multiple cases.

Using Evernote to Your Advantage

Waiting in the courtroom? Catch up on new legislation. Driving? Dictate verbal notes through your mobile device so you can share them with your assistant or listen to them later.

Evernote enables you to keep every important document, note, dictation and photograph within reach so you can make the best use of your time. After you set up a system that works for you, everything falls into place and requires very little effort to maintain – and spending less time organizing and more time on your clients is always a good thing.

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