Law Times

Page 10 June 8, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com FOCUS BlackBerry faces big hurdle in making comeback among lawyers BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN For Law Times en Hanuka considered himself something of a BlackBerry devotee back in the company's glory days. Like many Canadian lawyers, he cycled through new models as they arrived and was even among the first to purchase the ill-fated PlayBook tablet. "Everyone was laughing at me in the office," says Hanuka, the principal at Law Works PC in Vaughan, Ont. "I haven't used it much. It hasn't been recharged for years." By 2012, Hanuka had joined his office colleagues on the iPhone. "I gave into peer pres- sure," he says. It's former customers like Hanuka that BlackBerry Ltd. chief executive officer John Chen hopes to win back with the com- pany's new Passport handset. BlackBerry's global market share hit a new low of 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to market research firm IDC, but Chen, who joined the company in late 2013, has set his sights on a two-per-cent share. The numbers look a bit better in the legal profession, although the trend is still distinctively downward. The American Bar Association's most recent an- nual technology survey found just seven per cent of lawyers who responded used a BlackBerry in 2014 compared with 48 per cent in 2011. In the same period, Apple Inc.'s share more than doubled to 69 per cent from 34 per cent. A recent International Legal Technology Association sur- vey also found 56 per cent of law firms had BlackBerrys in use, a number down from 91 per cent in 2011. Apple's iPhone extended its reach to 98 per cent of law firms in the same time frame. Android, meanwhile, increased its reach to 77 per cent with Windows jump- ing to 44 per cent. At the Passport launch func- tion in Toronto, Chen focused on the patriotic pull that has halted the smartphone's slide in this country. Having spoken with major customers in gov- ernment, health care, and the le- gal profession, he said the com- pany clearly had a "dear place" in their hearts and noted he would be appealing to their "emotional support" for the company. "It is important for us to have a reasonable stronghold in this particular market and I intend to start capturing that back. And it will take time, but the best place to start is at the home team place. This is why every- thing is focused on winning Canada," Chen told reporters at the September 2014 event. Dan Pinnington, vice presi- dent of claims prevention and stakeholder relations at LawPRO, jumped straight on the Passport bandwagon and sang its praises at the annual American Bar Asso- ciation technology show in April. "It has all the apps I need and want to get my work done, participate on social media, and do the other day-to-day things I want to do with a smartphone," he told the Chicago crowd. Pinnington said he found the interface intuitive to use and not- ed he particularly liked the screen. "It is a higher resolution than an iPhone 6," he said. "The extra width matters. This phone gives me the best reading experience I have ever had on a smartphone. I am finding I am reading more on it and doing other tasks that I would normally have gone to my computer to do." Don Johnston, a partner at Aird & Berlis LLP in Toronto and the co-leader of the firm's technology team, says he's ready to trade his BlackBerry Z10 for a Passport after hearing good things from current users. Having experimented with his daughters' Android and Apple devices, he says BlackBerry is still the provider for him. "I just really like the way it works," says Johnston. "And you can't beat the sup- port you get on the BlackBerry enterprise server and the great se- curity that comes that way." But while many longtime BlackBerry fans are buying in, Hanuka's reaction illustrates the size of the task facing Chen. Ha- nuka says the early reviews of the Passport had him seriously think- ing about switching back. "It looks so cool and it's Cana- dian," says Hanuka. "I also love the keyboard. There's not a day goes by when I'm typing that I don't wish I had my old BlackBerry keyboard back." But in the end, he stuck with his iPhone. "There's such a rich ecosys- tem of apps and everything else available to Android and iPhone users that they can't really com- pete," says Hanuka. "Once you've switched, it's hard to go back." David Whelan, manager of legal information at the Law Soci- ety of Upper Canada, believes the downward trend will continue for BlackBerry in the long run despite the launch of the Passport. "The momentum is in the wrong direction. They will prob- ably plateau somewhere because they will always have a place with certain lawyers," says Whelan, an Android user himself. He says litigators in particu- lar have committed their fu- tures to Apple's operating sys- tem thanks to the quality and quantity of applications avail- able to them on the platform. "If you want a tool that does law-specific things, then those apps tend to be written for iOS devices, maybe for Android, but not for BlackBerry," he says. Whelan says the BlackBerry's traditional advantage in the realm of security has also eroded over time. "The fact that iOS de- vices are encrypted by default gives you the option of having a device as secure as you would have with BlackBerry. That goes a long way towards people feel- ing more secure even if the com- munications themselves might not be as secure," he says. LT and it's available to you 24 hours a day. s available y availabl y legal expertise? Looking for Find exactly what you need at www.CanadianLawList.com Starting a business, making a will or buying a house? Declaring bankruptcy, dealing with a personal injury, insurance claim or job loss? If you're in the midst of one of life's big events, help is as close as your smartphone, tablet or computer. Simply go to www.CanadianLawList.com to find the right lawyer for your particular legal need. www.CanadianLawList.com is Canada's most comprehensive online directory of lawyers and law firms. And it's easy to use! You can search by city, legal specialty, or name for listings and contact information. Find the legal expertise you need at www.CanadianLawList.com. Untitled-1 1 2015-06-04 9:31 AM September 8, 2015 | Four Seasons Hotel Toronto Emcee Gail J. Cohen, Editor in Chief, Canadian Lawyer/ Law Times 6:00 – Cocktail Reception 7:00 – Gala Dinner and Awards Presentation Seating is limited | Business Attire For Table Sales and Sponsorship inquiries, please contact CarswellMedia.Sales@thomsonreuters.com or call 416-649-8841. Platinum Sponsor Bronze Sponsor For further information please visit www.innovatio-awards.com Media Sponsor Untitled-2 1 2015-05-19 3:29 PM B 'I just really like the way it works,' says Don Johnston of the BlackBerry Passport.

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