“Diane, what’s Marshal Fisher’s cell phone number?”

I would ask Diane that question probably once a month. Then I’d write down Marshal Fisher’s number on a piece of scrap paper. Inevitably, the scrap paper would end up in my recycling bin.  The next time I needed the Marshal’s phone number, I’d call Diane again.

This cycle was both highly inefficient and wasteful.

I really want less paper in my life. Less, clutter too. Oh and I want to be able to access information from anywhere. Post it notes just don’t cut it.

Enter Evernote.

Evernote is a cloud based service that allows me to “remember everything”.  Its features are amazing. Everything I used to write on scrap paper now gets indexed on evernote. Its basic account (which I use) is free.

This means that I can easily find the marshal’s cell phone number and a record of our last conversation from anywhere I can connect to the internet (my phone, ipad, home computer, or work).

I’m very satisfied with the service. It simplifies my life and improves my practice. It seems others are too. When I posted this article on facebook here’s what Atlanta lawyer, Peter Mullaney had to say:

My boss turned me on to this thing. I use it for anything work-related. Like if I’m sitting at home and I remember something I have to do, or the right contract language suddenly pops into my head, I put it on Evernote. Then when I get back to the office, it’s there. Very useful but somehow doesn’t make me feel “plugged into the office” when I don”t want to be.

As always, it’s important for lawyers to be very aware of their ethical obligations in using a cloud based service like Evernote.  To quote a friend “the basically own what you load on to your servers”.

Do you use evernote in your practice?