The use of iPads by U.S. Fifth Circuit judges and law clerks
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When the presentation allowed for questions from the audience, I asked the judges whether they prefer to read briefs in paper, on the computer, or on an iPad, and whether that led them to have any preferences on how the brief is written, such as whether they prefer to see cites in the text or in the footnotes. All four judges said that they were big fans of the impressive use of technology at the Fifth Circuit. For example, after a lawyer e-files a brief, the court adds hyperlinks to the PDF version of the brief so that a judge or law clerk can tap on a record cite to instantly see that part of the record or tap on a case cite to read the legal opinion. Two of the judges answered my question by saying that their preference was to read briefs on the iPad, and both of them remarked that it is nice to be able to just take home an iPad without any other paper and still have everything that the judge needs to work on an appeal. The other two judges said that they prefer to read on paper but that their law clerks made extensive use of the digital versions of briefs.
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