TURN YOUR BLACKBERRY OFF! My informal survey of 4 clients suggests that lawyers who don’t turn their blackberrys off (phones too) may soon be without clients. Do we need to talk about this in terms of basic manners. It is rude to be in a meeting with someone and not giving them your attention. It is worse when that person is paying you.
We joke about people becoming “crackberry” addicts, but it is a sad truth. One lawyer I know refuses to use a blackberry, but instead got a Verizon wireless card for his computer and signed up for national broadband service. He swears by it. I tried it. So far (after two weeks of traveling), I haven’t found anyplace it doesn’t work. So I don’t get my email real time, but I get it soon enough.
That’s my view.